Our friends know me as the ultimate scavenger.
If there's meat or a potato left on their plates, and they're not getting a doggy bag, I'll snag it for our dog's sake. (And sometimes ours, if the steak is uneaten.) We used to have a friend who washed dishes in a restaurant, and sometimes brought back a chicken breast or sandwich for his beloved Ruby. Meat is great, but garnishes or leftover vegetables add color and flavor to a casserole or soup; so do take-home cuplets of sour cream or barbecue sauce.
Then again, there are other ways to stretch your meal. One set of friends usually orders one entree for both; if it's skimpy, they'll get extra fries. (We've started doing this, too.) In the case of places where sides are unending -- Red Robin always has unlimited fries, including (drool) sweet potato fries -- we'll make them most of our meal, then take the half-eaten burgers home. I did even better at Chili's, using a current special: the Brick got unlimited chips and salsa, I got soup (two bowls, since it was supposed to be unlimited, too) -- and we took a LOT of our burgers home. (Too bad I had to argue with the waitstaff, who apparently hadn't seen the commercial. But eventually they took off the extra charges.)
'Freebies' like that translate into extra meals, when served with a salad or bowl of soup. That makes us happy. The crumbs and bits go into Ruby's supper bowl -- which makes her happy. (She gets some soup, too.)
Little things like this not only delight a Hollander like me. (And increasingly, the Brick.) They also really help stretch your budget for everything from food to furnishings. Case in point: my recent job working for elections.
*Snacks (brought by everyone, me included) kept us going through the dull periods. The last day, we all chipped in for pizza (a substantial lunch), and the county people brought over a 'snack basket' of chips and such. I snagged a leftover pizza slice (used as an appetizer with a supper bowl of clam chowder) and a few bags of chips to take home.
*Winter kale, pumpkins and pansies graced the planting pots outside the town hall. Some of the kale was overgrown; a few quick snips took off the damaged leaves, and gave me a handful of kale for a wonderful soup (recipe coming). (I really wanted to swipe one of the pumpkins, but behaved myself, even though they were 'mushy.' They would have made excellent pie.)
*Several long discussions inspired a coworker to bring in several plant clippings. I got permission to clip a few more off the plants in the town hall. Hooray -- fresh greenery for our new house! (Now I need to talk a friend into donating a strand or two of Christmas cactus.) Another lady gave me an elephant ear plant.
*The library was just across the street. During two lunch hours, I visited there -- including the used booksale room. I snagged a number of holiday videos ($2 each) and kids books (an astonishing 50 cents each). We'll keep a few, and the rest went to nieces and nephews for Christmas. (I also gave the coworker with the plants a book she admired.)
See what I mean? A free items here, a great deal there...it all adds up.
But it also means paying attention -- asking permission to pick the apples the neighbor isn't using. (Or grabbing the 'drops' off the sidewalk. No fair shaking the tree!) Replanting wilted pansies or iris roots from a friend's garden, or cloves for next season's garlic. Asking for the hambone from the ham brought for a holiday potluck -- because it's going to be thrown away. (Makes great soup -- and beans.) Using leftover fabric from another project to make a little quilt or potholder, accented by beads, buttons or sequins you scavenged from yet another project. (My current one will be framed by a string of purple LED lights from the dollar store. Also a bag of marked-down candy corn, for a friend who loves it.)
Sometimes you lose out: the item is already meant for someone else, or you didn't speak up in time. (The Brick and I both noticed a garden pot on a recent trash run to the dump -- and didn't say anything. Shame on us.) Sometimes you don't have room to store it. But more often than not, you'll not only be reducing waste, but saving money. It also lets you share generously with others. A pot of soup, or a refilled flowerpot -- it all adds up.
We learned this to our benefit with our recent house purchase. When you move into a house from a fifth-wheel, you don't have much to sit or sleep on! And much of our remaining furniture is still hibernating in a snowmobile trailer in Michigan. (Yes, we got the trailer for a bargain, and Niece/Nephew are kind enough to let us store it on The Mama's old farm.) We won't pick the storage trailer up until spring. Some careful bargaining, plus generous offers from friends, gave us enough to get by for now. But...
We tried to get the furniture included with the house; nothing doing. However, we did say the seller could leave anything he wanted to. Which ended up as:
*One beautiful leather chair (upstairs), a white chair, desk, tv and bookshelf (downstairs),
*A large bookshelf (in the office) and a few lamps. (We also found a wooden twin bedframe stuffed up on top of a wall unit. Not sure what to do with that.)
*A wall unit full of nails, bolts, screws, etc., along with several spray cans of paint and other doodads. Perfect for household jobs.
*A single tiny can of V-8 and a single cheesestick in the fridge (!!!), plus an odd mix of foodstuffs, including cornmeal, instant mashed potatoes, a single pack of cheese crackers...and smoothie mix. (???)
*The seller also left a big batch of older books and National Geographics on the bookshelf downstairs. But what we can't use, we'll donate. Same with the food.
His final offering was an odd one, discovered by friend Bert while looking for the septic system opening. There, under a wheelbarrow, was a fresh deer head, complete with rack. Ummmm... should we boil the head? Let the animals clean it off? Just saw off the rack and bury the rest?
Probably the latter -- but one of the strangest freebies ever.
