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4 ways to get a discount on your groceries and save 80%, including free food app

Jeffrey Bailey — Sat, 16 Mar 2024 07:13:18 +0000

FAMILIES can reduce the cost of weekly shopping by preventing produce from being thrown away.

British supermarkets throw more than 230,000 tonnes of food into the bin every year, according to waste-reducing charity Wrap.

Rosie Taylor tries out four ways to do groceries cheaplyCredit: Louis Wood – Commissioned by The Sun

But you can get discounts of 80 percent or more by saving items that would otherwise be thrown away.

Rosie Taylor tries four ways to get groceries cheaply this week. . .

TOO GOOD TO GO APP

Head to the Too Good To Go app to pick up a “surprise bag” of leftovers from restaurants and stores for about 70 percent off — but it’s luck what you get.

An Aldi shipment, supposedly worth £10, cost me £3.30 but turned out to contain new food worth £18.14.

An Aldi freight that cost £3.30 via the app but contained new food worth £18.14

This Morrisons freight was also less than a third of the price

There were two cartons of eggs (normally €1.35 each), which were not past their expiration date for another week.

It also included a chicken meal and turkey fillets (both normally £3.49) which I froze for later.

But I had to throw away deli meats and a spread with that day’s expiration date because I couldn’t eat them in time.

I also tried a Morrisons Too Good To Go bag but when I arrived to collect it at the stated time of 5.30pm there were no discounted products available so a cashier made me a bag.

I paid £3.09 for £10.65 worth of dated produce, including a salad (normally £1.50), some Jacob’s crackers (£1.30) and Chantenay carrots (£1.25),

Maddy Alexander-Grout, who runs the consumer app Mad About Money, says she normally has a positive experience with Morrisons on the discount app.

Avoid supermarket purchases that are a waste of money, buy your pizza cheaper in another aisle and avoid a mistake with fruit and vegetables

She recently got £45 worth of vegetables in her £3 bag.

“It’s a great way to get a lot of things at once for a low price,” she adds.

BEST FOR WHOLESALERS

SEVERAL UK websites are selling great value packaged food that is near or past its sell-by date.

Some have a minimum spend, including Approvedfood.co.uk, where it’s £22.50.

Some UK websites sell great value packaged food that is close to or past its use-by dateCredit: Louis Wood – Commissioned by The Sun

Others, such as lowpricefoods.com and clearxl.co.uk, have no minimum spend, but you do pay a fixed postage amount for a box. So it’s only worth shopping if you have a lot to buy.

I paid £10.15 for a selection of branded food, plus £4.95 postage, on lowpricefoods.com.

There were some bargains, including a three-pack of tinned John West tuna steaks for £2.25 (normally £5 via Ocado).

But most other products were only slightly cheaper than buying them elsewhere.

Three packs of McVitie’s chocolate digests cost £2.50 via lowpricefoods, but cost £1 each in Poundland.

So you save less than 17 cents per package.

In total the goods I received would have cost £15.35 bought new from other retailers.

After I factored in shipping costs, I only saved 25 cents – not great considering some of the products were past their expiration dates.

If you are buying a large quantity of goods that you can use quickly, it may be worth using a short-term wholesaler, but for everyday shopping you are unlikely to make big savings.

YELLOW STICKER OFFERS

WHEN products reach their sell-by or best-before dates, stores want to get rid of them quickly, so they lower prices based on the use of yellow stickers.

Fresh foods, such as meat or dairy, with an expiration date should be eaten before that date or you risk getting sick.

A whole load of yellow sticker items from Morrisons

Getting Rosie’s yellow Aldi stickers

But an expiration date tells you when an item will be at its optimal quality; you can use your judgment as to whether it is safe to eat.

Al Baker, from money-saving blog thepennypincher.co.uk, applied yellow sticker discounts when he worked in Morrisons.

He advises: “Ask an employee about reduction times as these can vary greatly from store to store.”

At my local Morrisons I bought bags of carrots for 10p each (down from 50p), a vegetable casserole mix for 38p (down from £1.49) and a salad for just 10p, reduced from 99p.

I also bought a six pack of sausage rolls which were ‘used up’ that day for 60 cents. They usually cost €2.

At my nearest Asda, most of the prices hadn’t dropped when I arrived at 8pm, but I still managed to pack a treat.

I found a few yellow stickers in the bakery section where I picked up chocolate donuts (normally £1.15), crumpets (normally £1.25) and six white buns (normally £1.35) for 10p each.

FREE FOOD APP

The Olio app allows users to give away unwanted food and other items.

Since 2020, it has partnered with Tesco so that unsold fresh produce is collected by Olio volunteers and passed on to the community via the app – all for free.

The Olio app allows users to give away unwanted food and other items for free

Alison* is part of a group of volunteers collecting leftover stock from nearby Tesco Express stores to distribute.

I messaged her via an Olio app with a mention for Tesco pastries.

When I arrived outside her house, I was surprised to find that she had a carrier bag full of 16 pastries, worth £17.60 new, as well as a bunch of slightly bruised bananas, worth 80p.

I then went to another Olio helper’s house a few miles away.

They had left me a box on their doorstep containing a mix of leftover Tesco items.

The shipment included some baked goods that I can freeze, such as scones and bread, as well as expired fruit and vegetables that could not be sold because the packaging was torn.

Fresh this would all be worth £8.94.

I couldn’t believe how much you can get for free, although it would be hard to rely on Olio for groceries because you never know what is available each day.

*Name has been changed

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Shrinkflation 101: The Economics of Smaller Groceries

Sabir Ansary — Fri, 01 Mar 2024 10:09:44 +0000

Supermarket shoppers notice something is wrong. Air-filled bags of chips. Shrunken soup cans. Less detergent packaging.

Companies downsize products without lowering prices, and consumer items from Reddit Unpleasant TikTok the comments section of the New York Times is dripping with outrage over the trend, commonly known as “shrinkflation.”

The practice is not new. Sellers have been quietly downsizing products to avoid price increases for centuriesand experts think this was an obvious one business strategy at least since 1988, when Chock Full o’Nuts reduced its one-pound coffee can to 13 ounces and its competitors followed suit.

But the outrage today is acute. President Biden took advantage of the fear in a recent video. (“What angers me most is that ice cream cartons have shrunk in size, but not in price,” he complained.) Companies themselves are pushing back against this practice with marketing gimmicks. One Canadian chain unveiled a grow pizza. (“In pizza terms,” the company press release joked, “a bigger slice of the pie.”)

But how does shrinkflation work economically? Does this happen more often in the United States, and if so, does it mean that official data is failing to capture the true extent of inflation? Below you’ll find an explanation of the trend – and what it means for your wallet.

Shrinkflation was rampant in 2016.

It may be hard to believe, but shrinkflation seems to be less common these days than it was a few years ago.

The government adjusts official inflation data to account for product shrinkage, and data collectors monitoring for size adjustments have noted fewer cases of shrinking household goods and groceries in 2023 than a few years earlier.

Reduce occurred frequently in 2016, when headline inflation was low. The disease became rarer after the pandemic began in 2020, and recently has begun to return to pre-pandemic levels, according to analysts at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. (The economists noted that the range of products being measured changed somewhat over the years, making comparisons over time more of a rough approximation than an exact science.)

But for some products the scale is now more extreme.

Even if downsizing isn’t happening as much, shrinkflation is having a big impact today in a number of key categories, including candy, laundry detergent and toilet paper.

From 2019 to 2023, the contraction has added about 3.6 percentage points to inflation for products like paper towels and toilet paper, up from 1.2 percentage points between 2015 and 2019. The contraction inflation has also contributed more heavily to the price increases of both candy and cleaning products. .

For snacks, shrinking sizes contributed 2.6 percentage points to inflation, roughly in line with the contribution they made between 2015 and 2019. The government has not yet released an analysis of the extent to which shrinking inflation has contributed to headline inflation between 2019 and 2023.

While ‘shrinkflation’ is measured, ‘skimpflation’ is not.

The contraction itself is captured in the official inflation data, but another sneaky force costing consumers dearly is being overlooked in the statistics. Companies sometimes use cheaper materials to cut costs, in a practice some call “skimpflation.” That is much more difficult for the government to measure.

If your paper towel roll costs the same but you get fewer sheets – shrinkflation – then that is clearly reflected in an increase in unit costs added to official inflation. If your paper towels are the same size but suddenly made of worse material – skimpflation – the government doesn’t record that as inflation.

In fact, food and household products generally do not adjust directly to changes in quality other than size and weight, government statisticians say. So if your microwave dinner brand starts using vegetables instead of olive oil, or if your previously resealable package loses the zipper, that won’t show up.

Companies do this because it works.

Companies choose to downsize their products, rather than charge more, for a simple reason: consumers often pay more attention to prices than sizes.

When the quantity drops, “people may notice it, but often they don’t,” says John Gourville, a professor at Harvard Business School. “You don’t get sticker shock.”

In one famous example, Dannon sold yogurt in larger containers than its competitor Yoplait: eight ounces versus six. Consumers were convinced that Dannon’s yogurt was more expensive, but did not realize that it was simply larger. Eventually, Mr. Gourville said, the company relented and shrank the packaging.

“Sales of Dannon’s yogurt, which fell immediately after the downsizing, have since recovered,” The Times reported in 2003. “And Dannon now makes a bigger profit on every cup of yogurt it sells.”

Not all size changes are created equal. Some can be surreptitious, such as enlarging the notch in the bottom of a jar or shaving off the corners of a bar of soap. Consumers have a particularly difficult time recognizing size changes when they occur along three dimensions, says Nailya Ordabayeva, an associate professor at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, who has studied consumer responses.

“The brain is programmed to perform simpler heuristics,” she explained.

Additionally, she noted, consumers may be willing to accept or in some cases even prefer smaller quantities. Junk food products are sometimes shrunk to reduce calorie counts, for example.

Still, consumers can opt out.

When companies focus only on their profits — and not their consumers — some pricing experts worry that continued contraction could drive shoppers away.

When commodity costs rose and inflation made headlines, consumers most likely understood that companies needed to pass on some of those increases. They may even have preferred smaller products to bigger price tags, several experts say.

But now overall inflation is cooling: after peaking at 9.1 percent in July 2022, it had declined to 3.1 percent as of January. And consumers may be less willing to accept contraction as companies face less severe cost pressures, especially as food companies’ profits – and in many cases it remains that way – high.

They may just feel ripped off.

“I see consumers becoming more aware of the existence of shrinkage inflation,” says Jun Yao, a marketing lecturer at Macquarie University in Australia who has studied the trend.

And as more chains and online retailers adopt unit costs, consumers may be more attuned to size changes, Mr. Yao said, a realization that could fortify against future contractions.

This practice, he said, “can be counterproductive and damage the brand image.”

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Sue Radford reveals the price of weekly groceries for 22 children and family with past debts

Jeffrey Bailey — Thu, 29 Feb 2024 01:26:41 +0000

MUM of 22 Sue Radford has revealed the eye-watering amount she pays for a weekly food shop to feed Britain’s ‘largest family’.

The 22 Kids and Counting star revealed all in her new book, The Radfords: Making Life Count, in which she also opens up about her family’s past debts.

Mother of 22 Sue Radford with husband NoelCredit: Social Media – Refer to source

Some of the Radford family are on vacation togetherCredit: Instagram/theradfordfamily

Sue also recently opened up about her past family debts and the effect it had on her marriageCredit: Rex

Together with husband Noel, the couple spent a whopping sixteen and a half years while Sue was pregnant.

But thanks to their Channel 5 show, successful bakery and social media channels, the family has been able to function relatively smoothly.

However, that doesn’t soften the blow of an all-powerful grocery store every week, and it’s not helped by the fact that none of the kids are picky eaters.

As a result, Sue claims her weekly supermarket bill is around £450.

That works out to around £1,800 a month and £21,600 a year on groceries alone.

“We don’t claim any benefits, the cake business is very successful and so is our media business,” Sue said. “We work hard, but we’re not millionaires!”

“However, the trouble is disturbing. We just want to be able to give our children the best life possible.”

But things didn’t always go so smoothly, as Sue revealed she was considering leaving Noel after problems with their business in the 2000s.

Sue and Noel’s love life began 35 years ago in Kendal, Lake District, Cumbria, when they were just teenagers.

After they married in 1992, they invested in a site on Kendal’s high street to expand their cake shop business in Heysham, Lancashire.

Mum-of-22 Sue Radford shows how they fit their children into their £40,000 camper van

The couple had taken out a ‘huge’ loan to invest in their blossoming dream, which started off perfectly.

“For starters, it did really well,” Noel explained. “It did well.”

But an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in Britain devastated their business plans, leaving the couple devastated.

“It’s just killed tourism,” Noel added, as the family plunged into despair.

“If there was anything that would have caused us to divorce, it would have been this.”

Ultimately, Sue struggled to see how their “marriage would survive.”

“There were days when I thought, ‘that’s it, I’m leaving the business and Noel, I just can’t do it anymore’,” she revealed to the Mirror.

“I can’t even describe it, it just caused so much stress. You went to bed thinking about the debt, you woke up thinking about the debt, you woke up at night thinking about the debt…

“But our marriage has always been strong – and having the kids has kept us on track. We stuck together and got through it. It was sink or swim and we chose to swim.”

Now they have a large family including Chris, 34, Sophie, 29, Chloe, 28, Jack, 26, Daniel, 24, Luke, 22, Millie, 22, Katie, 20, James, 19, Ellie, 18, Aimee, 17, Josh, 16, Max, 14, Tillie, 13, Oscar, 11, Casper, 10, Hallie, eight, Phoebe, seven, Archie, six, Bonnie, four, and Heidie, three.

Sadly, they also lost a son, Alfie, who was stillborn in 2014.

But Sue isn’t done yet.

Despite having the largest family in Britain, the Lancashire mum shares her desire for more children.

Now that her eldest children have left home, Sue has opened up about the prospect of raising or adopting more children to fill the gap.

The mother-of-22 also revealed how the family actually fits into their £40,000 luxury camper van for family trips.

The family from Morecambe regularly pack into the camper for weekend breaks or during the school holidays – and Sue told how her children fit under one roof.

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Households can request vouchers of €150 for the weekly groceries. Here's how

Jeffrey Bailey — Sun, 04 Feb 2024 14:26:15 +0000

THOUSANDS of households can apply for £150 vouchers to spend on their weekly shopping in supermarkets.

Dorset City Council has announced that it will reopen applications for the fourth round of the Household Support Fund (HSF) for low-income households in the area on Tuesday, February 6.

If you miss out on this funding, another will open on Tuesday, March 5Credit: Alamy

Residents who meet the eligibility criteria will receive the vouchers within six to eight weeks of applying.

The Department for Work and Pensions has funded the government program to ensure households receive support.

Households can apply if they pay council tax to Dorset Council and have an annual net household income of less than £30,000.

Payments for personal independence, such as disability living allowance, care allowance, care allowance or child benefit, should not be included in the calculation of net income.

Dorset residents must also have savings of less than £16,000 and must not have claimed a previous HSF payment in the last six months (since August 2023).

Are you eligible for the HSF?

To qualify for the HSF you must meet the following criteria

Pay council tax to Dorset Council
Have an annual net household income of less than £30,000 and
You have a savings amount of less than € 16,000 and
Didn't apply for a previous HSF payment in the last 6 months (since August 2023)

Cllr Laura Beddow, Dorset Council Portfolio Holder for Culture, Communities and Customer Services said: “In an ongoing effort to support low-income households, the fourth round of the Household Support Fund will reopen on Tuesday 6 February, providing vital support via supermarket vouchers.”

“If you apply in this window, please ensure you have not applied for a previous HSF payment since August 2023 as no further vouchers can be issued and there are a very limited number of applications available for this window.

“If you miss this window, another window will open on Tuesday, March 6 at 10 a.m.”

Residents can submit an application online and the vouchers can be spent at several supermarkets.

Here you will find the full list of supermarkets where vouchers can be used

Asda
Aldi
B&M
Farm food
Iceland
MRS
Morrisons
Sainsbury's
Tesco
Guard rose

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Shoppers are flocking to the major supermarket offering weekly groceries for just £5

Jeffrey Bailey — Sat, 03 Feb 2024 18:11:35 +0000

A SAVVY shopper has posted on Facebook how Icelandic shoppers can get a week's worth of food for just £5.

By using a code, customers can choose up to 10 items, ranging from Goodfellas pizza to Fish Fingers, the post said.

You can find it in your emails when you shop at IcelandCredit: Facebook

People who have used the code say it can only be used once and are urging other Icelandic buyers to check their emails and spam to retrieve the code.

It comes after many food buyers say they are struggling financially as the price of food remains high.

Shoppers quickly made it clear what to expect when you enter the code.

One person commented: “If you use the voucher you get those 10 items for £5 instead of £10 which is still a bargain.”

Icelandic customers can choose from a variety of items from the “10 for £10 Easy Teas” for just £5 when they use the discount.

Many shoppers were excited about the deal, with one writing: “Another great online offer that those who prefer to shop in store are missing out.

“Yes, there are store offers, but never as good as online.”

How to get and use the Iceland discount code

If you shop at Iceland, check your emails and spam for the code

Get the code from your emails.
Choose your ten articles online.
Go to checkout and paste the code in the discount code bar.
The price should go to €5.

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The Bear star Jeremy Allen White stocks up on groceries and flowers in LA ahead of the first Thanksgiving since his ex Addison Timlin filed for divorce

Sabir Ansary — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 22:22:32 +0000

Jeremy Allen was seen grocery shopping at Gelson’s Markets in Los Angeles on Monday.

Just days before his first Thanksgiving since his estranged wife Addison Timlin filed for divorce in May, the handsome actor, 32, appeared to be stocking up for Turkey Day, pushing bags full of goodies and assorted bouquets to his car.

After loading his purchases into his trunk, the Shameless star, whose hit series The Bear was renewed for a third season earlier this month, grabbed an iced coffee and a pastry.

During his relaxing outing, the father of two looked handsome in a blue jacket, olive cargo pants, white sneakers and a baseball cap over his wavy light brown hair.

Yes, Chef! Jeremy Allen was seen shopping for groceries and flowers at Gelson’s Markets in Los Angeles on Monday

Jeremy, best known for his role as Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto on the hit Hulu series The Bear, recently admitted that it hasn’t all been plain sailing for him this year.

While you’re talking to British GQthe actor opened up about experiencing some “low lows” in 2023.

Reflecting on being thrust into the spotlight after the release of The Bear, he said: “It was crazy, a lot of high highs, a lot of terribly low lows.”

His comments came as he spoke to GQ as part of their Men of the Year celebration 2023 in collaboration with BOSS, in the first of six covers to be released.

This spring, it was reported that Addison had filed for divorce from Jeremy after three years of marriage, with their divorce date set as September 2022.

In October, he agreed to several provisions in his custody agreement, including daily alcohol testing to spend time with his children and no less than “two AA meetings per week.”

The reason for their divorce remains unknown, but Jeremy had given his wife a shout-out when she received a Golden Globe just four months earlier.

The couple – who share daughters Ezer Billie, four, and Dolores Wild, three – first met as teenagers on a film set in 2008, and it is believed they started dating around 2013.

Ready for the holidays: Just days before his first Thanksgiving since his estranged wife Addison Timlin filed for divorce in May, the handsome actor, 32, appeared to be stocking up for Turkey Day as he carried bags of assorted treats and several bouquets to his car pushed

Running around town: After loading his purchases into his trunk, the Shameless star, whose hit series The Bear was renewed for a third season earlier this month, grabbed an iced coffee and a pastry

Alison gave an interview at the time and revealed she had started a new romance, but did not say who her suitor was.

“I have a lover that I won’t reveal, but yes, he would be the man. We have a nice foundation in that we’ve been friends for a long time, but then it took a hard right turn into romance,” she told Harper’s Bazaar.

Jeremy then proposed to Alison in 2019 and they married at the Beverly Hills courthouse in October that year – a year after welcoming their first child Ezer.

Addison has had roles on Law & Order, Californication and most recently American Horror Story.

Difficult year: His estranged wife Addison Timlin had filed for divorce from Jeremy after three years of marriage, with their separation date set as September 2022 (photo in 2019)

Chaos for Single Moms: Shortly after news of the breakup broke, Addison took to her Instagram to share a post about the challenges of becoming a single mom

Shortly after news of the split broke, Addison took to her Instagram to share a post about raising the kids as a single mother.

“Being a single mom is not how I imagined it,” she captioned a series of photos with Ezer and Dolores.

‘It’s so damn hard. It’s all covered in crying on the ground, kicking you in the shins while screaming with no loud sound coming out. It’s not the natural order of things.’

She added that single parenting can be “exhausting” and “lonely,” especially when “something magical happens and you have to tell yourself ‘don’t forget this’ because there’s no witness by your side.”

‘It’s so painful. Doing it alone has given me more strength, more empathy, and more tears than anything in my life has ever given.”

Despite the rigors of single parenthood, the former couple has made a big effort in co-parenting, as they have recently been spotted out and about with the kids.

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I am a bin diver and do my weekly shopping in bins – I only spend £70 a YEAR on groceries

Sabir Ansary — Thu, 22 Jun 2023 23:41:54 +0000

Meet the woman who says she only spends £70 a year on food – by getting all her meals out of supermarket bins.

Sofie Juel-Andersen, 29, from Denmark, started ‘dumpster diving’ three years ago – and hasn’t looked back since.

She started out by picking only fresh produce from the designated bins, but soon realized she could have an entire weekly shop.

And Sofia estimates she now saves thousands of pounds every year.

The restaurant manager, originally from Aarhus, Denmark, said: ‘Dumpster diving became like a rescue mission for me.

Sofie Juel-Andersen (pictured), 29, from Denmark, says she spends just £70 a year on food – taking all her meals out of supermarket bins

The frugal restaurant manager started “dumpster diving” three years ago and hasn’t looked back since

“So much good food is wasted — and supermarkets know there are people who can’t afford to eat.

‘When I lived in Aarhus, I knew about dumpsters, but I had never seen putting food on the table as an option.

‘But in 2019 I moved to Sydney, and my sister sent me a picture of some hidden treasures she found while diving in dumpsters.

“I thought it was pretty wild – and I wondered if I could do this in Australia.”

Even though Sofie has always been able to afford to eat out, she realized that this could be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping.

She set out with a friend to explore some of Sydney’s supermarkets in daylight – and kept track of which ones she would visit after dark.

“It was always supermarket dumpsters,” she said. “Never go after restaurants or private homes — depending on where you live, it may even be illegal to do so.”

“I called my girlfriend back and she came out with me in the evening.

‘We went to look in the waste container of a supermarket and found a lot of vegetables.

“Since it was our first time, we didn’t take much — but we took the vegetables that we thought looked good to eat.”

Sofie wondered where the rest of the discarded food went.

Sofie’s best tips for novice dumpster divers

1. In the beginning it can be nice to bring a friend

2. Check the law first – is dumpster diving legal in your area?

3. You may not always find gold the first time, but keep going!

4. Always carry wet wipes and sanitizer to keep yourself clean

5. Be kind and respectful – always be nice to employees, even if they ask you to leave

6. If you find a good stash, share it – you never know who might really need it

Sofie says she’s always been able to afford food, but soon realized the bizarre method could be a more cost-effective way of grocery shopping

Her handy tips for “first time” dumpster pickers include bringing wet wipes and liquid sanitizer to keep yourself clean

Sandwiches and mozzarella cheese (both items pictured) are just a few of the treats Sofie finds while diving with dumpsters

The next time she went diving, she found a general waste bin – used to dispose of all kinds of packaged food.

She added: ‘I was really blown away by the amount of rubbish in these dumpsters.

“There would literally be two dumpsters at the back of a grocery store filled with packaged food: whole chickens, candy, drinks — once we found 300 cans of Diet Coke still in their boxes.

“They were thrown out for a variety of reasons — we saw a whole box of kombucha bottles that had been thrown out because one of the cans was damaged.

‘Bad vegetables, goods that are a day past their expiration date and damaged packaging are all reasons to throw things in the container.

“But usually it’s food that expired a day or two ago.”

Despite sending lots of pictures to her friends and posting to her Instagram, Sofie’s friends still thought diving into dumpsters was “gross.”

She said: ‘My friends and colleagues in Sydney had no knowledge of dumpster diving – they thought it was super gross and just didn’t understand it.

However, Sofie’s friends find diving into dumpsters “gross” and say they don’t understand

“But when I showed them the photos and videos, they were amazed.

“They said it was like food they would buy at the supermarket!”

When she first started dumpster diving, Sofie was still spending around £50 a week to supplement her meals.

Now she rarely spends money on food – and lives entirely on food she finds in the supermarket.

She said: ‘It’s evolved from a curious treasure hunt to a lifestyle choice – and it’s reducing food pollution, so it’s like everyday activism.

“I don’t spend any money on food at all — and I feel like I don’t crave things nearly as much as I used to.

‘The other day I actually went to buy some salt – and I got completely lost in the supermarket because it had been so long since I’d been there!

“I also make sure to use up every last morsel of food I get out of dumpsters — why save wasted food to waste it?”

‘So I like to cook fun things – experimental recipes that you won’t find in any book.

“I once found 10, fully packaged Margarita pizzas, an avocado, a red bell pepper, and some parsley, combined the ingredients, and served them to my friends at a dinner party.”

With the money she saves on groceries, Sofie can afford to work four days a week.

She said, “Dumpster diving allows me to work less. I only have a four-day work week, with one of the days only lasting four hours.

“It gives me so much financial and personal freedom.”

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I live on a remote island with 15 other people and it takes EIGHT HOURS to get groceries

Albert Elence — Sun, 04 Jun 2023 18:58:21 +0000

Island life conjures up visions of white sand and palm trees, but for this woman it’s just the opposite.

Dom Nobes, 32, lives on a small outcrop called Island 203 in Lake Temagami, in northeastern Canada, with 15 other residents and for much of the year she must endure temperatures as low as -40F along with consecutive days of darkness.

On her TikTok account, @readbetweenthepines, the islander describes what life is like from a distance, with everything from her beauty routine to her workday captured on camera.

In one clip, she captures a run to the grocery store with her husband, Rielly.

Dom Nobes (pictured with her husband, Rielly, and dog), 32, lives on a small outcrop called Island 203 in Canada’s Lake Temagami

Dom moved to the Canadian wilderness with her partner and his parents in 2018. For much of the year she has to deal with temperatures as low as -40F

She says the biggest draw of Lake Temagami — which is home to 1,259 islands — is the scenery

She says the journey – which they do every two weeks – can take up to eight hours, as they first have to cross the lake to the mainland by boat or snowmobile, and then the nearest shops are an hour and a half away.

At the store, she explains that groceries are “so expensive” even at the discount store, and she pounces on a pile of lettuce with a price tag of $8.99 each.

Dom moved to the Canadian wilderness with her partner and his parents in 2018.

The couple wanted to start their own business company and they started to set up a small business renting out cottages on the island.

They also have a number of bungalows on the ice that they rent out at Lake Temagami in the winter for ice fishing enthusiasts.

While Dom says it’s “easy to romanticize the idea of living on an island in the middle of nowhere,” she insists it’s not for those who like convenience, as you’re “far away” from everything.

There are no restaurants, bars or clubs near Island 203.

In one TikTok, Dom reveals the pros and cons of island life.

On her TikTok channel, @readbetweenthepines, the islander describes what life is like from a distance, with everything from her beauty routine to her workday captured on camera

Dom and Rielly own a number of bungalows on the ice that they rent out on Lake Temagami in the winter for ice fishing enthusiasts

She says the biggest draw of Lake Temagami – which is home to 1,259 islands – is the scenery and “it’s so damn beautiful here” with “water and trees and nothing else.”

Another advantage is the peace and quiet that island life offers and Dom says it is always very ‘quiet’, with no deafening fire trucks whizzing by as she experienced in the city.

Her latest “pro” is the sense of community she’s found on Lake Temagami.

The outdoor woman explains, “When you live somewhere so remote, even though your neighbors may not be next door, you have a great sense of community because you have to rely on each other when you live in these remote areas.

At the store, she explains that groceries are “so expensive” even at the discount store, and she collaborates on a stack of lettuce priced at $8.99 each

While Dom says it’s “easy to romanticize the idea of living on an island in the middle of nowhere,” she insists it’s not for those who like convenience.

During the winter and spring months, when the ice on the lake freezes or melts, the Nobeses cannot leave their home for up to two weeks.

In preparation for their bi-annual “ice-olation,” the pair must stock up on supplies and get enough produce to get them through.

There are no restaurants, bars or clubs near Island 203

Despite not being the easiest place to live, Dom says it’s “definitely worth being an islander”

“I like the sense of community I have here. I’ve lived in nine places in Ontario [and] I’ve never had such a sense of community as here.’

Turning to the “cons,” Dom says her biggest gripe about living on a remote island is the lack of convenient food options.

When she’s exhausted, she can’t “just order Uber Eats” or “takeout.”

Because of this, Dom says her cooking has improved” and “of course we have cheat stuff in the freezer… but it’s not the same.”

The food situation gets worse during the winter and spring months when the ice on the lake freezes or melts, and for two weeks the Nobeses are unable to leave the house.

In preparation for their bi-annual “ice-olation,” the pair must stock up on supplies and get enough produce to get them through.

There is never a dull moment when you live on an island. Sometimes I rescue someone because the boat broke down and sometimes I deliver flowers with a canoe…

The second thing Dom struggles with is how “mother nature dictates everything you do here” and “when the wind is really blowing, you don’t take your boat across the lake unless you have to.”

Finally, a flip side for Dom is that “emergencies are much more dire and you really have to be prepared to act.”

Because of this, she always carries a first aid kit and resists the urge to take risks or unnecessary risks.

In addition to being armed with first aid skills, Dom says that as an islander in Canada, he may also have other useful skills, such as being able to operate a boat and a snowmobile.

Meanwhile, carpentry and plumbing skills can come in handy, as it’s not always easy to call a contractor.

Despite not being the easiest place to live, Dom says it’s “definitely worth being an islander.”

She concludes: ‘There’s never a dull moment when you live on an island.

“Sometimes I rescue someone because the boat broke down and sometimes I deliver flowers by canoe…some days it’s water sports…some days it’s a nap on the boat after a 12 hour work day, but generally , life on an island is quite nice.’

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