Today, we scored well over $300 in free groceries (based on retail value). We had some groceries in our pantry and freezer because we keep long term food storage (and had scored some other free goods recently).
To be clear, we are pretty indiscriminate about the type of products we'll receive for free. The big rule is safety. We're received free electronics, toys, clothes, food, entertainment, and household items, as well as some miscellaneous blessings.
Below are some illustrative pictures. This haul was thanks to a family who is moving and didn't want to take their many groceries with them. We got meat, toddler food, boxed meals, breakfast food, frozen veggies, canned goods, sweets, condiments, and more. Free, for us, happens because we are open to people who do not wish to waste things, so they give them away. We are members of freecycle, swap groups, and we check the Craigslist free section about 10 times a day on average.
We've had people tell us that they would be ashamed to take something being offered, and we've run into people that turn up their nose at receiving free things. As for us, we feed ourselves AND are able to give bags and baskets of food to our neighbors regularly. When you get in a big haul where you don't get to choose each thing, there is a small percentage of items that do not fit the family due to allergy, handicap, or strong aversion to taste or texture. For example, one person in our family can't eat spaghetti due to her handicap. Another member of the family has acid reflux and bell peppers aggravate it. The same family member hates the texture and taste of whole wheat pasta. So if we get bell peppers, we may keep a few for salads, but we bag them up and give them to the neighbors. Spaghetti, whole wheat rice and pasta, and a few other things will go too. Our neighbors are always happy to take the overflow.
The same goes when we go handpick fresh fruit or veggies because someone's fruit trees produce more than they can handle or they get a big harvest they cannot eat or store. We take as much as we can eat, can, and freeze, plus a little extra for our neighbors. Even the crankiest neighbor becomes extra friendly when presented with random baskets of fresh produce and staple groceries!
Not all of the pictures are our free haul, though everything on the table is! The freezer pics are just a result of several combined free hauls and a little actual grocery shopping (for a few of the meat pieces in the freezer). Meat is the hardest thing to get free, though we scored an easy $70 of free meat in this haul.
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