Comments on: Squirreling Gone Wild #10 – People Serving Spoiled Food to Save Money

By: wickedcharley

wickedcharley — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 01:44:40 +0000

I laugh at your prim-and-proper piety! I am expert at shopping for, and using close-dated foods. Sealed packages, lack of tell-tale signs of spoilage, and a few other key things I look for, have saved me a bundle on food. Most use-by dates allow at least a week of lee-way, even on ordinary items. Certain items, like vinegar, lime juice, coffee and tea will sit on the home cupboard shelf for months before use– go look! You probably have some right now!
Other items can and do spoil– bagged nuts, for example– it’s the oil going rancid from air getting through the bag, most likely. But, please, stay squeamish! When the Recession hit, the local close-date food liquidator raised prices in response to the increase in shoppers.
Also, a friend told me that a coworker gave her some close-dated crackers; to feed to her goats. My friend thanked her, and put them in her cupboard. A penny saved…

By: Weiwen

Weiwen — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:47:17 +0000

As to fuzzies – localized bits of fungus on hard cheeses can be scraped off. On just about everything else, the whole lot has to go, unfortunately.

By: Weiwen

Weiwen — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 03:45:06 +0000

I confess – my wife and I have fudged some use by dates. For canned food, especially stuff which has a lot of salt, I think this is safe. Yoghurt can be fudged by up to a week. Milk – maybe a couple of days.

Of course, we are strict with meat. And we wouldn’t serve questionable food to guests.

By: Squirrelers

Squirrelers — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 01:16:22 +0000

Sherry – yikes! That’s a horror story. It’s strange how someone could be smart and wealthy yet also be that way. I would find a way to avoid eating there altogether, or call her out on it. That just my approach, and may not work for everyone:)

By: sherry

sherry — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 21:38:14 +0000

My mother-in-law marinades meat for that reason. Scrapes the fuzzy off too. Brags about how noone can tell the difference. The family won’t tell her how bad it is. She’s combined bad food and fed the family. I’ve found bandaids, finger nails, and I think it’s a rodent tooth (which I kept for proof) in my food. This woman is wealthy and smart too.

By: Budgeting in the Fun Stuff

Budgeting in the Fun Stuff — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 19:32:41 +0000

EWWWW!!! I have never served food past its expiration date to anyone else. I will personally cut off bits of spoiled cheese and eat the rest (like when one itty bitty green spot pops up on cheddar slices), but that’s the only food I make an exception for…in my mind, cheese is spoiled anyway I guess, lol. BUT I would NEVER serve anything like that to others…I don’t risk other people’s health.

By: Carnival of Money Stories #61

Carnival of Money Stories #61 — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:00:27 +0000

[...] tells us a quite a money saving scary story in Squirreling Gone Wild #10 – People Serving Spoiled Food to Save Money. Also don’t miss the other Squirreling Gone Wild stories, I laughed out loud at Starlight, [...]

By: Carnival of Money Stories Independence Day Edition

Carnival of Money Stories Independence Day Edition — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:04:59 +0000

By: thewisesquirrel

thewisesquirrel — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:50:38 +0000

Agreed COMPLETELY! I’m a stickler when it comes to expiration dates. It just isn’t worth it to eat food that’s not at its best. It’s past optimal safety, first and foremost – and secondarily, will lose taste. Not worth saving for that.

It’s fascinating to me what some folks do to save money. In these examples, they clearly went too far the way I see it.

By: Bucksome Boomer

Bucksome Boomer — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:23:15 +0000

It’s disgusting that people do these things let alone brag about them! Food safety trumps saving money every time. I guess your examples didn’t realize that spoiled food can kill.
Bucksome Boomer recently posted..4 Ways to Prepare for House Guests