6 Ways to Adopt the Freegan Lifestyle

I strongly believe in living fairly frugally and keeping expenses low, but I recently learned about the concept of the Freegan - from the words ‘free’ and ‘vegan’. Freegans take living frugally to the next level – they live based on limited participation in the conventional economy and minimal consumption of resources.

One thing freegans would think nothing of doing is dumpster diving for many things – such as furniture, clothing, anything used … but even food? I was watching the show, THE ‘F’ WORD with Gordon Ramsey, and indeed, they actually went around and found a feast of free food, from the food waste of restaurants and supermarkets. Let’s face it, most of it is probably still good, and we Westerners are obsessed with how perfect our food has to look.

While the lifestyle appeals to me, it seems a bit severe in some respects – rent-free housing or squatting, voluntary joblessness – although I like the idea of working less – so, I’ve come up with a list of ways to partially adopt freegan principles.

1. 1. Dollar bins – most shopping stores have these in the back somewhere and usually offer food and other home items that aren’t selling.
2. 2. End of expiry food most of this food is actually still food for quite a while and is usually much cheaper. Besides, most people cook their food on the same day they buy it, anyways.
3. 3. Consignment stores - a great place to buy designer stuff at lower prices. We recently purchased a brand-new designer leather coach from a second-hand store for a few hundred dollars. Winners is a great store, if you have the patience.
4. 4. Food appearance - a few blemishes on fruit and vegetables are ok. Quite often, you can get them at a discount and honestly, if food is too ‘perfect’, you have to wonder what they did to it to make it that way.
5. 5. Car co-ops - join a car co-op and only pay for a vehicle when you use it. In Vancouver, we have the Cooperative Auto Network or Zipcar
6. 6. Communal Living - it’s always cheaper to live with roommates. For a while, there were two of us in a one-bedroom – I saved lots of money and was able to travel as much as I wanted!

These are just a few examples, but clearly, many people are tired of being saddled with debts and all the other accoutrements of our modern materialistic society.