<p style="margin: 0px;">I've got a few favorites for eating cheap...</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Free dinners for the homeless / needy. In this area, many churches or organizations have free meals. They are usually nutritionally balanced and you can eat as much or as little as you like. Cost = zero. On Easter Sunday, Dad and I are going to a free breakfast at the Baptist church. We always hit the free meals around Christmas and Thanksgiving, too. Though we each have comfortable nest eggs, neither of us is working so the free meals help!</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Food pantries... These are a great source for freebies for those on a limited income. I used to regularly get peanut butter, fiber bars, fruit cocktail, etc... Basically, everything but meat is readily available at many pantries. Also, pantries are required to safely store canned goods... Just watch the dates. I NEVER eat anything expired even though you can for certain things.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* "Town wild" deals, "Mobi Deals", "Hey, it's half off" deals, etc. There are a million of these different half off companies advertising through local media. Restaurants (many of them in distress) use these companies to lure in customers. The restaurants only see about 25 cents on the dollar from these coupons sold by the various entities. If you can swing the expense, it's a great way to eat high on the hog for few dollars. Use them up quickly though - I've seen restaurants fold shortly after selling these vouchers.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Dollar salads at McDonalds. I usually have a couple every day or two days. The trick is to bring in your own leftover meat (ham, shredded pork, etc.) You can make a heck of a nice meal for $2.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Online coupons for places like Long John Silvers. LJS has a fantastic coupon good through 4/30/2012 for a fish sandwich for $1.19.... Normally it's $1.99. It's not the healthiest but I can work it in to the diet. I've become friends with the employees and they give Dad and I free pop all the time. The best part of online coupons is there is no limit to how many you can print. I will also do "buy one get one" on stuff and throw it in the cooler for later.</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Taco John's... They have a "salsa bar" with jalapenos, pico de gallo, etc. I buy a couple softshell chicken tacos on Softshell Sunday ($3.21 total) and open them up, heaping big piles of pico de gallo on each one. Total calories is about 450 for the meal and I get a ton of veggies that way. </p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* In this area you can collect box tops from Casey's (convenience store) for a free pizza after you collect 10. You'd be surprised how many you find laying around. I see them all the time when I'm walking in the poor areas. Does Papa John's still do the free pizza thing for so many box tops?</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* I have a friend at the Fareway grocery store who used to let me "sample" roast beef, ham, etc. He gave me big samples of several different kinds, usually amounting to quite a nice little meal. Unfortunately, he got busted by the boss. Now and then he'll slip me a generous "sample" if nobody is watching. </p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">* Do you like rotisserie chickens? I used to buy them all the time for $1.99 an hour before the Fareway store would close. They were great for several meals. One again, if you get to know employees, they can hook you up!</p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p><p style="margin: 0px;">This will be a fun thread to watch... Food is good but cheap or free food is extra good! <img border="0" align="absmiddle" src="/images/boards/smilies/smile.gif"></p><p style="margin: 0px;"> </p>
