Meet the Dumpster Diver Who Spent Less Than $100 on Groceries in 2024

Dumpster diving may not be appealing to all, but for one Danish woman, it’s become extremely cost-effective.

Sofie Juel-Anderson, 30, claims that, by finding the majority of her food in dumpsters, she cut her annual grocery costs to less than $100.

“I haven’t done a food shop in four years,” she told SWNS in a recent interview. “I don’t really have the need to go as I find all of my food in the dumpster.”

Juel-Anderson only pays for items like “toilet paper and dishwashing soap.” She says she spent only $99 in supermarkets in 2024.

“The money I have saved allows me the freedom to travel,” she shared. “I spent a lot of my money on traveling and visiting friends around the world.”

“Dumpster diving allows me the freedom to spend more on the things I love.”

The restaurant manager from Aarhus, Denmark, was more than familiar with the amount of food waste most companies dispose of prior to the start of her dumpster diving journey. She started small, with produce, while living in Sydney, Australia. But she soon realized how much she could cull from the grocery store’s rejects.

“It was like a treasure hunt for me. I quickly realized that there was so much good food in the dumpsters, and I didn’t need to go shopping anymore.”

Juel-Anderson says she doesn’t have a set schedule for her dives, simply going whenever she needs to restock her pantry. She documents her impressive hauls on Instagram.

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A post shared by dumpster diving diary with Sofie (@dumpsterdivingwsoff)

“I either go a few times a week or every two weeks,” she noted. “I find so much, my fridge is always full.”

And when she moved back to Denmark in 2022, she recruited family and friends to her dumpster diving ways.

“When they come over they know that I get all my food from the dumpster… The food we eat on the holiday is all dumpster dive,” she said. “They know the food is good as I would never serve my guests anything that I would not eat myself.”

By Dumpster Diving, Juel-Anderson saves money and promotes limiting food waste

The money she’s saved has allowed her to focus more on the things she really loves — like traveling and visiting friends. In recent years, Juel-Anderson has been to Kenya, Argentina, Italy, Spain and Dubai.

“It really allows me to have so much freedom and the freedom to work less. I only work three days a week,” she shared. “Dumpster diving allows me the freedom to spend more on the things I love.”

And, she’s found a new purpose in the “everyday activism” of her lifestyle.

“I want to create awareness about food waste but also about how we view food and how it can still be good even though the date has expired or it has a bump on it,” she added.