The Unofficial Kiwi Poorfag Resource Thread - share recipes and resources for your area (both government and personal) here

[NoReturn]

I started this in the Polissa thread, but I'm going to rewrite and expand a bit.

tl;dr - Even if you're living on almost nothing, value your dignity.

Being poor sucks. You have no time and no money and because of that it's easy (and feels natural) to not prioritize beauty. I argue, however, that one needs to do so, not just for themselves, but especially if you have children. Everyone deserves a sense of dignity and it's a lifesaver during the dark times to be able to say things like "At least a home a comfortable bed." or "It's not much, but it's nice for what it is."

These effects scale. There is, absolutely, a psychological impact that comes from going into your bathroom at home and seeing a crusted bottle of Softsoap and a stained toilet; and I guarantee you your children will notice when they visit friends' homes. (No, isolating them so they never see other people's houses also isn't ok.) It can take years or even decades for children raised like this to learn how to "fix" the uncomfortable feeling that comes from this, especially if they don't have any mentors to teach them.

If you are that adult, we're lucky enough to live with access to the world's knowledge. There are places you can learn tips and tricks to make things even a little bit nicer, and little bits add up.

Example channels:
"Do it on a Dime" is kind of consoomer-y, but she's got some great "hacks" and DIY projects:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/NICZ_MAf-CE

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/16WkSj_SV9s

DearModern is very good at arranging small spaces:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/qGftL7r6Yw0

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/W32USM_3IjY

This philosophy applies to food, too, but honestly, sometimes food just needs to be fast and wholesome. You're better off learning general "make life easier"/"make outcome nicer" tips than individual recipes.

 

[Nique la mere de Macron]

Somebody mentioned Too Good to Go WAYYYYY back in the thread and at least where I live, it's an enthusiastic two thumbs up. I'm working around the clock right now and also money's a bit tight, so I ordered 2 baskets today, one from the nearest convenience store and one from the town bakery, thinking I'd get some kind of crapola industrial sandwich from the store and probably a bunch of half stale croissant for tomorrow's breakfast from the bakery.

Instead, I have a feast. The convenience store did not come through with a sandwich, but I got a 500mL of Coke, a juice spritzer, a PowerAde (giving the drinks away, which is fine, it will be a rare treat for the kids), an enormous bag of my favorite Doritos that I never ever buy, and two of my favorite candy bars that I never ever buy. 4 euros for the whole thing.

Not so great for dinner, right? Well, the bakery CAME THROUGH. There, I got an ENORMOUS chicken sandwich on a baguette that the lady took right out of the case in front of me. (In other words, it's fresh, it isn't 2 days old.) Plus a lunch-sized pizza tart. Plus two enormous "religieuses" (my favorite pastry, which I also don't buy because expensive and not so healthy). Plus two full-size baguettes that I'm going to cube and throw into the freezer to make bread pudding this weekend. All of it from today's stock. 4 euros for the entire bag. The pizza tart is already gone. It was fucking delicious.

And I got a 30-euro box of candy from a very fancy chocolate shop near me this weekend. For 6 euros.

And the people at both of today's establishments were very nice (way nicer than most French people, frankly) and didn't treat me like a beggar.

Oink oink.

I hear that in the US it really depends where you are and also some towns it's nothing but donuts.

 

[fist_of_khonshu]

Former Shift Manager at 7-Eleven here, the date on the boxes for the packaged food you find on the cold shelves isn't the expiration date. Just the date we need to change the food out. If your 7-Eleven is familiar with you, or you simply come in during the night shift and ask politely, they'll likely give you the food they have to mark and throw out at the end of the day. It's better than throwing it out, and it stays good for a long period of time.
I know gas station food isn't the preferance for many, but it got me through from 18-20 and a lot of people struggling benefited from it rather than us just throwing it out.

Secondly, if you live in the Philadelphia area, Church Food Pantries are better than the locally supplied "Community Fridges". Northeast Area has a good place called Feasts of Justice that won't turn you away no matter what walk of life you come from.

The Lutheran Settlement House also has a very good food pantry that's stocked with essentials such as rice, beans, canned goods and so forth.

Any resources you can get in Center City is luck. The crackheaded leeches who don't need the resources and take from those trying to get off the streets/need of assistance always get to it first. I volunteer with PhillyHouse and while I serve them, they just take resources from those who actually are trying and need it.

 

[LavenderMenace]

If you like Starbuck's food, go inside a Starbucks about 30-45 mins before they close. (Don't do this through the Drive Thru, physically go inside the place.) Ask if you can have any pasteries or sandwiches that are "out of date" or gonna be thrown out. Starbucks shift managers stock food for tomorrow morning and at the end of the night, sometimes food will be out of date based on the sticker date. They either put it in a big yellow bag for food banks/churches to pick up or straight up throw it away.

This is the type of food Starbucks sells. Banana bread slices, blueberry scones, bagels, egg bites, breakfast sandwiches, and more. The food is made of preservatives and doesn't immediately go bad. Starbucks food is good for a few weeks when refridgerated.

Don't feel awkward doing this! Coming from an ex-Starbucks employee, the workers want to give food away so it not just thrown away. And don't throw a hissy fit if a local church called dibs on the food before you. Find out a day when you can come and pick up the food, they'll put it in a yellow bag for ya. And you can try this at all locations!

---

My second suggestion is start looking for Salvage Grocery Stores.
There isn't a "national" brand for these types of grocery stores, they just pop up. You should be able to google search for one nearest to you. Here's a site that has a good number of them.
These grocery stores are second hand stores where food ran it's "shelf life" or the outer packaging has been damaged. The store will carry food from local grocery stores, Walmart, or Target. You can find good, name brand quality pantry stuff like peanut butter, crackers, cereal, oatmeal, chips, juice, tuna, pasta, etc.

If you're lucky, you might find. a store that has frozen foods and dairy section. Don't feel bad for going to a salvage grocery store. My grocery bill is under $100 for 3 weeks worth of food and a lot of it was name brand foods like kraft, kelloggs, etc! Its worth it if you can!
Tips for salvage grocery shopping.

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For furniture, go to garage and estate sales!
If you've got nothing going on on the weekends, look up garage sales and estate sales near you! All of my furniture is second hand. You can find some good kitchenware like plates, serving dishes, lamps, tables, fake plants, glassware, etc. If its an estate sale, GET THERE EARLY. You wouldn't believe it but there are alot of antique collectors that goto these things and get all the good shit first to sell in their shop.

Goodwill can be a good place for chairs, couches, ottomans, and shelves but it really depends what store you goto. You don't want something scratched the fuck up. If it has dust or dirt on it, you can clean it off.

Also drive around middle class suburbs, you probably see a chair next to the road. Free furniture! Just don't circle the block multiple times....Don't want the PoPo called on ya.

 

[Aunt Carol]

For furniture, go to garage and estate sales!
If you've got nothing going on on the weekends, look up garage sales and estate sales near you! All of my furniture is second hand. You can find some good kitchenware like plates, serving dishes, lamps, tables, fake plants, glassware, etc. If its an estate sale, GET THERE EARLY. You wouldn't believe it but there are alot of antique collectors that goto these things and get all the good shit first to sell in their shop.

I think I said this before, but all estate sales are not created alike.

If it's in an actual newspaper ad and it seems really professional (e.g. mention of a sign-up list or parking) or even outright says "Tina's Estate Sales," that means the family hired an estate sale specialist who did a first pick-through and who knows what things are "worth."

This doesn't mean you shouldn't go, but the estate sale you find only because of a craigslist post or a cardboard sign that's being run by grandkids who DGAF is more likely to have hidden gems, and more likely to bargain with you. They got the quilts and the photo albums and now they just want the furniture and goose-themed decor items to go away.

 

[Sigmahat]

Ask around, some thrift stores deliver. My local St. Vince's delivers (even table/chair sets etc) for $25.

 

[TooManyKittens]

If some of your family members prefer black vs sweet, you can also choose to leave the tea black and create simple syrup for the others to add to their tea as desired. All you need is 1 cup (240 ml) water and 1 cup (120 g) granulated sugar. Combine and stir over low heat on the stove until sugar fully dissolves. Let cool and pour into squeeze bottle or jar. Then when you're ready to have tea, just squirt some syrup into your tea and stir before drinking.

So to expound a little...

Standard simple syrup 1:1 needs to be stored in the fridge to keep very long. But 2:1 syrup (twice the sugar) is reasonably shelf stable. These values hold for white sugar. Idk about any other kind.

Yes it's twice the sugar (cost) but it's twice as sweet so use less and you have saved your fridge space or no fridge available.

If you'll use it all quickly over a day or so this is unimportant at all.

 

[Adrenochrome Dreams]

I find that hair conditioner works much much better when it’s diluted in water, which I discovered when adding water to near-empty bottles to use the dregs. I’m keeping my old empty bottle so when I buy I new one I will immediately dilute it with half water and have two bottles.

I’m pretty sure it would still work for me diluted 1/3, 1/4 or less.

This may not work for all hair types, mine is extremely wavy, frizzy and knotty and I gently detangle with my fingers when conditioning.

 

[annikaguts]

Can anyone recommend an air fryer? It would be extra great if it also has a dehydrating function. I have a stand alone dehydrator, so the majority of my projects will be done with that, but it can't hurt, can it? Unless it's just another function to break? I currently own an Excalibur 5 tray.

 

[SpergPatrol]

Can anyone recommend an air fryer? It would be extra great if it also has a dehydrating function. I have a stand alone dehydrator, so the majority of my projects will be done with that, but it can't hurt, can it? Unless it's just another function to break? I currently own an Excalibur 5 tray.

The stuff you are looking for is a portable mini toaster oven.

Air fryers have gotten expensive especially for features like that, but mini toaster ovens do the same shit and cost WAY less.

Many of which can dehydrate and air fryer items just like the full price air fryer.

You can dehydrate easily too by adjusting the settings on the machine and where the tray is in the oven.
There are videos online on how to do this, and the ones involving full size ovens also work with this.

 

[NoReturn]

How can I get more animal protein into my diet without going broke and ALSO not ingesting a shit-ton of hormones and torture-meat? I try to always buy from my local guys so I'm not eating things that come from factory farms, but I need to add about 20g/day somehow for health reasons. What do?

 

[Gianfranco Pizzaballa]

How can I get more animal protein into my diet without going broke and ALSO not ingesting a shit-ton of hormones and torture-meat? I try to always buy from my local guys so I'm not eating things that come from factory farms, but I need to add about 20g/day somehow for health reasons. What do?

Eggs used to be the usual way to do it. Canned/frozen fish are common as well

 

[Sigmahat]

How can I get more animal protein into my diet without going broke and ALSO not ingesting a shit-ton of hormones and torture-meat? I try to always buy from my local guys so I'm not eating things that come from factory farms, but I need to add about 20g/day somehow for health reasons. What do?

Going to depend where in the world you are, because this is extremely regional, but basically any cut that isn't locally/regionally popular. For example, I can get beef cheeks near me for $4.50/lb, which is the same price as the frightening loaf ground beef at the big box store. If you live somewhere with a significant Mexican population though, that's not gonna be your cut. On the other hand, while organ meat is inexpensive generally near me, beef heart is pretty pricy as it's traditional locally.

If you're ruralish, eggs can be gotten directly for much better prices, I just saw a sign the other day for $1.50/doz still. I also used to vermicompost my garden waste and trade worms for eggs, haven't gotten a new system set up again since I moved though.

Canned fish used to be cheap but it's having a cultural moment in the States.

 

[NoReturn]

Eggs used to be the usual way to do it. Canned/frozen fish are common as well

Canned fish used to be cheap but it's having a cultural moment in the States.

And with that you've both guessed how I got here.

 

[toilet_rainbow]

How can I get more animal protein into my diet without going broke and ALSO not ingesting a shit-ton of hormones and torture-meat? I try to always buy from my local guys so I'm not eating things that come from factory farms, but I need to add about 20g/day somehow for health reasons. What do?

Are you okay with dairy? I don’t know the prices of yogurt in your area, but I’ve seen Greek yogurt (and yogurt in general) go on sale relatively cheapish. Yogurt is also a good tenderizer for what meat you do have (particularly chicken)

 

[NoReturn]

Are you okay with dairy? I don’t know the prices of yogurt in your area, but I’ve seen Greek yogurt (and yogurt in general) go on sale relatively cheapish. Yogurt is also a good tenderizer for what meat you do have (particularly chicken)

Yep. Dairy is part of the daily stack already, though.

 

[AnOminous]

How can I get more animal protein into my diet without going broke and ALSO not ingesting a shit-ton of hormones and torture-meat? I try to always buy from my local guys so I'm not eating things that come from factory farms, but I need to add about 20g/day somehow for health reasons. What do?

Chicken thighs on discount in 10 pound units.

 

[Aunt Carol]

Good news for short urethra-havers and the DIY D-Mannose gang:

Dollar (Twenty-Five) Tree is now selling a 3-pack of UTI test strips. The ones I saw in meatspace had an expiration date of 9/2026.

 

[Violent Orlandi]

Stretch your resources by utilizing every charity in your area. People have been wrongly convinced that they're virtuous for not withdrawing from systems they're going to pay into their entire working lives. Don't be dumb, go get yours before Poojeet and Sanjeet bring their 45 relatives to take your share

 

[$hakerattle]

Can anyone recommend an air fryer? It would be extra great if it also has a dehydrating function. I have a stand alone dehydrator, so the majority of my projects will be done with that, but it can't hurt, can it? Unless it's just another function to break? I currently own an Excalibur 5 tray.

I bought an Instant Pot Vortex a few years ago, and it's been great. It has the ability to dehydrate/etc. Bit more cost effective than using a large oven, too. I think Ninja had something similar, but I've really enjoyed my Instant Pot Air Fryer. I use it almost daily for one thing or another, and it's held up really well.