Tuesday, May 1, 2012

In defense of free food

You know, when I first decided to read up on PF type blogs, I read somewhere what was said to be a very important rule: 'never turn down free food.' I was young and naive back then, and didn't even know who Murphy was (but he was known by all! How could that be?!), or what PF stood for (Personal Finance). Now, for someone that is hard pressed against receiving help of others, and someone who is a bit shy about accepting things, this was a tough principle to accept. So I remember thinking it must've been really important and took it to heart. As the months went by, I've warmed up to the idea, and I've learned to appreciate free food and I'm not awfully shy to volunteer to take leftovers home.

The reason I brought all that up is because there was an offer for a free pizza, and I decided to chance it. I had already partaken in their campaign last time it happened at the beginning of April, and scored a free pizza. That was 4 meals' worth! Counted, it's just me, but still. It's a lot. So I saw that the promotion was up again and waited. And waited. And waited. Score! A second one. Since it had to be ordered by this weekend, I wanted to offer it to my half-brother. He not only turned down the offer, but looked down on my offer to him, since the pizza is inferior to his expectations (how come I get paired up with rich snobs like him?), it was 'too far and out of his way' (4 blocks from his school) and not worth the hassle.

Ok. I respect that. I just didn't need to be lectured, especially after he told me how he ate 5lbs of gummy bears in 3 days, and bought $25 worth of 'snacks' while he watches playoffs at ungodly hours of the night. But moving on, I decided to offer it to my brother. I thought the kiddo and wifey would appreciate a nice break. The pizza is small, supposed to be for 2 people, but pair it with a nice side of salad and you can stretch it. Same situation: inferior, unhealthy pizza, not worth the hassle, and that it is probably free because it's junk.

Alrighty then. I guess I'll have a nice Friday night meal for myself! That'll be $8+tax I will be saving on my food budget. Yes, it isn't your +10 healthy food, but it is something I would've liked to eat, if I had extra money laying around.

What do you think of free food? Yay, nay, or depends?

For me, of course it depends. Pizza is definitely in my 'Yay' category.

15 comments:

  1. I love Free Food! My office rents out meeting rooms and some of those folks have their meetings catered. Sometimes, the caterer lets me take home food to feed the masses. How cool is that!
    And last night, we shared one pizza for 6 people and had a huge salad too. So I know of what you speak. m.

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  2. I love free food! I'll take it whenever I ca.

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  3. We got a free pizza in April, and it was enough for 4 of us with a nice salad, just like you said. I think it was really nice of you to offer it to them, and I bet both your Brother and half-brother order pizzas occasionally. I think it's the idea of getting it for free makes them feel cheap or something.

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  4. Oh, I would definitely take it. Pizza is great - like you said - paired with something else. Sometimes I force the kids to eat a plate of vegetables with their pizza so that it seems like more of a meal. But we really love free food around here.

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  5. I never turn down free food, when I'm at a conference or a meeting and they feed us, I'm always thinking about the 8 to 10 I saved for that day.

    HS

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  6. I love free food, but needing gluten free means it's rare and usually excess vegetables which are great

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  7. Free taste better any day of the week.

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  8. I never turn down free food. In fact I love when ever I can get anything free..thats more money towards my get out of debt goal.

    Besides my grandmom always said if its free get in line twice

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  9. When it comes down to it, free food is like free money, and who's not in favor of that?

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  10. I think it was sweet of you to offer the pizza to your brothers, even though they didn't appreciate it. I'm in favor of free food, especially if it's something that's going to go to waste otherwise. In my office anything on the tables in the break room is up for grabs. It's a rare day when there isn't anything back there to eat. But the most exciting time of year is when people start brining in their excess produce from their gardens.

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  11. Like 444 said, free food is like free money. I will NEVER turn down free food! Yes it means calories but it also means something that I don't have to buy later or worry about. My BF and I have a really hard time debating on what to eat for dinner, so if someone offered me free pizza I'd take it in a heartbeat!

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  12. FREE FOOD?? I'll be right over!!! Sheesh - your family is nuts if you don't mind me saying, or just aren't as frugally minded as us PFers!! And really...I don't think of pizza as that unhealthy!

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  13. Free food is great. Free pizza is awesome because you know it's not the best thing you could buy for your money. Score for you. Sucks for them.

    You have a big heart.

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  14. At my job we are constantly getting meals bought for us. Unfortunately I stopped eating grain so I can't touch most of it. I used to never turn down a free meal, and even would take seconds!

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