Did you know that when you decrease food waste in your home it can save you money? Check out my favorite tips to reduce food waste and save money. You can start today!
Happy Friday! I’ve got a lot going on right now- so I’m skipping Food Waste Friday this week. I’ll recap it next week. I don’t ever like to skip Food Waste Friday. I’m so passionate about it that even when I do skip, I always post some good tips for you to avoid food waste.
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Here are my favorite 8 tips to decrease food waste and save money:
Take inventory- Every Thursday I go through all the food we have and set up my post for Food Waste Friday. This has been the biggest way I’ve learned to save money on grocery shopping. Through inventory I am able to better know what we will need and not need for the next week of meals.
Practice “first in, first out”– Always try to eat what was put in the fridge first. For example, say you have take-out leftovers from Tuesday, and leftovers from Wednesday’s dinner, make sure to eat your take out leftovers first.
Get creative with ingredients that are about to go bad- This is my favorite tip! It’s like competing against yourself on a cooking show. You get a bunch of random ingredients and try to make something tasty from it. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.
The freezer is your best friend- You might be surprised by how many things can be frozen. I consistently freeze spinach, kale, and fruit that is on the verge of going bad to later throw in my smoothies.
Use what you have on hand to meal plan– Don’t plan 7 meals for the week that involved you buying every single ingredient. Use what you have on hand first.
Fill in the gaps with more meal planning- Make sure you only plan enough meals that you can eat.
Only buy what you need- Here’s a novel concept: you can always get more at the store. While I would love to have a perfectly stocked fridge and pantry all the time, it doesn’t ever happen. I’d rather run out of something and have to make a second trip to the store, than buy too much and waste it when it goes bad.
Compost! While I don’t currently compost, I still recommend it. It’s the best way to keep bad fruits and veggies out of the landfill. I hate to think of food rotting away and taking up precious space in our landfills.
What are your favorite tips? How did you do this week? Lots of waste? Little?
I completely agree with you! I think keeping up with food waste is probably one of the best ways to save money. (I actually blogged about it here if you care to read it: http://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/save-money-on-groceries-the-clean-fridge/)
I try to make it a point to clean out my fridge each Wednesday. That way we make sure to eat up the leftovers, freeze things we are tired of eating for later, etc. I consider those rescued food items some serious savings…it’s almost like a free meal to eat things that would have to be tossed in a couple of days of forgetting about them!
Some of my favorite meals have been the ones where we throw all the leftovers together and see what comes out. :)
These are terrific ideas! I always try to use all the food that I buy. I hate the fact that so much food material goes to waste, that is why I don’t throw away anything. Freezing is a great way to preserve food. I also have a garden and many of the veggies go in jars. All the food leftovers that eventually go to the waste are going to the compost for my garden! Thanks for sharing these lovely ideas!
I’m still in need of a compost. So happy to hear that you do well with your food waste.