Freegan Tips to Save Money at Bakeries
Large industrial bakeries that supply grocery stores will discard unusable stock on a daily basis. These are generally products that have a visible flaw, but are otherwise completely fine. Whether it is cakes, cookies, breads or buns, the products are baked fresh each day and are perfectly good. The factories will also sometimes have a store attached where you can buy their products at discounted prices compared to a grocery store.

Smaller family run bakeries generally follow the one day rule for freshness for breads and buns. Anything that doesn’t get sold in the first day first gets drastically reduced and then tossed. Other products such as brownies, cakes, muffins and cookies have different shelve lives but it is normally not more than a couple of days before they too get tossed.

Donut and Bagel shops are a treasure trove of cheap treats. To find fresh products try looking out back just after closing time to find donuts, bagels and muffins that were likely baked that same day. If you’re not keen on looking through the trash, many stores will cut huge deals just before closing time to get rid of the unused stock for the day. Try to visit an independently owned and operated donut or bagel shop just before closing time to negotiate for a bag of assorted treats. It’s not unusual to get a large bag of donuts, bagels, muffins and cookies for less than $1. They are just going to throw it out anyway so they’re happy to make anything.

Freegan Tips to Reduce Waste at Restaurants
Restaurants are generally not the best place to find fresh food in the dumpster. They are far more likely to use older or slightly damaged products in a dish because it can be hidden around other ingredients in the meal. The stuff that gets thrown out is usually nowhere near the same quality that you would see outside of a grocery store, and if it is any good it’s normally mixed in with leftovers from other people meals.

Stay away from fast food trash bins at all costs!!!

Grow a Garden
Buy some seeds, put in a few hours of hard work and you will be eating fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs and spices in no time. It takes some time and effort but you get really great food and a rewarding experience.

Other Freegan Tips

Food is the big expense for most people but if dumpster diving doesn’t sound appetising to you there are other ways to live Freegan.

FreeCycle
Give away old items that you no longer want so that they can be used by someone else. Craiglist and gumtree are great sites to find free items or to post your unwanted items on the internet. There are many other specialized sites to trade or give away everything you can think of.

Check out a Garage Sale
You can sometimes find thrifty treasures by picking through other peoples old stuff. How can you go wrong when a perfectly good coffee table costs $2?

Try a Ride Sharing Program
Craigslist and erideshare.com have ride sharing programs available and many business offer ride sharing opportunities for employees. Saving gas on the commute to work by driving in with a co-worker is not only good for the environment but has huge financial benefits as well.

Hopefully these tips will help to reduce the number of useful items that ends up in a landfill and also save you a bit of money.

For more information on freeganism check www.freegan.info

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