Eating on a budget

[TWOCHOICEStom]

Crazy, isn't it. Can I ask, would you have been allowed to take some home if you'd asked, or did they leagally/contractually have to dispose of it?

No we couldn't take it home and we couldn't even sell it in the staff shop because it was out of date. Which I might add is RIDICULOUS.

On veg, the "best before" date means just that. The product is at it's best before a certain date. It won't kill you. I think way too much emphasis is put on those numbers rather than the actual quality of the product.

Anyway, the tactic typically was just to reduce the price over the cours of the items last day. So by 10pm whatever was left was usually 10 or 20p. A few people knew about this and would just come shopping every day at 9 o'clock to get the bargains!

 

[TWOCHOICEStom]

A friend of mine once helped out at a homeless charity in East London. Not sure whether it still happens, but in those days Marks & Spencer (without publicising it) used to give them out of date food each day. Of course, the charity never knew in advance what they would get, and although it sounds odd, the charity used to dread receiving products like kingsize prawns or smoked scottish salmon, as the diets that the homeless people had were not suited to that type of food.

M&S were the ones doing this when my place woulnd't (see post above)

 

[rool]

He was living in a bedsit, with absolutely no luxuries. He seemed pretty gracious and humble however about splitting a cuppa soup over two days for his main meal. Doesn't seem right does it, in modern Britain for a guy who's been working and paying taxes all his life. Yet the families in the second programme were living off modest benefit incomes and hadn't done a days work. No justice there. Something very wrong.

I liked the old bloke and he had a very simple life but, to me, he looked like he was getting more calories a day than a cuppa soup would give. Unlike the single mother who had lost three stone, if I heard correctly.

 

[BrickTamland]

Why was the James Martin bloke shopping in Waitrose if he is on a budget?!

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

i volunteer for a homeless project. We approached every supermarket we could think of to try to arrange some sort of "can we have your food that you're chucking out anyway to give to the homeless" deal

m&s were the only ones that gave us the time of day

 

[kevtherev]

It seems the genuine people find it very hard to get by..Where as the pro scroungers had got all the bases covered. Because they know every last handout going. That's why they have all got dogs,,you get extra for a dog!!!

 

[BrickTamland]

working at a supermarket in the evenings (when stuff gets reduced) it's a common occurrence that the member of staff is MOBBED by people literally grabbing the reduced stuff out of their hands. Usually asian people who do it too

 

[Smeagull]

You do know you're allowed to buy it in a bulk when you're single? They don't stop you.

If you can be bothered (that's not meant to be read as a dig at you) to buy in bulk, cook bulk meals and freeze them away then you can live on hardly anything money wise and eat large, nutritious portions. Also, buy sensible. Want a roast? buy a chicken, roast it, eat the meal, save the rest of the meat for other meals, cook down the bones to create a stock for soup or risotto. Food can go a long long way if you are happy to cook.

This.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I once found myself at a conference on Rural Services, where a village shopkeeper was talking about how to set up an run a village shop.

His first piece of advice was:- Only think about doing this if EVERYONE in your family is prepared to live entirely on food that has passed its sell-by date.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I used to work on the fruit and veg department of a big supermarket in Hove and yes, they throw out TONS of perfectly good food every single day. We never used to give any to homeless shelters back then (2001 ish), not sure if they do now. Some did other places did.

Christmas was the worst. One year we were left with about 10 crates of Brocolli on Christmas Eve that had come in with a best before date of boxing day (when the store was closed)- I was asked to chuck the lot in the crusher.

If seen turkeys on sale in supermarkets labelled "Best Before 22 December".

 

[easynow]

Care to share some of your money saving tips?

Yeah, don't be poor...

OK, I didn't watch this programme, so my previous comments were a bit pedantic, I know, butI still stand by the general point that I am making because I know way too many people who are in debt due to theirbad spending habits.

It's really sad to read about the pensioner and the single mum that are struggling. I'm sure they represent thousands of other people in the same situation.

My tips?

Save money whenever you can
Stop buying stuff because you can currently 'afford' to spend whatever amount
Stop giving a crap about what other people have that you don't. It doesn't actually matter.
Only have children when you are financiallysecure

 

[SeagullinExile]

Yes, it goes out for disposal. They aren't allowed to sell it, nor give it away.

I believe M&S used to give unsold produce to homeless shelters etc. But they maybe aren't allowed to nowadays.

 

[Cian]

Due to habit and circumstance rather than any need, I spend extremely little on meals - due to having a Lidl, a fantastic butchers and a greengrocers within close distance and working near an Asian wholesaler. Suspect that if I actually liked "traditional" food I'd have to spend more but I don't. I'd have to drive to the M&S about twenty minutes away if I actually wanted to spend more doing the same meals.

However, I think a pound a day MIGHT be pushing it. You also need a fairly large wedge to stock yourself up on things you'll only use a few pence of a day to get the best value - you can't buy a 5kg bag of rice when you've only got a few quid.

Rice, possibly pasta, spices, pulses can be got for half nothing in ethnic supermarkets, here at least butchers and greengrocers always beat the supermarkets on price unless there's an obvious below-cost deal on, and Lidl sells a hell of a lot of brands.

 

[Vegas Seagull]

Yeah, don't be poor...

OK, I didn't watch this programme, so my previous comments were a bit pedantic, I know, butI still stand by the general point that I am making because I know way too many people who are in debt due to theirbad spending habits.

It's really sad to read about the pensioner and the single mum that are struggling. I'm sure they represent thousands of other people in the same situation.

My tips?

Save money whenever you can
Stop buying stuff because you can currently 'afford' to spend whatever amount
Stop giving a crap about what other people have that you don't. It doesn't actually matter.
Only have children when you are financiallysecure

A far better tip is to not waste your time by thinking how to save money and use that time to think about how to make more money

 

[Kent Seagull]

A few tips I use regularly.
Go shopping in the evenings when there's often bargains to be had.
Go shopping on a full stomach.
Take a list and stick to it.
Avoid food that's advertised and packaged, you never see fresh veg etc advertised!
Avoid buying stuff from eye level shelves, there's a lot of bargains on the bottom shelf. I've found own brand value curry sauce for as little as 8p a can in Tesco. The stuff they want you to buy is always at eye level or end of aisle and more expensive.

 

[Silkster365]

It doesn't cost a lot to buy, for example, some fresh carrots, potatoes, greens and a chicken. People just can't be @rsed to cook proper meals these days and instead pay through the nose for processed cr@p. Then complain their food costs too much.

 

[SIMMO SAYS]

You cant go wrong with a banana

 

[BadFish]

A few tips I use regularly.
Go shopping in the evenings when there's often bargains to be had.
Go shopping on a full stomach.
Take a list and stick to it.
Avoid food that's advertised and packaged, you never see fresh veg etc advertised!
Avoid buying stuff from eye level shelves, there's a lot of bargains on the bottom shelf. I've found own brand value curry sauce for as little as 8p a can in Tesco. The stuff they want you to buy is always at eye level or end of aisle and more expensive.

This is fine advice.

I am rethinking the list thing at the moment as I have discovered that a little flexibility from the list means than you can buy what is in stock and cheap at ALDI which can save a lot of money.

We are limited on what where we save as we do not buy processed food or food that contains harmful food additives. All this really means is that we buy lots of fresh fruit and veg and organic stuff. Not really the same as the people in the program by the sounds of it but it is a lifestyle choice that makes cheap shopping difficult. On the other hand our children are far better behaved and happy than they were.

 

[easynow]

A far better tip is to not waste your time by thinking how to save money and use that time to think about how to make more money

True, this country needs more entrepreneurs.

 

[brightn'ove]

I once knew people who went on a scavenger hunt as they had been tipped off about where this stuff had been chucked... They said it was a scandal that perfectly edible food was being chucked because of over zealous 'best before dates' and regulations.

Having worked on a produce department, I can tell you the amount of perfectly edible food that gets thrown away is disgusting. Disposals get put into containers and then are taken away by a lorry to either landfill, shelters or recycling plants.

Most of the time, edible disposals can be reduced to pennies for staff to buy, at Sainsbury's anyway.