“A human being is primarily a bag for putting food into” said legendary writer George Orwell in his 1937 non-fiction work The Road To Wigan Pier, an analysis of class and human nature. He even went so far as to say, “I think it could be plausibly argued that changes of diet are more important than changes of dynasty or even of religion.” With many normal dine-in restaurants now closed, how to get good food is on the minds of many people. We’ve assembled some ideas on how you can get a full belly for less during 2021.
Direct Mail
If you get mail in the United States, you are probably familiar with the large amount of junk mail which arrives in your mailbox every week. If you’re like many people, you probably stick that pile of papers straight into the trash (or recycle bin). But, if you look closely, you can spot many ways to cut down your food bills, and perhaps even increase the quality of what you’re eating.
One of the standard forms of junk mail is the local circular for the chain grocery stores. Grocery store chains such as Kroger, Safeway, and others, send out deals on food each week, with prices that are usually good from Wednesdays to the following Tuesday.
Another way to save money with your junk mail is to look for coupons of restaurants. Even if your local dine-in restaurants are closed, there are still a great many restaurants operating for to-go. You will usually find coupons for chain restaurants, but sometimes even local restaurants will sign up to send some direct mail with coupons. Some popular places that send coupons in junk mail include healthier options such as Subway, or some less healthy options such as Jack In The Box or Carl’s Jr. You can find more than just fast food coupons, though, if you look. Black Angus Steakhouse and Olive Garden are both regular contributors to junk mail coupons.
Signing Up For New Food Apps
One popular way to score a bunch of free food lately is to try one of the numerous food delivery services which operate with apps offered in the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. The list of services is endless, from Grubhub to Postmates to Ubereats and Caviar. Given the large number of these food delivery apps, they are competing for your business to get food to-go or delivered. Because of this, and because many of them are being backed up by large amounts of venture capital, they are willing to offer $10, $25, or sometimes more worth of free food. These may come in the form of a discount off your first order, or you might get a credit once you make your first purchase. You can ask your friends if they have any of these popular food delivery apps; many of them have “referral codes,” where your friend can copy a link from the app, and then you both get a certain amount of food for free.
Searching Online For Coupon Codes
If you aren’t getting your local grocery flyers in the mail, you can usually find the same flyers online at the websites of the grocery stores themselves. Likewise, if you aren’t getting direct meal with coupons for local restaurants, you can frequently search for coupons and deals online, with websites such as Honey or ReailMeNot. Honey tends to focus more on coupon codes for online retailers, while RetailMeNot is a place to find coupons for online stores and brick-and-mortar stores alike.
Club Stores
One tried-and-true way to save on food is to buy in bulk at stores such as Costco and Sam’s Club. With more people than ever needing to eat at home, making your trip to the grocery store count is a good rule of thumb. Costco has excellent prices on everything from meat to frozen food to produce, dairy, and eggs. You’ll have to buy a lot of it, but many things can be frozen, such as fresh meat, and their dairy and eggs tend to have good dates for expiration. One way to better stock up is by purchasing an extra freezer if you have room (they are surprisingly affordable at under $200). You can also make use of Tupperware and other plastic containers to keep the large sized-bags of items from bulk stores fresh while you are using them.