Food prices rocketed last year. They're beginning to come down but not fast enough. Fill in the gaps by getting free food where you can.
You can eat out for free on a regular basis by becoming a mystery shopper. Just sign up with mystery shopping agencies such as TNS-Global, ESA, GFK or JKS All you do is sign-up for restaurant visits that are being offered by the agency, go and have lunch or dinner (depending on what you're asked to do) and then write it up online. You will get your expenses sent to you plus £5 or so for doing it. Get into foraging. There's free food all around you on hedgerows across the country - at least there will be in the warmer months. There are loads of places you can go to pick up tasty free food. Try foraging in hedgerows, woods, and on the seashore. It is good to have an understanding of what you are looking for, and there are a number of websites around to help you identify everything from nuts and herbs to fruits and leafy vegetables to shellfish. Have a look at Wild Man Wild Food and Naturali for more info - and to get clued in on what's safe to eat and what should be left alone. Go Freegan. It may sound odd, but every day supermarkets throw out enormous quantities of food that have gone past their sell-by dates (and so cannot be legally sold) but are still good to eat and often in top-notch condition. They throw them into the big bins behind the supermarket where they are fair game for dumpster foragers - or 'Freegans' as they are known. If you're not squeamish you can find perfectly good food absolutely for free in the bins behind major supermarkets. Freegans constantly find ready meals with the plastic packaging intact but no outer cardboard packaging. There are often also full jars and tinned items, and even ice-cream, all with sell-by dates far in the future, but the packaging is dented or tarnished in some way. If you fancy trying your hand at Freegan foraging the best time to go is around closing time, and it's often best to go under cover of darkness just as a precaution. Take some cloth bags, fill them up quickly and move on. For more information about freeganism have a look at Freegan Info and Fareshare. Are you green-fingered? Once you cover the set-up costs of owning a plot of land or growing in your own garden, there is great personal and monetary satisfaction in growing your own fruit and vegetables. With fruit trees you are growing for the future - good harvests can save you hundreds of pounds. You can re-use the seeds from vegetables like potatoes and pumpkins, and harvest other seeds from friends' patches. From a tomato plant on the balcony to a herb garden on your windowsill, savings can be immense. Also, swap seeds and cuttings with friends to get even more free plants to eat from. Swap with friends. Have a clear-out of your kitchen cupboards. Gather up tins and packets you don't want and swap them for tins and packets that your friends don't want. If you've got several gardening friends, try a harvest produce swap in the summer. Many gardeners have something that produces more than they need so why not bring your surplus and swap for what you didn't grow?
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