Wife and I found a place nearby that does stock outs, returns, damaged pallets, etc....if we’re careful we can spend $50, get all unexpired stuff that would normally cost over $150 in a store.
No fresh veggies, meet, or cold stuff; but when you can get a 5 lb bag of rice for under $5....it’s a great deal. (The fresh stuff she buys weekly depending on sales fliers)
Last week we got 15 bags of coffee (3 ground, the rest beans) 15-18oz for under $1 each - that’ll keep us in coffee till the holidays most likely. That and the unexpired kewpie mayonnaise for 50 cents each (normally $4-5) was more than worth the trip.
Of course there is a lot of expired stuff, broken/dented containers (I wear gloves for sorting), highly processed food, and stuff we just don’t eat. A lot is in unorganized pallatized cardboard boxes you have to sort through. But we’ve managed to find quite a few gems.
I give her produce from our garden and honey from our bees to fill some of the gaps. It is getting very hard for older people on a fixed income. Her husband set things up as best he could and it would have been enough if things had kept at the normal levels.