A frugal mother-of-four has spoken out and revealed how she saves hundreds of bucks per month by picking leftovers from trash rather than buying food for her family.
33-year-old Stacey Cole claimed she saves at least $300 each month by dumpster diving – a hobby in which she digs through the trash of other people to find ‘valuable’ items that her family can use.
“We are extremely frugal and don’t have any shame in picking through rubbish to get good, useful stuff to enrich our lives,” Stacey said according to Daily Mail, adding that her kids love her hobby.
According to the mother, she was brought up in a poor family and she learned about saving from her parents who were struggling to provide for the kids.
“We didn’t waste anything and sometimes we barely made ends meet,” Cole admitted.
“But my parents worked hard for everything they had and that made it more valuable and precious. My parents were experts at taking what others discarded and using it to create a beautiful, full life for all of us.”
Sticking up for her upbringing, the 33-year-old mother decided to raise her own children in a similar environment.
“It felt wrong to do anything differently than what I was taught. Wasteful, entitled mindsets always confused me. People threw away hours of their labor by simply having a disconnect from the fact things equal money,” she added.
“I was married to a man who didn’t really understand this mindset, so we had issues with those differences. But I am divorced now and remarried to a man that is one hundred per cent my teammate and celebrates those things with me.”
Speaking of her unusual hobby, the mum-of-four added:
“We also sell some things to have some ‘fun money’ for eating out, activities, entertainment, etc. This is a crucial supplemental income. It varies a lot, but we seem to have enough for a little fun each month.
“Being frugal is really the only hobby I have, aside from working out and I’m just fine with that. I would not buy the things I find, more often than not.
“As far as usable items I find, I would wager I save us at least fifty to three hundred dollars a month on things we need, such as a new vacuum or dish soap and toilet paper.”
While not everyone agrees this is the best way to go about saving money, Stacey defends her decisions and claims dumpster diving is perfectly safe for her family.
“I clean it all and throw out anything that seems contaminated. But most of what I bring home we eat; the kids love that we have candy in the house. I’m not willing to buy that stuff,” she added.
“I haven’t managed too many meals with food from dumpsters because most grocery type stores have trash compactors so you can’t dive there.
“I go at night to avoid running into anyone working there. I park where I am allowed to park and not in ‘employee only’ parking. I also close the doors, if there are any around the dumpsters, so people can’t just see me diving. It’s just better to avoid all that so they don’t lock a dumpster that I love to dive in.
“I hope to convey that a simple, frugal way of living is just as rewarding, or more so, than ‘having it all.’ I save tons of money each month to put toward more important things and I live a crazy rich life.
“I help people in need, and I help reduce waste. I want people to see just how great life can be if you’re a little resourceful.”
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