So similarly, now that I've gotten more "extreme", people ask me the same questions cos... it's the same thing in a different form.
It's pretty much like... "I'm interested in getting stuff free, but my partner isn't too keen..." etc etc...
Let's address their concerns. I do not deny that all this is pretty radical. Getting free stuff breaks a lot of our mental structure of the world, and many people straight out conclude that it cannot be good.
Like my previous article on "nothing free can be good"
I discussed with my wife a lot about this. Cos... duhz... it's a hard pill to swallow, and many people don't catch on as easily. It's the same as early retirement not everyone is going to be able to accept it. Some people get it, some people don't.
Let's assume you partner is somewhat logical. Cos if he/she isn't logical or rational, then there's nothing to really talk about.
The easiest free thing to obtain is free vegetables. Cos the community has arranged with a shop owner for him to pass them the unsold stock at the end of some days. So it doesn't even touch the rubbish. They are handed over in nice boxes or rattan baskets and brought over to a less conspicuous location and the people in the community just help themselves like they were going marketing.
Are they the best produce? Of course not, they are the stuff left over from the stall owner. He has sold the better stuff. But it's free.
The idea is this... you buy 10 apples for $10, you get to select nice round ones, etc etc...
I get 100 apples for free, I cut off all the parts that I don't like and dump them... usually around 20%, but for the sake of discussion... let's say I dump 50%... so I get around 50 apples worth, but they are cut up in pieces...
So it really depends on your partner... if he/she is willing to accept 50 apples worth for free, but they are cut up in pieces, or if he/she is more inclined to buy 10 nice apples at $10... that's their choice.
The stall they get this from is a vegetable stall so it's likely that it's going to be cucumbers instead.
But there's a variety of other stuff...
The cost to all of this? Well... you have to travel to the stall, in the evening around 10+pm cos we have to wait for the stall to close, transport it back home and clean them up and cut them up... It's not that there's no cost to it. There IS a cost, it's just a different cost. Most of the folks who do this gather enough food for a week or 2, to make the trip worth it.
My wife was ok with this. It sounded reasonable and not particularly extreme. But she tells me to do it myself cos it's late at night and she would rather sleep.
The next easy thing is bread... Depending on how it is managed.
There are 2 ways to get free bread.
Some people ask the shops directly for free unsold bread at the end of the day. They can arrange with the bread shop to collect these unsold bread, which are usually 20-50 and above...
If your partner cannot accept this then something is very wrong...
Cos this is the same as buying buns and leaving it on your table and eating it in the evening.
Why many of the folks within the community don't do this is cos there is too much bread. If we talk to bakeries to get their buns, we need to commit to get the buns on a regular basis and getting 20-50 pieces PER DAY, is not easy to handle and pass to others. And it's not nice that we ask the bakeries for bread and they pass it to us, then we can't finish it and we dump it anyway, what would the bakeries feel? It's like they make special effort for this arrangement and you dump it anyway.
So what the folks do is... well they collect the bread from the dumpster... so it starts to get a bit gross for some people...
As many of you all know, some of stalls in Singapore individually wrap their buns in plastic already for easy consumption. What the stall does is, they put all these buns into another plastic bag, tie it up and put it in the dumpster.
The buns are clean in their individual wrappings when taken out of the dumpster, cos the only thing touching the dumpster is the big carrying plastic bag...
OK I admit most people start to be grossed out at this point... they can understand the logic behind it. They shouldn't be grossed out, but they are... I'll leave it at that.
My wife is somewhat accepts both these logics. But I haven't brought bread back for the house cos we don't have a bakery nearby and I don't go out late at night.
I've consumed such baked goods before cos they are regularly brought to gatherings by other members.
Next is expired products from the Food Bank.
Food Bank is an organization which distributes food to other organizations.
If the food is about to expire, they will sell it at Food Pantry at Geylang area for $1 per item.
Once it passes the "best before date" they are unable to sell it and pass it on to the folks in the community.
And they are in large quantities, in the thousands of bottles. All sealed, but past the best before date.
The only problem is that it's pretty inconvenient to collect and you have to take a carton which is really too much for normal people to finish easily.
I had 9 liters of fruit and vegetable juice, I have only finished 1.5 liters, and gave away 3 liters.
I still have 4.5 liters left. (4 sealed tetra packs.)
Similarly... different people have different feelings to best before date.
My wife is ok with this.
Best before date is a marketing gimmick. It means that the company believes that this item is in it's BEST condition before this date. Meaning in terms of crispiness, etc etc. It doesn't mean it spoils AFTER the date.
Food isn't so smart to check a calendar to determine the date to turn bad.
Here's an easy swallow YouTube about expiration dates.
But similarly... if you or your partner isn't logical/rational, then...
Moving on.
There are also dedicated chat groups where people post about events which have left over food.
Like in some schools, they regularly cater food for the people who attend the seminars and everyday, there is excess food. These chat groups try to highlight where there is excess food and post the location and time to go to eat a free buffet...
There is proper etiquette to do this. Of course there are bad eggs who don't follow the etiquette, in every group there are people who try to be funny.
So the rules are pretty much, go and wait for the participants to finish their food, ask the organizers for approval to consume the remaining buffet, the organizers own the food, not the caterers. With the approval, eat as per normal, some organizers even allow take away to help reduce food wastage.
If you've ever attended an event late, and some of the food is already finished... well this is the same as that... so once again, if your partner can't accept this... then... likely there's very little which can be done to convince your partner.
I personally haven't done this, cos it doesn't suit my timing.
Like what I said previously, I use this mentality to integrate into my life, I only do things which are convenient for me.
Next is picking up stuff from the void deck... not dumpster diving...
Ok Singapore is a safe country right, most people don't steal... So if your friend gives you a shelf and you aren't at home some people say leave it in the riser... Quite normal these days with all the deliveries of online merchandise.
So let's say the riser isn't big enough. And you are 100% no one is going to steal the item... Your friend says, "Hey I just leave it on the floor in front of your door."
I don't think you have any issues with that?
What if your friend says, "Hey I can't find your unit... Since you are sure that no one will steal this, I'll just leave it beside the lift, you can pick it up on your way home."
I think you will be ok with that too?
How about if the friend says, "I can't find your block, I'll just leave it at the void deck of Block 111 instead. You pick it up later."
You should be ok with that...
Err... ok??? So what's the problem with picking up stuff from the void deck...
So once again, if your partner can't accept this then...
My wife is somewhat ok with this depending on what I bring back.
Strictly no fabric stuff. Cos there's the possibility of sweat, piss, bed bugs, whatever.
I agree with this. I myself have concerns, so I don't take fabric stuff.
There's a lot of other stuff I don't take as well. There's concern with termites and other issues... but I won't dwell on that.
I basically have an agreement with my wife on what should/can be brought back.
Dabao-ing excess food...
I previously used to just leave the fries and mashed potatoes which I can't finish at the restaurant.
Now, if there's enough for a serving, I'll ask for take away.
I use the mash potatoes and fries as a soup thickener, basically, it makes a watery soup thicker and tastes like cream of ABC soup instead... this is something like a potage.
No, I don't ask to dabao other peoples food, from other peoples tables...
When I visit my parents on the weekends, they regularly cook excess food, I ask to take home some. Else it goes to my sis or the bin... so might as well take home some stuff for myself to cook for the rest of the week.
I have been to a vegetable hunt as well where I got free vegetables from a vendor at a wholesale market. I didn't take much as I was not prepared as it was an impromptu decision to attend the event.
Ever since I came back from overseas... Already close to a month... I have not bought any groceries.
(Except for a small 250ml packet of milk.)
I don't want to talk about dumpster diving... cos if your partner can't get past the easy stuff, dumpster diving is definitely a strict no-no...
So let's put this down simply...
There's a difference between facts and beliefs...
Both have a chance to influence our thoughts and behaviour. I recognize that.
To me, it's important to understand the difference.
Like... I know that a cooked pigs brain is absolutely fine to consume. This is served in Malaysia and Taiwan and other countries. I have ordered this once in Malaysia. Logically, I know that eating it is fine, but psychologically, I couldn't get over it so I didn't eat it, whereas, my wife ate it without much issue.
And that's all fine.
I'm not saying that just cos it's logical, everyone needs to follow it. Different people accept different things.
So if your partner is willing to listen to facts and is open to changing his/her mindset upon hearing the facts, then that's good and they might be open to new ways to save money, or be frugal.
If your partner understands the facts but cannot get over the beliefs, then that is just an unfortunate situation. But at least admit that it is the beliefs that is holding him/her back.
The worst situation is when the partner isn't willing to admit that it is a beliefs issue, and argues with illogical points to try to disprove facts. That is the worst situation cos that just leads to unnecessary arguments.
Usually in this case, the partner KNOWS that the facts are correct, but does not want to admit that he/she is illogical, so instead, they try to use flawed arguments to justify themselves for not taking the logical route.
Being illogical and following beliefs is absolutely fine... usually...
Humans are created irrational and we have to accept that as part of us.
I don't eat bugs, but I know bugs are part of certain cultures regular food source. That doesn't mean I say that they are gross. It's just something that I, personally, don't do.
If this happens, then I think it might be better to just forget it. It's really not worth unnecessary arguments.
Cos to me... it's really about how to save more money in various other ways.
If I can get a 20% discount... good, if I can get a 50% discount, even better...
If I can get it free... Woah best...
This goes in line with the frugality mindset. It's just looking for other ways to save money.
Some people carry different credit cards for different promotions, some people cut coupons, some people collect NTUC/Cold Storage points to get Jamie Oliver knives cheaper, and some people go and get free vegetables from shops.
It's all part of saving money.
It's not always about opening dumpsters.
Rather it's a mindset... instead of asking... is there a discount on this item, the new way of thinking I use is now... is there a way I can get this for free in a form acceptable to me.
If not, then I still look for discounts.
When I go out with my wife on weekends, I still continue to go to restaurants and spend as per normal. It's not that life has changed very much, but my mindset is now different. Cos now that I know that some stuff is available for free, I now question, what OTHER stuff can I get for free to save even more money.
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