As a personal finance blogger, I tend to think about money a fair amount. It’s safe to say that those of us who write about money probably think about it more than the rest of the population would, on average.

Of course, sometimes we need to disengage from any and all thoughts about money, and simply enjoy certain aspect of our lives just for the sake of enjoyment itself. At times, it takes a certain event to get us thinking along those lines.

I got to thinking about one of those moments recently. The event occurred months ago at my daughter’s elementary school. Basically, they had a program in the classroom where one day a week – if there were volunteers – a parent would come in and read a story to the class. The parent would be there for maybe 20 to 30 minutes, then leave. The catch was that the kids didn’t know who would be coming in to read.  This person would be referred to as the week’s “Mystery Reader”.

So, I signed up to do this, and took a half day off work to make it happen. It was important to me, and something that I felt would bring such a great surprise to my daughter while giving her memories of the day that Daddy showed up at school and read to the class. I know that if that had ever happened when I was a kid (it didn’t), I would never forget it.

Anyway, on my designated day, I showed up and checked in at the main office. I felt like a little kid at the principal’s office, because that’s basically where I was! Like going back in time, and the building is from that era as it is, so it felt like it. Anyway, once I signed in, I was sent down to the classroom.

I subsequently knocked on the door, at the time the teacher was expecting me. The teacher then told the class that the Mystery Reader had arrived, and that they had to cover their eyes (and maybe have heads down too).  So, I walked in, and was directed by the teacher to the front of the class toward a chair, where I’d sit down and read a book that she gave me. Then, once I was situated, she told the kids that they could open their eyes.

The look on my daughter’s face was priceless. She seemed so surprised and so excited to see me there as the Mystery Reader!

When a kid’s parent is the Mystery Reader, they get to go to the front and sit next to the parent while he or she reads. So, with her next to me, I read the story to the class! They enjoyed it, so the teacher asked me if I’d read another short story and I did. Then, the class was allowed to raise their hands and ask questions. Three questions from the group were allowed, and my daughter was allowed to call on those who raised their hands. It was a fun experience, for myself and for her too!

And guess what? I spent no money on it whatsoever. Oh sure, I guess you could monetize that 1/2 day, but you know what I mean. There were no direct expenses on my part for that day at all. Zero. I just showed up and read to her class.

Even better: the amount of enjoyment she and I got from it was so worth it. A true memory was made, for parent and child. All for free.

Sometimes, the finer things in life are truly free! We just have to embrace those moments.

My Questions for You

Do you ever have instances that remind you about how some things are priceless and money can’t buy happiness?

Do you have any such memories from childhood?

July 4th is upon us, and it’s a day that I’ve always really enjoyed. Here in the U.S., it’s a day that people of course show their patriotism. The American flag, and it’s colors – red, white, and blue – show up more often around this day than any other time. It’s a day when people seem to slow down a bit and spend time with family and friends.

Here in the Midwest (Chicago), it’s a day where weather is usually quite warm, which is so enjoyable considering how long and cold the winters seem to be. It’s just a great celebration of summer, in my view.

What I really like, aside from time with family, are the parades and fireworks. I know this isn’t for everyone, but there’s something fun about getting out there with others in the community, and gathering to enjoy the festivities.  I especially like the fireworks. There’s just something about culminating a nice holiday by watching a nice display of fireworks.

Here’s another thing I like about the holiday festivities: they’re FREE!

Well, let’s just say there are almost free. Fireworks are probably already factored into your taxes.

Also, in terms of food and family/friend gatherings, things often tend to be a bit casual on July 4th. No chance for an elaborate meal like on Thanksgiving, for example.  For many folks, a simple meal works just well. It’s a big day for folks to grill or cook out.  Nothing too expensive.

July 4th is a winner all around. Fun, family/friends, flag waving, and in some ways, frugality!

What about you?

What do you like most about the July 4th Holiday?

Do you have any traditions with family and/or friends on the day?

How does a free meal sound to you?

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, we don’t want to follow the pattern of The Extractor , as those who read that story from Squirreling Gone Wild #18 realize. Also, we need to keep in mind that there are sometimes strings attached, and there might not truly be such a thing as a free lunch. To that latter point, we have to pick our spots to get free stuff. It can’t cause us to go out of our way, and it can’t influence our future purchasing decisions.

This 20th Edition of the Squirreling Gone Wild series shares a quick story of how a free meal for the family was happily brought home. Sometimes the little things can bring excitement, especially for a squirreler:)

Very recently, I had planned to spend some time running some errands during the mid-to-late afternoon. During this time, I was going to be heading by a particular restaurant which I happen to like.  This made it the perfect time to execute my free meal plan.

How did the free meal get obtained? Well, a few years ago, I had signed up for a few email clubs at some restaurants. Just 3, actually. I had forgotten about them, until recently receiving a series of emails indicating that I will get a free birthday meal at each of these establishments. Hooray! Free is good!

I ran my errands, and then stopped by the particular restaurant I had planned to visit. As I got out of my car, I looked down to the pavement and saw a rugged, dirty looking quarter sitting there.

“Cool!”, I thought. Who doesn’t like to find a coin? Rugged or sparkling, money is money. So, I walked into the restaurant, email printout in hand, and ordered that meal. Then, I ordered another dinner to take home as well.

At that point, I finished the deal by pulling out a gift card which still had a small balance left.  I got the card a few years ago, and it was just sitting there unused. Clearly, it was due to be enjoyed! Fortunately, it still had value.

So, with the combination of a free birthday meal and an old gift card, I walked out the door with two dinners that I made sure were likely among the most health-conscious choices on the menu, while paying nothing.

As I got to the car, I noticed that the minivan that was parked next to me when I got there was now gone. Then, I spotted a $1 bill by the curb next to where the van was. Sweet! I picked it up, put it in my wallet, and drove off.

Not a bad day! Two free meals, and earned $1.25 for the trouble of showing up.  Kind of like icing on the birthday cake, or perhaps a tip for showing up there.

I’ll be sure to keep my eyes open for these free birthday meals in the future, and suggest that you consider taking the simple step of signing up for them when you get the chance.

And yes, I realize that I probably got a little too excited over a free meal. My frugal streak comes through here in blazing colors, for better or worse.  But hey, it’s better to excited about doing it this way than how The Extractor gets free stuff!

What about you?

Have you had one of those times where you scored a free meal through coupons, email lists, or other like means?

Also, do any of you try to obtain free birthday meals?

Love it or hate it, Costco has become a phenomenon in many ways. A big warehouse filled with produce, dry goods, and frozen food. And that’s just the beginning. You can get books, clothes, computers…and even glasses when you visit these stores.

I just yesterday visited a local Costco on it’s very first day in business, basically it’s grand opening to the public. Now, it wasn’t my first trip to a Costco; I had visited several other stores multiple times. In fact, I was once a member. This time, I visited the new store with my father.

This particular experience was especially interesting, due to the opening of a new Costco location. The place was absolutely packed. There were shopping cart traffic jams everywhere, as people tried to make their way through the store. Picking up bits of conversation along the way, it was clear that there were some first-time Costco shoppers there.

Along the way, I had two major observations:

1) Many people go absolutely hog wild over the samples.

While of course most people were civil and normal, there were some people who were swarming over the sample tables like hungry wild animals going after raw meat. I don’t know if these people were new to Costco, or were there partially (primarily?) for the samples, but they went nuts. I saw a few adults walking briskly, almost at a jog, to get to the next booth of goodies.

There were tables with chips and salsa, cookies, bread and olive oil, pizza, meatballs, chicken, Korean beef and rice, prosciutto, coffee, cranberry juice….you get the idea. Lots of stuff.

One woman and her daughter rushed over to a booth where they were handing out shrimp, only to be told that they were out. The mother’s reaction was: “You’re OUT! Awwww….!” It reminded me of seeing a little kid get disappointed that she couldn’t find a toy at a store.

I was at another station where they were cooking chicken, in preparation for putting sample pieces in these little paper cups with a plastic spoon. I stopped there too, and paused to look at the others waiting. There were probably 8 to 10 people there, all staring at the lady prepping the food. Their eyes seemed glazed over as they just waited for the food to be ready. They looked like zombies. I quickly realized that I was one of them if I stuck around, so I grabbed my cart and moved elsewhere.

Getting free stuff really brings out interesting behavior in people. Those of you who are regular readers probably know that I get a kick out of such observations, as seen in the Squirreling Gone Wild series.

2) Impulse purchase opportunities abound

There are so many things that one sees at Costco that you just won’t expect. Whether it’s “specialty” products (such as seasoned quinoa/rice packs), or regular products (such as tortilla chips) at low prices, it’s easy to get carried away when you go to the warehouse.

I once couple carrying 5 or 6 giant bags of the aforementioned tortilla chips. It made me wonder: just how many chips are they going to eat? Maybe it was for family that would be visiting over the holidays. Who knows?

Anyway, I think shoppers at Costco need to be careful with such purchases. It’s easy to get carried away and buy more than you really need, just because the per-unit cost is low. This can actually be costly, if perishable food is purchased. For example, I saw an absolutely enormous tub of yogurt for sale. Unless one has a large family, or eats mind-boggling amounts of yogurt, some of that is at risk for spoiling.

So, how did we do at Costco?

Well, the good news is that we walked out of there with just a few purchases. Bought a big tray blackberries, a 12-pack of single-serve Greek-style yogurt, and a small toy for my daughter. And that’s it. Impulse purchases were successfully controlled, except for that toy for her. Really, I just wanted to check out the new store, and I came out of there unscathed.

As far as the samples go….well, let’s just say that I walked in a little bit hungry, and I walked out with no hunger at all:) Yes, I had good intentions of not having any food there, but gave in to a cup of salted, mixed nuts. Then some pasta (good, though I have seen a better spaghetti sauce recipe). Then a sample of pizza.  Then….well, you get the idea. There was a little bit of ”Squirreling” going on. I almost became one of those people - but hey, I was civil and polite about it.

In other words, I wasn’t like the ravenous wild animals I described earlier. Maybe you could say I was like a hungry, domesticated pet instead:)

So, do you ever shop at Costco? How do you approach your shopping experience there, or at other warehouse stores for that matter? Please feel free to share stories and even advice.

Maybe it’s because I live an area with four distinct seasons, but I really enjoy fall. I recently wrote about our fun fall tradition of apple picking, which happened a few weeks ago. Though it cost a fair amount, it was a great time indeed.  A great investment of time and money to make some fun memories with family, and enjoy the season.

This past weekend, I ventured off to our local botanical gardens here in the Chicago area. Above are some pictures of the gardens, which are really nice this time of year. It took me until the latter half of my 30′s to be a guy who could appreciate gardens, but I have seen the light:) If you have any nature conservatories close to where you live, I suggest giving them a try.

The best part about the visit to the botanical gardens: it was free! We had a pass to get in at no charge, and we bypassed the long lines to park as well. Convenient and free, that’s a good combination!

Do you have any special seasonal activities  – fall or otherwise – that you enjoy AND they are free?

Anyway, another weekend is upon us, and I hope you’re able to get out and enjoy it to its fullest!

One more thing:  I want to thank you very much for being a part of Squirrelers, and contributing to my blog. Whether you’re commenting, reading, lurking, or stopping by for the first time, I appreciate your interest!

Here are my updates and favorites for the week:

Squirrelers in Blog Carnivals

This week, Squirrelers was included in the following carnivals:

• Investor Sentiment Metrics: For the Ordinary Investor? was included in the Carnival of Personal Finance at Canadian Finance Blog
• Squirreling Gone Wild #16: The Crafty Waitress was included in the Carnival of Money Stories at Free Money Finance
• Squirreling Gone Wild #15: Loading Up on Free Samples was included in the Festival of Frugality at Fiscal Fizzle
• Do we Incur “Debt” Through our Childhood was included in the Canadian Finance Carnival at Canadian Finance Blog
• Keeping Social Security Numbers Safe was included in the Carnival of Wealth at Personal Dividends

Favorites from the Personal Finance Blogosphere

Below are a variety of articles that caught my attention this week. If you have time for some weekend reading, give these a try!:

• 10 Ways to Stop Multitasking & Be More Effective, at Pick the Brain 
• What is Your Service Tolerance Level?, at PF Firewall
• What is the Worst Tip (Restaurant/Bar) You Either Gave or Received, at Everyday Tips and Thoughts
• The Whether or Not to Follow Your Dreams Post, at Grumpy Rumblings of the Untenured
• Our Costs with a Propane Grill, at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff
• A Simple Test to Know if It’s Better to Rent or Buy a House, at Len Penzo
• Lesson 1: Pay Yourself First, at Free Money Finance
• How Long Should I Keep My Financial Documents, at Wealth Informatics
• Did Money Make a Difference in my Marriage Decision?, at Sweating the Big Stuff (post by Crystal at Budgeting In the Fun Stuff)
• All I Need to Learn About Money I Learned in Kindergarten, at Money Crashers
• Family Lessons in Frugality, at The Kitchen Sink
• Frugal Date Nights, at Prairie Eco Thrifter

Within the last few months, there was a controversy in Italy about a large batch of mozzarella cheese balls having a blue tint after being exposed to air.  The cheese was produced in Germany, and the issue created quite a stir in Italy. Around the world, it was a general interest story.

I have to say, when I saw the story, I immediately chuckled. Not because I want anyone in Italy, or anywhere for that matter, to consume cheese that is alarmingly discolored. Rather, it’s because it reminded me of a story from way back, when a college buddy of mine scored a free pizza.  This 13th edition of Squirreling Gone Wild will tell the story of frugality gone amok, with youthful craziness as the driving force behind it.

The college buddy of mine who obtained the pizza had his share of money saving antics, as I shared in several of the early editions of this series. This was no exception. The difference, however, is that he got something for free that he should have paid for.

I remember the important details of the evening well enough to tell the story, even though it was about 20 years ago. It was a weeknight, probably 10:00pm or so, and we were hungry. Both of us were committed enough to our grades at that point to spend the evening studying, though we didn’t study together. Rather, we met up later.

At that time, we were both hungry, but had very little cash on hand. Back then, there weren’t ATM’s around every corner, and many delivery places didn’t take credit cards. We had enough to go in for a pizza, but each of us would be left with little for the next day if we ordered it. We went ahead and ordered a smaller sized pizza anyway.

Once the pizza was delivered to us, we devoured it in no time. We were still hungry. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the money to have any more food delivered to us, and we had no food available.  This is where my friend decided to take matters into his own hands. He called the pizza place, and told them that the pizza they delivered had spoiled cheese. When they asked what the pizza looked like, he improvised.

“The pizza has blue spots on it”, he said.

The pizza place argued with him and told him that they had had never heard of blue spots on cheese. Nevertheless, he insisted that this one did, and that we should get a replacement pizza.

They sent the driver back to us, and within 45 minutes or so he called to tell us he was outside.  We went out to get the pizza, and saw that he was considerably less friendly than he was when he delivered the first pizza.

“Where’s the pizza with the blue spots!” the driver demanded to know.

“Uhhh, we threw it away”, my friend said. I stood there and said absolutely nothing.

The driver shoved the pizza at us as he handed it off, and said that he would tell his management. We walked back inside and started laughing. This wacky tall tale had just landed us a free pizza, and took care of our hunger for the evening.

At the time, I thought it was funny, and still do. But deep down, I knew that it was wrong.

Now, I didn’t do any talking. I didn’t come up with the idea, nor did I call them or talk to the driver outside. Nevertheless, I did eat the free pizza which was obtained by less than straightforward means.

That’s taking frugality to the level of cheating.

Anyone that reads Squirrelers has probably picked up on my insistence on being fair when trying to get a good deal, and not taking advantage of others. Clearly, that one evening as a college kid, I did something different than that.

What about you? Have you had any youthful indiscretions when it comes to taking frugality too far?

Don’t worry, it’s ok to confess:)

This article was included in the Festival of Frugality at Canadian Finance Blog

I recently went to see a movie with my 7 year old daughter.  It was going to be a great Daddy and Daughter time, just the two of us having a fun few hours.

I had promised her a chance to see the most recent Shrek movie, and she was excited about it. For me, there was excitement because this might be the last movie in the Shrek franchise:) That said, I was looking forward to the movie because of the chance to share in her excitement, and to have a fun Sunday afternoon together.

So we went to the theatre complex, I parked the car, and we walked in. We saw on the marquee that the movie was playing in three forms:  normal screen, 3-D, and 3-D on an IMAX screen. For those that haven’t experienced it, the IMAX is pretty cool – you get to see the move on a much larger screen and in higher resolution. The sound systems are typically very good, so the overall experience is different but a bit better in my opinion.

Anyway, my daughter saw that it was showing in IMAX and got excited about the possibility of seeing the movie in that particular format. She really wanted to go. So, what does a dad do? I said yes. Couldn’t resist, and actually, I didn’t think about the consequences. Perhaps it was a few dollars more, I thought, but I really didn’t give it much more thought than that. I just thought of her happiness and excitement.

So we walk up to the ticket counter, and I ask for one adult ticket and one child ticket. The cashier promptly said: “That will be $30.50 please”.

I paused. I did a double take. I thought to myself…$30.50? Really? Are you KIDDING me?

So, I asked the cashier how much the other options were. She said it would have been $14.50 on a conventional screen, $23 to see it in 3-D, and $30.50 to see it in 3-D on IMAX.

I looked down at my daughter, with those puppy dog eyes of hers looking up to me, and I said to the cashier: “That’s fine. Here’s my card.” Then I let my daughter hand the card over (by the way – that’s not my daughter in the picture; kids aren’t growing up that much faster these days!)

So, as we walked into the theatre and to our seat, she said: “Daddy, these tickets are expensive.” Feeling like I had already said enough about money after questioning the cashier, I told her that it was ok and that I was glad that we were going to have fun.

Then, she surprised me, as kids often do to their parents. She said: “It’s a good thing you used your credit card so we didn’t have to give them any money.”

I paused, and thought to myself, surely she doesn’t think these were free. A few months back, she had shown some surprising maturity for such a young kid, when she told me about saving and investing. This time, it looked like another learning opportunity to teach a child the value of money.  Just to confirm, I asked if she thought that using a credit card means that we weren’t paying anything.

Her answer: “If you use your credit card to get something, it means it’s free!”

So, I tried to explain to her that if that were the case, then wouldn’t everybody use them?

“Yes”, she said. “If they don’t make what you buy free, then how do they work?”

I quickly came up with an example. I started by saying, “let’s pretend that you buy 10 hamburgers in a month, for $1 each. With a credit card, you can charge them each time, and then pay all $10 at the end of the month.”

She immediately said, “But I don’t like hamburgers that much!”

OK – I forgot that I was talking to little kid here! Let’s try again, I thought.

“Well, instead let’s pretend that you bought a barbie doll for $10″, I said. “If you pay with cash, you will pay the store $10 right away. If you pay by a credit card, you don’t pay them right away – but will pay in a month after the credit card company sends you a bill.”

“Why would you do that?”, she said.

“You would pay them because you owe them. Since the credit card company let you buy the things with their card, you will owe them later”, I said. “It’s not fair for them to let you buy things, and then you don’t pay them back.”

I think she got that, from her expression.

Then I added, “the good thing is that you can buy even more things, add up the cost, and pay them the total when the send you the bill. So if you got another Barbie two weeks later, and it was also $10, how much would you then owe the credit card company?”

She thought about it, and said, “You would have to pay them $20″. I was pleased – she figured out how the payment process works. At least that part of the equation was understoon, which is a good start!

Ultimately, I can’t pretend credit cards don’t exist. They do. Some even offer cash back, such as Chase Freedom Ulimate Rewards. I want her to eventually have an understanding of their proper use, the need to never carry a balance or pay interest/late fees, and the benefits of cash.

Overall, this experience reinforced and also taught me a few more things about kids and money:

1. Don’t assume that they understand what appears obvious to you. Clearly, we all know that credit card doesn’t equal free. While far too many adults still charge away like there are no consequences, if you’re reading this or other personal finance blogs, you probably don’t do that. But if some adults actually do have difficulty understanding some basics, then it’s certainly understandable how kids have their own learning curve as well.
2. When explaining a concept to kids, keep it simple. Instead of complicating it as I initially did, I changed tactics and talked about one barbie doll instead of 10 hamburgers. One purchase makes it a simpler concept.
3. Make it interesting. Talking about hamburgers got her distracted. Talking about something she likes, Barbie dolls, kept her engaged.

Have you had any experience teaching kids about credit cards – whether younger child or teenager? Any tips to share with us?

This article was published in the Carnival of Money Stories at Sweating the Big Stuff

Last week, I left the office during the lunch hour, and went to grab a quick bite to eat. I work in Chicago, so there is frequently a lot of “hustle and bustle” in the middle of the day. People in suits, business casual folks (like me), tourists – people from all walks of life are out enjoying the city. Late Spring, Summer, and Early Fall in Chicago are beautiful, and I think it’s that reality plus the harsh reality about the brutal weather the rest of the year, that brings people outside.

As I walked down the street, I saw up ahead a group people in short-sleeved, collared shirts – like they were representing a company – stopping people as they walked and motioning them over to the right. This isn’t uncommon, as people in major cities and tourist areas are always trying to sell something to people passing by. In this case, however, I can see that instead of the usual quick brush off, people were stopping to pay attention.

As I got closer, I sensed a vibe of excitement from the people milling about, so I stopped to see what was going on. As it turns out, the people dressed in those short-sleeved collared shirts were pointing people to a stand that they set up, where you could get a free sandwich. I quickly figured out they were promoting a new TV show, which is to be aired nationally on a major cable network. As a part of their promotional campaign, they were stopping folks on the street and offering free sandwiches while mentioning the name of the show and when it will debut.

I was hungry, so I thought to myself: why not?

As I took the sandwich, a guy also handed me what looked like a mini DVD which promoted the show. This DVD, which is what I assumed it was, was very tightly wrapped.

Anyway, I didn’t care about show, I was just happy about the FREE LUNCH!

It was a good sandwich: BBQ pulled pork, very tasty (probably not healthy, but it was good), and filling. And FREE!

As I walked away, I took a look at the mini DVD, and got curious. So, remembering that, I saved it for later that evening, and opened it up. As I mentioned before, it was tightly wrapped, so it actually took a couple of minutes to get the thing open. Then, after looking at the DVD, I got curious about the show. I didn’t try to play the DVD, as I set it aside. What I did do, however, was go online and spend about 10 minutes looking at information on the show.

Then it hit me: I probably spent 15 or 20 minutes of my time when you add up opening and looking at the DVD, and going online out of curiosity. This was for the sandwich that would probably sell for $5 tops.

The company’s strategy worked: give me the sandwich, make me aware of the show, make me try to look up information on the show. The next would be for me to tune in, and at this point, I’m curious.

They won. No regrets at all from me, but they got what they wanted.

That sandwich wasn’t free. As my Dad always liked to tell me when I was a kid: There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Thanks for that advice, Dad!

Every now and again, there are some things that come across the web that are quite interesting. As an adult male, and father of two, I like to think that most of what I find “cool” is in the realm of topics such as finance, health, world affairs, sports, travel, and things of the like. Much of that is true – I do enjoy those topics, though personal finance has been getting my online time of late with my blog.

That said, I just very recently came across something cool – the Pac-Man game on Google. For free! As a squirreler, you know that I think free is good – as long as it’s not taking advantage of anyone or resulting in a loss of self-respect. And this neither – it’s actually pretty neat.

I gave it a shot for a few minutes today, and found it to be a nice little diversion. I just used my keyboard arrows to navigate the Pac-Man, and it played like a mini version of the old game that many of us played as kids. I made it through the first screen, as my Pac-Man devoured all the dots, including the larger power dots that allow Pac-Man to turn the tables on the monsters. Yes, my guy ate a few of the scurrying blue monsters!

That got me thinking….wouldn’t it be cool to have the real thing? You know, a full-size Pac-Man game? Ok, maybe you wouldn’t find it so cool. I haven’t thought about this either, at least not since being a child. But now that I got another taste of Pac-Man in this free Google game, I had that same childhood wish come back to me.

It’s funny how some of those things don’t really leave you. Maybe it’s a case of wanting something because you know you could never have it as a kid, and what you can’t have you want even more. Very common psychological phenomenon, indeed. I know of one person who always wanted a horse, as she loved horses as a kid, but never got one. I’m guessing she still wants a horse. I talked to a friend recently who always wanted to go to see the Super Bowl in person, but as a kid always watched it on TV – and as a young adult couldn’t afford it. This past Super Bowl, he splurged for tickets and went to the game in person with his wife. He always wanted to do it as a kid, and it was out of his reach then – but not now, so he made that dream happen.

I tend to be more focused on practical financial goals these days, and am not really going to go buy a Pac-Man game. That said, it’s fun thinking about what would be cool to have that we have always wanted.

Is there anything from your childhood that you couldn’t have then, but could probably afford now? Something that isn’t practical, but would satisfy a long-term want?

This post was included in Carnival of Money Stories #56 at Personal Finance Analyst

Do you like food? Yes, of course, we know that we have the same answer to that question. Now, how about FREE food. I’ll bet that most of us think that sounds good too!

When it comes to free food, some questions might arise as to why the food is free.  As I have been quoted before, I think that frugality goes too far when you’re taking advantage of others, or lose your self-respect. That said, there is one source of free food that I have seen enthusiastically embraced, which is the topic of this 6th installment of Squirreling Gone Wild: The Office.

I don’t mean the television show, but I mean “at the office” at which you or someone you know works. The office with lots of cubicles, copy machines, printers, water coolers, executive corner suites…..and people.

About those people….

In a position from way back when, I observed that some very smart, highly professional individuals became just a bit different when it came to how they handled free food in the office. The free food would come in three primary ways:

1) It would be a free lunch, as a part of a meeting that one attended

2) It would be set out for all to eat, in the form of snacks sent by a supplier (pretzels, popcorn, etc)

3) There would be leftovers from a larger, executive-level meeting where some “good” food was served, and then set out in the common areas for everyone else to share.

With #1 above, people were professional in getting food at meetings. With #2, the snacks were nice but not enticing enough to change behaviors. With #3, all heck broke loose!

Now, it was civilized, but when the “free” food from meeting leftovers was left out, it would be gone in a hurry. Typically there would be restaurant-quality sandwiches, pizza, salad, cookies, brownies, and things of the like. The food would be rolled out on a cart, and left in a common area.

It was a typical scene: when the cart rolled by, and someone audibly commented words to the effect of “hey, there’s food!”, the reaction was as if someone in shallow water at the beach yelled “SHARK!!!”. People within earshot got up out of their cubes and scrambled to get the food. Within minutes, the food would be half gone – just as a result of those in proximity to the food.

Next, an email would typically be sent out. This would usually happen right as the food was set out, and as the first people nearby realized there was food. The emails would have a subject that usually had something very simple such as “Food”, and the body of the email would indicate where the food was stationed.

At that point, when people instantly opened their new email, the stampede was on. You would see plenty of people stand up in their cubes, like prairie dogs shooting out of a hole in the ground, looking in the direction of the food. Then, they would politely get up and walk toward the food. They weren’t running, or overtly doing anything uncouth, but they were like heat-seeking missiles, walking briskly toward the food. It was a sight to behold, as you would never see people move so quickly in the office – even for a fire drill. All done politely, but with a purpose: FREE FOOD!

As can be expected, there was one individual who went over the top. She seemed to have a sixth sense for the food coming out, as she would always seem to be in the mix of people with this food. When she did get it, she would go against the “protocol” of taking only one sandwich, cookie, etc – and take multiples. Further, she would come back after a while and take whatever leftovers were still there after nobody wanted anymore. I saw here walking with a huge salad container one time, and just laughed  – she did too! That thing looked like it could feed a family for dinner.

This “outlier” individual said that she spent only $100 per month on food, as she was able to use enough leftovers from the office that nobody wanted. Apparently, eating grilled chicken pesto sandwiches 4 days in a row was no problem for her!

I’m guessing this overall scene might be typical for large offices. What do you think? Is this sensible frugality, or extreme frugality gone too far?

This article was featured in Festival of Frugality #280 at Penniless Parenting.