10 Tips for Finding a Free Meal

When building the good life on a shoestring budget, we walk a fine line — a line whose limits we might push and test, but never cross. We aim to be frugal, never cheap. We want to be mavens of money management, not mooches.

Getting a free meal* may not always be glamorous — a little more hobo on a dime than diva on a dime, perhaps — but it's always rewarding and satisfying to both your stomach and your wallet. The key is to be confident and take pride in your gratis gourmet ways, hopefully helped along by these tips from Shoestring staffers.

1. Freebies on Your "Birthday"
You can have your cake and eat it, too. Many restaurants (not to mention service providers) offer freebies and/or steep discounts to customers on their birthday. While some businesses allow you to claim your gratis "gift" at any time during your birth month, others limit redemption only to the actual day or week of your birthday. For some birthday freebies, like the free ice cream enjoyed by members of Coldstone Creamery's Birthday Club, you must sign up online (and, therefore receive a coupon via e-mail as your birthday approaches), while others just require you to show up on your birthday. A few of our favorite listings for Birthday Freebies include Gather.com, HeyItsFree.net, which offers a pretty comprehensive general list, updated frequently, and CheapStingyBargains.com, which includes listings for both national chains and local restaurants throughout the country.

2. Free Local Events
Not only can you find some fun, free, and interesting stuff to do at local events, but there's a good chance there will also be free hors d'oeuvres, appetizers, snacks, desserts, and the like -- maybe even some free wine or beer. Art gallery events and openings are always a promising option, and if you live in a college town, there's likely to be a plethora of speaking engagements, university lectures, and other presentations open to the public (with some trays of cookies from the dining hall). Just be sure to dress for the occasion. Several websites have popped up recently to make finding free events with free noshing in your area even easier, like Hungry Hungry Coeds and FoodMoocher.com, as well as groups like Free Food Events on Facebook.

3. Free Samples
Free samples never go out of style. Trips to the supermarket as a kid were so much fun. A typical day there with mom used to include a free cookie from the bakery, then a couple of complimentary "roll-ups" from the deli, and — if it was a lucky day — free sample stations throughout the store. The key to finding samples is to ask; because, after all, if you're not sure whether or not you'll like a product, the best way to find out is to try it first. Some supermarkets, like Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, BJ's and Costco, plus specialty stores such as Le Gourmet Chef, always have a plethora of free samples on hand throughout the store. Ben and Jerry's stores and Coldstone Creamery locations will let you sample ice cream, and Best Cellars wine shops offer tastings almost every day, usually around 4 p.m. Many other restaurants, food manufacturers, and chains, like Jamba Juice, Dunkin' Donuts, and McDonalds, often have "freebie" promotional events — once or twice a year in general but seemingly more frequently since the economy went south. On the Web, we like Shop4Freebies.com, GoFreebies.com, and ThunderFap.com for finding free samples.

4. Food Coupons
Clipping coupons has gone digital. Find your favorite coupon aggregators/places to download coupons and check them regularly. While several sites offer coupons for steep discounts, some sites like RedPlum.com and FreeMania.com also include coupons for free products. Check out Shoestring's guide to the Best Online Coupon Sites for more resources.

5. Go Freegan
Free might not always equate glamorous, and going freegan could be one of those occasions — especially if you choose the dumpster diving route. For local support and safety tips on salvaging food others discard, join the Dumpster Diving, Community Salvage, or Freegarian groups on Meetup.com. There's also the more safe and selective route for freeganism: websites like VeggieTrader.com, where you can find food from gardeners with surplus, and FallenFruit.org, where neighborhood foraging maps are available for finding fruits and vegetables that are free because they grow on public land. Check out Shoestring's complete guide to a foray in freeganism: Live Free or Buy: A Guide to The Good Life for Less.

6. Cheap, Free Food Tweets
Some of the best say it in 140 characters or less! There are plenty a people tweeting about free food — and there's nothing better when you're hungry than streaming updates in real time. Here are some "tweeps" whose feeds we've stumbled across when hungry and who've been great at providing great tips for gratis grub: @eatfreefood, @Freenology, @backyardfruit, @Coupons, and @CouponDivas.

7. Everyone's a Critic — Why Not You?
Hey now, we never said "free" meant you wouldn't have to work a little bit — or a lot. If you've got some writing chops and know your way around food lingo, become a local food critic and publish your reviews to blogs and social networks, like Gather and Yelp. Everyone might be a critic, but not everyone is good at it professionally, so foodies and bloggers can certainly take advantage of this shoestring solution: If the staff is made aware, many restaurants will give complimentary meals or courses to food critics in the hopes of swinging a better rating — a gray area ethically, for sure, but, natch, a free meal. This article from the Wall Street Journal delves further into the practice; just remember, everyone is struggling to make ends meet these days, so free may not be as great as it was a few years ago.

8. Get into the know of the local nightlife.
More local bars and restaurants than one might realize have weeknight promotions, like Happy Hours and Ladies Nights, where free food (and discounted drinks) are the norm. Local nightlife magazines and newsletters usually publish advertisements and articles informing readers of the times and dates of these deals; often, you can also sign-up to receive "VIP" e-mail promotions from these publications, which send out invitations to local events that can often include appetizers and a complimentary drink upon entrance.

9. Find the festivals.
Like happy hours and other happenings, many cities have a slew of festivals, some of which are often off-the-radar. Although festivals may charge admission, you can often find a fair share of vendors giving out promotional free samples. Check local sources and publications in your area or national publications with regional editions, like Daily Candy, Thrillist, and Urban Daddy. Put your mind where a publicity person's head is: Where there are more people, there's a better probability that some of them will like the sample they're distributing.

10. Follow the Food Bloggers
Find a blogger or food writer with likes and a location similar to yours. They might not constantly be finding free deals, but when they do, they'll certainly be writing about it, and chances are it will be a freebie of your liking! Check out FoodBuzz or TasteSpotting, two great communities of food bloggers, to find your favorites.

Finding free food can be fun and rewarding when you approach it with a confident attitude. We'd love to hear how you find your freebies, and Happy Hunting! (She writes while sipping a free cuppa from Starbucks.)

*For the purpose of this assignment, we defined a meal as 300 or more calories. Sure, we prefer meals that are much larger, but we’re using 300 calories as a measurement in order to bring to you the most opportunities for finding free meals (or snacks).

Copyright 2009 Shoestring, LLC. Photo: iStock