Hey, if other gals can post their shopping hauls of things to wear later, I guess here's me bragging about my bargain haul -- and I'm likely going to end up wearing some of it!

One of my side hobbies is pinching pennies until they scream, and that extends from the grocery budget to messy supplies. One disclaimer: in the photos Berry G has shared of our hijinks, he generously provided the supplies so far.

I've always been a big fan of the "discount bins" found in many supermarkets; they're typically a buggy/cart/trolley filled with close-dated or scratch and dent items, although some stores have discount produce, cooler and freezer sections as well. When one has a big family, those close-dated cookies will be a happy memory long before the best-by date rolls around! Plus, best-by dates are for wusses but maybe that's just me.

This may be most relevant to those in the US, but there's a free app called Flashfood that lets you see what your local supermarkets have in their discount bin, buy the items online, and then pick them up. The best part is, unlike other food salvage apps, there's no subscription and no requirement to buy on a regular basis. You can use the app once and return months later. It's eco-friendly because the stores are selling items that would otherwise get thrown in their compactor and then sent to the landfill. The grocery I used to work for once threw all their expired produce away by the cartful, and now they sell it, yay.

Most items are at least half-off, and produce boxes in my area are $5 for an assortment of fruit and veggies in a box about twice the size of a shoebox. There's a 15 percent upcharge on your purchase but you're still going to be way ahead.

I've gotten a lot of great groceries from this app, but it just dawned on me that it would be a cheap source for messy supplies. The foodservice size of pudding seen here was $3, normally $9, the mayo was $1 (and will be used to make some tater salad, not for WAM, sorry) and the fruit cocktail was also $3. That, too, will get eaten, although how hilarious would it be to WAM with fruit cocktail? All those little fruit chunks all over the place, haha... This was the first time I saw foodservice-size cans on the app, but if cakes are your thing, they have lots of them, from individual slices up to quarter-sheets. Of course, they're already decorated so you'd have to customize them yourself if you wanted a certain theme.

Anyway, my other "life hack" to share for messy supplies on the cheap is outdoor flea markets where they sell "buy outs" of grocery items, sometimes in bulk quantities. We have one over the border in Ohio where many sellers are Amish, and we affectionately call it the "dirt mall" because the goods are often displayed in banana boxes along the outdoor aisles and you definitely don't go there wearing nice clothes.

Thank you for reading this, and if it's okay with MM, message me for a code to get $5 off your first Flashfood order.