‘I Slashed My Food Bills to Less Than £100 a Month for Two by Dumpster Diving’ ‘I slashed my food bills to less than £100 a month for two by dumpster diving’

Mirror (U.K.) ^ | 31 May 2022 | Rosaleen Fenton

[nickcarraway]

A woman who goes dumpster diving for wasted food has revealed how her impressive hauls are ensuring she can save for a housing deposit while living in an expensive city

A woman has slashed her food bill to less than £100 a MONTH for her and her boyfriend by dumpster diving - which is helping save for a housing deposit.

Marketing manager Caitlin Weich, 29, decided to root through supermarket dumpsters for discarded goods in a bid to slash her outgoings and help her protect the planet.

She also collects unwanted food from neighbours and friends during her lunch break to ensure she keeps her food bill as low as possible.

Caitlin, who lives in Dublin, Ireland, with her boyfriend Adam, 28, says they eat like kings on a tiny budget, adding: "We spend as little as 100 euros (£85) a month for the two of us.

"My partner and I have been saving for the last couple of years to try and put together a deposit for a house, so we are definitely aware of our budget and saving where we can.

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"Some weeks, I could save 40 or 50 euros (£34-£42) by dumpster diving and getting food the supermarkets are throwing out."

In February last year, she went a month without spending a penny on food by using unwanted or leftover groceries from friends, neighbours and dumpsters.

Now she is keen to share her top tips in a bid to help others considering their options.

She said: "When I first started rummaging through supermarket bins, which is known as dumpster diving, I couldn't believe how much food was being thrown away. It was absolutely shocking.

[roving]

I must be the only one who actually read the story.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

I remember reading, fifty years ago, of some woman and her father doing the same thing.

[Flavious_Maximus]

Well at least she has nice teeth for someone who eats garbage.

[metmom]

I’ll grow mine, thank you very much.

[metmom]

One of the ways I save a lot of money is hanging my laundry out to dry. When I bring it in, I run it through the dryer for 5 minutes to kill any bugs on it vs almost an hour to dry it in the dryer.

Dryers, electric or gas, use a lot of energy and you can save a lot of money using the solar clothes dryer.

[Phoenix8]

Hey when my kids used to end a semester at college I would go dumpster diving.

Those spoiled young adults would throw fans, radios, microwaves and almost unlimited stationary. Funny I don’t ever remember finding a beer or joint.

The last year of my youngest the campus police started guarding the dumpsters…kid you not. I still don’t fully comprehend why.

[Gay State Conservative]

I live in a large condo complex and one routinely sees stuff left *near* the bins,but not in them,that could be of interest to others. A few months ago I found a Timi carry-on suitcase there that was in *perfect* condition. And I found out that they're considered high end...$100 or more. I grabbed it thinking I'd put it on ebay or Craig's List but decided to keep it. I haven't used it yet but I suppose I shouldn't be surprised if the TSA cocaine alarm goes off! ;-)

But food? No thanks...I'm not that desperate.

But The Big Guy's working on that!

[FredSchwartz]

Walmart actually locks their dumpsters. Almost every food that has a recall goes into the dumpster. Plus, out of date and spoiled before the code dates. Spoiled milk and moldy cheese also go in there. So the milk gets all over the vegetables and sits in 100 degree sun. What could go wrong? So it’s locked for those reasons and to keep people from falling in and maybe getting knocked out or hurt in some other way. They do have a program to give to food banks food that is within 3-4 days of the sell-by-date. That food is good, but people won’t buy if it’s that close.

[Notthereyet]

“I must be the only one who actually read the story”
___________________

Aside from myself, you may very well be correct. LOL

What did I gain from the article?
1. If stuck on an island I want that lady on my team because she sets a goal and is will to work towards that goal despite the ‘ewwww’ factor.

2. She’s okay with sharing information: This makes her valuable as a Trainer/Mentor towards the newbies/novies who might never have had a clue as to adapting to any type of hard life.

3. She’s willing to experiment, keeping in mind there are consequences to those experiments.

4. She’s not ashamed at having to work/live under less than ideal circumstances.

I gather you may have come to those same thoughts.....

[skr]

The article states she has a boyfriend.

[Notthereyet]

“As a landfill scrounge...”
_________________________________

Decades ago I knew of a Tech Sargeant in the USAF who would go Dumpster Diving and Checking out the Common Area trash cans in the dorms on base for the cans. There was a fee per can even back then and he used the can-money towards purchasing a beautiful truck, covering it’s gas as well as insurance and any maintenance needs. He had 4 or 5 children and reasoned he didn’t want to take from the family budget.

He made a rational decision and never regretted it. No one was insane enough to make fun of the man, either.

[who knows what evil?]

Maybe she’ll get lucky and score some shampoo and conditioner...

[Bigg Red]

She is shacking up with her “boyfriend.”

[Cecily]

She slashed her food bills, but her medical bills tripled!

[Lazamataz]

She’s going to effing die.

[FroedrickVonFreepenstein]

Oh garbage dump oh garbage dump
Why are you called a garbage dump
Oh garbage dump oh garbage dump
Why are you called a garbage dump

You could feed the world with my garbage dump
You could feed the world with my garbage dump
You could feed the world with my garbage dump
That sums it up in one big lump

When you’re livin’ on the road
And you think sometimes you’re starvin’
Get on off that trip my friend
Just get in them cans and start carvin’

Oh garbage dump my garbage dump
Why are you called my garbage dump
Oh garbage dump my garbage dump
Why are you called my garbage dump

There’s a market basket an’ a A&P
I don’t care if de box boys are starin’ at me
I don’t even care who wins de war
I’ll be in dem cans behind my favorite store

Garbage dump oh garbage dump
Why are you called a garbage dump
Garbage dump oh garbage dump
That sums it up, in one big lump.

[BiteYourSelf]

So,she’s a trash panda.🤔

[jmacusa]

But food isn’t one of them.

Good God food, especially meats, fats, anything with cream or butter can spoil in a matter of hours.

Insects find it quickly and contaminate it, if it gets rained on it’s spoiled.

This woman is an idiot.

[alexander_busek]

What did I gain from the article?

And 5. She is a "ginger" and has freckles. Also: A warm smile.

OK in my book!

Regards,

[Notthereyet]

“And 5. She is a “ginger” and has freckles. Also: A warm smile.”______________________________________

I lol’d when I read your comment.

While I commented on her thinking process, my first thought....?

“She’s a cute Irish lass, I bet!”

As a Ginger from birth, with freckles and extremely light eyelashes she struck me as a very pretty woman!