What Grocery Stores Throw Away Every Night (And How to Get It for Half Price)

Ask This One Question at Your Grocery Store (It Beats Any Coupon) Every night, somebody at your grocery store pulls the day-old bread, the meat that’s one day from its date, and the produce that’s gone a little soft. Most of it goes in a bin. The same food is on the shelf for half price a few hours earlier, if you know when to look and who to ask. I call that the window between the shelf and the bin, and this video is how I stand in it. I spent nineteen years buying food for a school district, and a lot of what I learned there turned out to work just as well at my own kitchen table. What’s in this video: 0:00 The kid in the apron and the four-dollar bread 1:21 Day-old bakery racks (and why I freeze it the same day) 2:17 The date on the package (it's mostly not a safety date) 4:31 Markdown meat: what time to go and the one rule 6:03 Soft produce: bananas, tomatoes, peppers and apples 6:49 Milk, yogurt, eggs and cheese 7:38 The deli and the half-price rotisserie chicken 8:28 Salvage grocery and bent-and-dent stores 9:20 Flashfood and Too Good To Go 10:06 My honest answer on dumpster diving 10:34 The one I saved: just ask 11:38 Why stores work this way A few things worth knowing: On dates, federal law doesn’t require most food to carry a “sell by” or “best by” date, and the USDA explains how those labels work on its Food Safety and Inspection Service site (fsis.usda.gov, search “food product dating”). Infant formula is the exception, so always honor that date. For everything else I use my eyes and my nose, and I’ll say it again: if something smells wrong, throw it out. The donation law I mention is the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996, which protects food donors who give in good faith. It was expanded in 2022. The two apps are Flashfood (flashfood.com) and Too Good To Go (toogoodtogo.com). Neither is in every town, so check whether yours is covered. Markdown times and soup-bone policies vary by store. That’s why the one step I give you at the end is to ask. I put every method I use to run my house for less into one book. The link is here: Tell me in the comments what time your store marks down, and the best stickered thing you ever carried home. I read every one, and I’m hoping we end up with a markdown schedule for half the country. Next video: what I do with a two-dollar bag of soup bones. I’m Claire. I spent 19 years buying food for a school district, and I check what’s actually worth your money. #grocerysavings #frugalliving #markdowns #grocerytips #savemoneyongroceries The links are only the ones I’m sure exist. I didn’t invent deep links. Claire, Denise and the book are channel characters, so there’s no real person to cite.