Living on condiments (aka How to get by and fat doing it)
This has been a long time coming. A lot of people will laugh and say that the knowledge i try to impart here is common, or that the methods are cheap or pointless. I'm ok with that. My methods ARE cheap and the knowledge is common sense. But common sense isnt so common, and everyone can use a helping hand. If you already know of these things feel free to pay no mind. If you dont you may find a treasure trove of helpful fridge stocking and wallet fattening tips.
First off, yes im cheap. The things ill ask you to do will garner you some odd looks and even some dirty looks by some shop owners. But if youre interested in living cheap, dirty looks are free. The things i suggest arent dumpster diving, theres plenty of guides on that. My suggestions are just ways to shave a little here and there.
First off lets start with condiments. Condiments are your friends, and your bread and butter. Any condiments that are left out are fair game. They stock your fridge, and flavor your food, enough ketchup packets and you can make spagetti. Mayo packets and a can of 33 cent tuna makes you tuna salad (use relish packets to add sweetness and texture, and so on... ) . Keep your eye out for non-standard condiments; taco seasonings, salsa, ranch, and so on. When you look at condiments look at the cost versus the cost it would be to obtain it otherwise. You like bacon bits? Get a to go box at anywhere with a salad bar and fill up the to go box with nothing but bacon bits (or sunflower seeds or whatever). If the salad bar is 3.99, and a bottle of bacon bits is 3.00 then getting 5 bottles worth for 3.99 is a good deal right? Sure the cashier is gonna look at you funny, but you just got 15 bucks worth of bacon bits for 3.99. This applies for everything. Salad bars are your friends, and you are thier worst enemy.
Salad bars, one of my personal favorites. They have cold cuts and you can LOAD up on cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, nuts, salad dressings (ask for a cup and fill it up, you paid for salad dressing they didnt say how much you could take), salsa whatever you can think of. Just make sure it pays for itself, in most cases you can save at least a few bucks. In some cases you can save a Lot.
Got to run but we'll follow with more, and feel free to contribute!!
The more ideas and suggestions we get here the happier and cheaper we can all live!
First off, yes im cheap. The things ill ask you to do will garner you some odd looks and even some dirty looks by some shop owners. But if youre interested in living cheap, dirty looks are free. The things i suggest arent dumpster diving, theres plenty of guides on that. My suggestions are just ways to shave a little here and there.
First off lets start with condiments. Condiments are your friends, and your bread and butter. Any condiments that are left out are fair game. They stock your fridge, and flavor your food, enough ketchup packets and you can make spagetti. Mayo packets and a can of 33 cent tuna makes you tuna salad (use relish packets to add sweetness and texture, and so on... ) . Keep your eye out for non-standard condiments; taco seasonings, salsa, ranch, and so on. When you look at condiments look at the cost versus the cost it would be to obtain it otherwise. You like bacon bits? Get a to go box at anywhere with a salad bar and fill up the to go box with nothing but bacon bits (or sunflower seeds or whatever). If the salad bar is 3.99, and a bottle of bacon bits is 3.00 then getting 5 bottles worth for 3.99 is a good deal right? Sure the cashier is gonna look at you funny, but you just got 15 bucks worth of bacon bits for 3.99. This applies for everything. Salad bars are your friends, and you are thier worst enemy.
Salad bars, one of my personal favorites. They have cold cuts and you can LOAD up on cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, nuts, salad dressings (ask for a cup and fill it up, you paid for salad dressing they didnt say how much you could take), salsa whatever you can think of. Just make sure it pays for itself, in most cases you can save at least a few bucks. In some cases you can save a Lot.
Got to run but we'll follow with more, and feel free to contribute!!
The more ideas and suggestions we get here the happier and cheaper we can all live!