It’s no secret that I love to save money. Maybe it comes from the way I grew up or maybe it has just become a game to me over the years, but either way; I love it. Sometimes it is a necessity and others not. While I love finding new ways to save money period, one of my all-time favorite ways are the ways that I use to get free food every month!
Over the years it really has become a game to see the ways that I can find free food. These days though, it seems as if more and more people will need to find free food sooner rather than later and it will be out of necessity.
How I Get Free Food Every Month Without Leaving Home
If you are currently in a situation where you did not have a stockpile for an emergency and you’re currently trying to build a pandemic food supply, you may soon find yourself trying to find ways to get free food for your family.
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It’s because of the current conditions in the world that I wanted to take the time to update this post tand make it relevent. Not all of these ways to get free food will work for everyone.
That’s okay.
You might not even be comfortable or able to do all of them.
Again, that’s okay.
Take the ideas that work for you and your family and leave the rest for another day.
How imporant is it to have an emergency budget?
Just because your’e looking for free food does not mean that you don’t have any morey. It may just mean that money is super tight or that you weren’t able to pick up any extra for your stockpile if an emergency hit.
In cases like this, it is super important to take the time learn how to create an emergency budget for your family. You will be glad you did.
Earn a Free Gift Card
There are plenty of ways to earn free gift cards online that will help you get food that is technically free. If you’re not paying anything out of pocket, it’s free for you even if you “buy” it.
Earning gift cards online is a great way to boost money you don’t have while getting your family the things they need.
I have an entire list of ways to earn free gift cards HERE but I will tell you right here that my two favorites are Swagbucks and InstaGC.
When you sign up for an InstaGC account, you’ll have the chance to earn points for surveys, watching videos, completing offers and more. Once you have enough points – $1.00 minimum – you can cash them out for an instant gift card or instant Paypal cash payment. Amounts under $25 are instant.
You can check out InstaGC HERE.
Swagbucks takes a bit longer to get your gift card or Paypal, but they’re also incredibly easy to earn from. When you sign up for a Swagbucks account, you will earn points for searching the web, playing games, watching videos and even simple tasks such as printing coupons.
They have hundreds of gift cards to choose from including virtual Visa cards and Paypal options.
You can check out Swagbucks HERE.
Side Note: Looking for a few new tools to help you save more money? Be sure to check out my favorite money saving tools HERE. You can’t go wrong with them!
Regrow it in your own kitchen
Walk into my kitchen and you might think I’ve lost my mind. You’ll see onion slices in water glasses, carrot tops in small pots and even celery bottoms in various stages of water/dirt regrowth.
Regrowing vegetable from scraps you already have is a great way to find free food for yourself if you don’t already have a garden planted.
Obviously you will need to either have the vegetables on hand or buy them, but for most vegetables that will regrow from scraps; you can regrow them over and over again without having to repurchase them.
Turn Scraps into Something New
I know this way to get free food sounds an awful lot like the last one, but I mean different things. In this case, I mean literal scraps.
You might be surprised at how many foods you can create with the scraps of another or uses you can find for those scraps.
For instance, bread crumbs can be used to coat meats with to make a coating. Beef fat can be rendered into tallow. Chicken fat can be rendered into lard.
The more ways to use food scraps you can find, the more “free” food you will have. This list of 200 things to make and stop buying has quite a few ideas for ways to use scraps.
Forage
Your yard and the area around you is very likely full of edible weeds and flora that are just waiting for you to realize they are free food. In my own yard alone I have several different types of wild edibles including dandelion which makes one of my favorite herbal teas.
The lake that my husband and I love to fish at has wild raspberries growing near it.
In other words; wild edibles are literally everywhere.
For instance, you can learn how to forage mushrooms for free.
And the dandelions in your yard are edible in all parts of the plant.
Or elderberry which can be used to make elderberry tea, elderberry syrup or elderberry jam.
If you have never foraged before, I do recommend you pick up a good book on foraging and download a plant identification app before you get started.
Having both on hand will help ensure you don’t make a mistake and eat something you shouldn’t.
Side Note: If you receive government assistance, you can shop with EBT with Prime Pantry.
Amazon even offers an EBT only rate for their shoppers. You can learn more about how to receive a discounted Amazon Prime cost HERE.
Hunt or Fish
If you know how, hunting and fishing are great ways to provide free food for your family if you already have the skills and the equipment already.
It’s an incredibly easy way to provide food for your family. I’ve done it and I can vouch that if you give it the time it needs, you can absolutely feed your family all winter long with nothing more than a fishing pole.
Obviously, when fishing or hunting for food, you should abide by all local laws, hunting seasons and any regulations.
It won’t help you at all if you end up with a huge fine or go to jail.
Trade with Others
Bartering is a skill that has long been forgotten about but its a skill that is incredibly useful. If you have a close friend or neighbor with a garden or livestock such as backyard chickens, consider a trade.
Keep in mind that trades do not always have to be the same type of items. Just because you’re looking to trade for food does not mean that you need to give them food in return.
That would rather defeat the purpose, wouldn’t I?
Instead, see if you’re able to barter something else such as a service. They may need their lawn mowed, their children babysat or even something more simple as needing their jeans mended.
If you don’t already have skills that I think everyone should have, now would be a fantastic time to learn them.
Side Note: Before you shop online, make sure you have taken the time to sign up for Rakuten (formerly Ebates). Rakuten has a special relationship with hundreds of different stores and sites that benefits you very well. When you shop through Rakuten, Rakuten earns a small commission. They then turn around and give you a portion of this commission back as cash-back!
Yes, you read that right. They pay you to shop! Plus, when you sign up for a Rakuten account using THIS link, you’ll score $10.00 FREE with your first shopping transaction of $25 or more!
Visit a Food Pantry
Finally, if you have absolutely exhausted all other avenues for finding free food for your family and your babies are hungry, swallow your pride and visit a food pantry.
However, I do want to caution you on this pone; pantries are meant to be a help when you truly need them. If you do not, please leave them for those that are in more dire situations than you.
In a time when store shelves are bare, pantries giving their stock to those truly in need is more important than ever.
Looking for more emergency prep ideas? These may help:
Are you preparing for a pandemic? Let me show you how to build a food supply for a pandemic on a budget AND what foods to start building your pandemic food supply with!
Is your budget ready for an emergency? If not, let me help walk you through how to create an emergency budget step by step! You never know when you might need it.
Stocked up on eggs? Worried they’ll spoil before you can use them? Let me show you how to preserve eggs for long-term storage with NO refrigeration needed! It’s super simple and you’ll be amazed at how well it works!
Hi Stacy! Your post was very informative and I have joined four of the sites you recommended. My issue is that the survey’s don’t seem to be going well for me. You stated that you were able to make enough to garner about five dollars a day on Instagc. I have worked it now for 3 days attempting to get that much per day and have spent HOURS trying to do so. Any more advice about how to hit that mark?
Hi Lesley, make sure you’re clearing your cookies after each survey or offer. Sometimes that can help. Also, if you look in the upper right of the InstaGC screen there’s a ? that has a guide with a lot more tips to help.