Eight Ways To Get Free Food/ Resourceful Alternatives to Grocery Expenses 

In my apartment building there is a bench in the lobby where we all put things that we no longer want or need for tenants to take for free. It is a rent-geared-to-income building, so quite a few tenants use the local food bank. Apparently, I am the only vegetarian in the building, because I routinely get cans of chickpeas, black beans etc from the bench.

Our family volunteered to help with our church food bank for ten years There were often extras left over. So, the director of the food bank started putting the overflow on a back pew one Sunday a month and the pastor encouraged families to take some of it home with them. This system worked great! The leftovers got eaten (especially if it was perishables) and the families who came to the church were blessed.

Our church has a food pantry and people are always looking at the dates and won't take items that are close to the exp date! I do too, but I look to see how far past the date the food is still good to. Sometimes expired is still good! 👍

Back when I lived in Illinois … I attended this church and in the foyer they had a long table that people would bring their excess of produce they grew and people would swap things. That was very nice. ☺️

Yes My husband and I had to use a food bank at a local church in our neighborhood for a few months one year and my husband volunteered for a while to show our thanks.

I would not feel bad about using a food bank if I needed it because most of them are funded partially with your tax dollars. You have paid in advance without realizing it.

You are such a sweet person and I enjoy your videos so much 😊❤

I know someone who gets a box of random food from a food truck and If there is to much she makes sure it goes to people, not throwing it out...i get some and give some to the neighbors too.

I run in and out of the Sprouts store in Grand Prairie. I don't buy anything that's NOT been marked down. The other day, I was telling an employee that I am financially stretched all over the place. She told me that she goes to the local food banks. I honestly never considered doing that...maybe out of pride...I don't know what...But, it's a great idea. I am not sure what the guidelines are...but, I plan to look into it. Thank you for making this video and posting it.

In Oregon you get 10 cent deposit on cans and bottles. We have recycling centers that will give you cash for bottles and cans. If you dont take the cash you can get an extra 20 percent if you use the bottle credit in a grocert store.

Also, check and see if your area has food banks for pets. Many of those are popping up in my area. The price of pet food is outrageous in my area.

Our church had a semi truck of potatoes 🥔 one time and other church had cauliflower all for free. Thanks for sharing 🤗 God bless

Maybe friends could buy things in bulk at a low price and then divide it and split the cost so that for instance 10 pounds of sugar or even larger quantity could be divided in say 5 pound bags and would be lots cheaper. Also I do not know the name of the sight but I have been told that people post that they are giving away foods and you just go pick them up. People moving or ???

Our local University created a food bank for the students. Anyone can contribute to it. All the students have to do is show their ID card.

Senior citizens and disabled people can qualify for meals on wheels

Churches do what they can

I hope no one hollers at me for this, but it's OK. While yes, everyone deserves a decent wage, and businesses should pay their employees for their work. However, in some towns, there simply aren't any jobs, and after months of searching, still nothing. While you are searching, consider offering some weekly unpaid hours to any of several options for some free product/meals/food. For instance, if you live near farms who could use a strong back or someone with record keeping skills, packing or other part-time work but they cannot afford to hire you, offer to do it in exchange for some fresh produce this summer. No obligation on either part. As a volunteer, you are free to stop whenever you want, and in the meantime, you are getting all the produce your family needs, along with perhaps milk, eggs, etc. It's something until something better comes down the line, and they may end up hiring you. This goes for cafeterias, small grocery stores, small independent takeout places, pizza places and restaurants of all sizes. While you can't get "hired," some would be more than willing to give you some food each day to take home for a few hours of help. Everyone loves a volunteer!

My husband recently lost his SS, because they overpaid him. Yes, hes working, but hes not making much. They wanted it in 30 days. We don't have it. They were supposed to only take out a portion each month. They decided to take it all out each month. Thats $1,000 each month for several months. Its $6,000 Thats going to hurt so much. We're having a hard time just paying the bills. Im the one who makes sure that everyone has enough to eat before I eat. Then i feel guilty because someone could have wanted that. Now im in tears. Im in a wheelchair. Because I have severely osteoarthritis in both knees and no cartilage. I also have rickets which have caused my legs to be badly deformed. But i have started a very small personal business for myself. I make yarn puppies. They are about the size of a peekapoo. They're really adorable. Im really trying my best.❤

One of the churches here, provides suppers on certain evenings for anyone who wants to go in and eat.

Meals on wheels for seniors🙏

My elderly neighbors get free food once a month but she gives me their rice that they get. They don’t like rice. And I give her stuff that I said “I bought too much “ 😉 And I know what they like , so that makes it easy 😊

My boys and I have volunteered at a food drop distribution for about 15 years now. The school was very vocal in their disapproval when I pulled them out on Tuesday afternoons to volunteer, but I felt strongly that they were gaining valuable life experience that they’d never get in the school. Yes, there were times when we worked outside in the rain, snow and mud and we loaded food boxes into cars nicer than ours. There were times when the fire department notified us that people were sorting through their boxes on the way out and throwing what they didn’t want into the fire department dumpster. Those times can be frustrating, but on the whole I feel this experience taught our boys to be grateful and has helped make them better humans. At times we ended up bringing home large amounts of perishables that couldn’t be held over for the coming week, and we always tried to freeze, can, dehydrate or redistribute anything we couldn’t use. On the whole it’s important to remember that many people need the help from time to time and won’t just grab free food. If we help one person or one family get through a bad patch, it’s worthwhile.

I often use t go to a food pantry that mostly has fruit and veggies and some days they had bread ,If I had an abundance of tomatoes and spinach growing , I always used to donate my surplus , so I didn’t feel guilty using the food bank

My neighbor and I when either of us go grocery shopping and it's something that we both would want we always pick up a few extra and we've been doing this for each other for years

I am looking into foraging food. A friend told me Dandelions are in season, they are a Super food which can be dried into tea form. Anything that motivates me to hike is great

Where I live there are some occasional little structures built where people put food products on the shelves for those in need. I see a problem with this if the food sits too long when it’s hot or cold. If you are blessed, buy food for people hanging around the the grocery store or the chic fil a or McDonald’s, I know one homeless that rode the bus I would ride to work and back, and I saw him in the grocery store and asked him if I could buy him some food and he said no.i have my ebt, but not every body does. One weekend in April, I ran into two people outside grocery stores and two people outside the fast food joints and they all wanted food. It is difficult to know whether a senior in a grocery store is needing money, because that is really my target audience, because I think they are most likely to be embarrassed, But I think there are a lot of seniors out there that probably need help.

My sister and her friend down the street they take turns cooking durning the week. It’s fun and it lets other try new dishes they may not cook.

WOW I THINK THIS WILL HELP A LOT OF PEOPLE

I hike in an area where alot of citrus trees grow. Sometimes the growers leave bags of oranges, lemons and grapefruit at the trailhead. You can offer to volunteer at a community garden; they always need help with weeding, etc. They probably would be happy to pay you with a little surplus produce. One food pantry in my area puts bags of surplus food outside at the end of the day, free for anyone.

Tomorrow is my food bank day. 🎉

Our Legion has Meat Draws on Saturday afternoons. Go play a game or just visit and for $2 you get tickets for the draw. This has been a great way for seniors in our area to get some much needed food. They also do meat:chicken pies up for a good price- no need to be a member.

There are some good resources for identifying wild foods out there. Dandelion greens taste best when picked before they flower as they are a bit bitter. After boiling, cook with some bacon gat and add a splash of vinegar. Dandelion flowers (yellow petals only) can be made into jelly or wine. Dandelion roots can be scrubbed then roasted and ground then brewed as a coffee substitute.

Just because you get food from a food pantry doesn't mean that you can't donate money at the food pantry to help buy meat. Not everything at the food pantry you attend is given to them for free. Our church food pantry pays for the food by the pallet load. Bad thing about most food pantries is that they only operate during the daytime work hours, so they are little help to the working poor. The senior center has become a real blessing to my life as I get lunch for free and there are items donated there from local stores that would have gone to a food pantry (no meat). It is helping me tremendously. I would like to make a comment on your getting free food for working at a school. This might be true for those working in the cafeteria portion, but as to any other position, in the state of Texas, teachers and other staff members must pay. I grow a garden, and to be honest with you, when I have a good year, I give away squash, tomatoes and kale. I usually give them to the senior center or take them to Sunday school for the older folks who can't grow. I will tell you that if someone local was willing to help me with garden chores, I would gladly split the produce with them. My garden has grown smaller and smaller over the years as I can't work a larger garden. I have the know-how, but I don't have the back or the ability. I have a 2 lot plot and I used to grow squash plants on 1/4 of the open land.

Sam’s Club doesn’t care how many samples you take. If you have a gift card to Sam’s Club, you can get in for free without having a membership and you could literally eat there on the weekends. Sounds like a stretch I realize that but when you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

In Canada there are places to go on a regular basis for free meals or meals at a very reduced cost. Usually run by several churches or centres in our City. The meal service is written and distributed in our local newspaper, or web site. No one needs To go hungry!

Didn’t think about a mobile pantry😊

Freecycle

In my area,at least, people often put shelf stable food in the free book bins. Churches often have food panties or hot lunches. So do homeless shelters,senior centers, community centers,etc. Some areas have a community fridge or blessing box , accessible 24/7

BREAD OUTLET. If you live in a big/big-ish city, there will likely be a Bread Factory. Bread factories all have an outlet store. They are named differently depending on area; Day Old Bread, Wonder Outlet, Bakery Outlet, Tastykake Outlet, for example. You can get all kinds of baked goods for a fraction of the cost. Breads, Snack cakes, and powdered cheese (the kind used for mac&cheese), plus cookies and artesian breads. Whatever the factory wasn't able to deliver on time. BARTER. If you can hem a skirt in exchange for a lasagna, for example.

The vet center near us gives out food twice a month.

I agree money mom.it s terrible so much food waste.

lots of good tips, our town has alot to offer, many food banks/pantries. the 3 senior citizen housing buildings also offers hot lunches everyday, along with weekly free produce give aways, meals on wheels is available for housebound residents, small cost and enough is delivered for lunch and dinner. One of the best charities to me locally is bringing bags of food to a food pantry/bank, they appreciate it so much and really helps our residents who are struggling.

Buying yellow sticker items helps

I feel terrible for people in this situation.

Good ideas

Ill always have food here. I can eat dandelions for salad greens. My oak gives me mlions of acorns. Just soak overnite aftrr tskincap off acorn. Drain in morning then soak overnite agsin. Place on towel till completely dry then grind into powder thats organic flour. Cattails down road these 3 you can live free forever w complete healthy balance n free

free pop up produce monthly! drive up, food for household sizes of 2 or 4. put the food in the car and drive off. it doesnt matter if you have 8 people in your home. you only get for household size of 2 or 4. better than nothing!!!

I'm in the area where our local church provides a free takeout meal for anyone who wants it one night a week they just recently opened a food bank on the first Thursday of the month I've been spreading the word because I know people that need food

We donate money to the local food Bank. I feel that our family is blessed and we do not like to see any one hungry . We are not rich but we can spare a couple of twentys to help people out.

Spend few dollars out of your food budget for stick piling

The priority of food is nutritional 😊.

In Grivedale we had comunity garden food swap

Wow - a vegan food bank is so great!

Discounted food wise the outlets like Franz are amazing. Also there are canning operations like Santiam that have little stores attached with heavily discounted soup mixes and such

Another is using a gleaning network. Some are listed online. I knew of a family run potato farm that opened up their fields after the machines came through. Another is foraging. Like Ewell Gibbons. There may be books in your local library or folks who already do it near you. Berry picking or cooking up a "mess of greens" were popular options during the depression. Some are very easy to ID like dandelion or purslane.

Good points!

Check local farms and churches about “gleaning”

Great ideas, loved it. I live off grid in the country and sometimes need help as well. God put it on my heart to create some sort of food pantry out here. You had some great ideas I am going to consider. Thank you!

We call the outdoor boxes that you can leave food in Blessing Boxes. Rarely does the food sit in them for too long. If you are out of food, hopefully you can find something to eat in them.

Food banks that gives us all a different opition. There are ones who gives to Vegan and ones that gives us food once a month....some really gives really good food like beef or other things that ive gotten in rhe past....😊 and ive gotten food from others like my elderly...neighbor who use to share her food with me, me vice versa...😊😊😊

My parents used to go to Sam's and eat tons of the samples instead of going out to eat, lol

I hope this message finds you and your family well.

What a Wonderful woman you are Love you to bits .

Hello! When I was newly married about 25 years ago, I worked banquets for extra money. I made a wage plus tips plus I got to take home tons of free food. Most weeks it was enough free food for all of our meals for the week.another thing that I have heard of that I personally haven’t seen is Facebook free sites where people are giving away stuff for free on Facebook and I have heard that people will give away food as well. Thank you for such an important video.

Didn't know you are in Dallas area, hello neighbor from west Fort Worth.👋 My YMCA has a Food Shelf that people bring food or take food home. Wherever people live, if there's a YMCA or community center if they don't already do this, see if they can start one.

Great video ! ❤

Thank you ❤❤❤

Great practical and spiritual video!

I agree to share food time as a community

Terrific ideas! Restaurant employees eat free. My big church has a food pantry. We buy Kroger clearance food. Lots of possibilities.

THANK U!!!

Blessing boxes are pretty cool, I believe a few utubers have mentioned them. Why not help someone who needs it? Yes its on the hono system

There are several places in our town that offer free groceries as well as meals. The church we used to attend had a wonder food and clothes pantry. The Sunday School classes would bring specific items. Our class would give money to one person to buy our items. I bought our items from a grocery store that gave us a terrific price for our contribution. Great list of places to get free food, Money Mom! Love to all, Linda 💕

Lots of good tips. Thank you!

❤

After Wednesday night church ~ our church has dinner before church & anything still left over after everyone has gone thru the line, they bag it up ~ all divi’d up & Send the leftover food home to anyone who will take it~ could be takeout pizza, could be lasagna, once when breakfast dinner was served, we came home with 2 ~ 1/2 boxes of cereal, bacon, bacon grease, a gallon of milk, cut up fruit & quite a few other things. I also work at our church’s food pantry (we’re a small food pantry, only open 2 hours per week & our patrons come every other week & we encourage everyone to come each time they are allowed during the month ~ would rather you have a small stash than have to go without because we aren’t open during the holidays or storms or illness, etc.) ANYWAYS… because we aren’t allowed to give away expired food ~ not even if it expired the day before~ if donations come in that are expired ~ who ever of us that work in the food pantry ~ is willing to take it & try it anyways (MOST OF US LOL) is welcome to take it home with them. Also look to see if you have any apps that have free food (gleaning food) on public land ~ parks, etc, sometimes private homes that you do need to knock & make sure it’s ok if you get a few items but there are also apps that will pinpoint you into the right direction to glean/pick the food that is there. One such app is “falling fruit.” Then there’s the app “Too Good To Go” that places that have too much food items that they can’t sell, will sell it to you on the app for 1/2 price or more off & you just ‘order’ it on the app & go get it between the times they tell you that it’ll be available. Also ”Olio” app ~ food or nonfood items that you or someone else is giving away.