Waste Not . . . Save Money

I read an interesting article in Sunday’s Parade Magazine. It highlighted the amount of food that went to waste in grocery stores and that the consumer was paying for that waste.

According to the article, grocers waste around $20 billion of food each year. Combined with what we throw away in our homes, experts think that annual number is closer to $48 billion. Some stores are beginning composting programs. It would be interesting to find out what your local store is doing as well.

While I think it would be beneficial if we all encouraged our local grocers to start compost or some kind of recycling program for the wasted food, let’s concentrate on what we can do for our own homes.

Here are some ideas:

Know when items expire: When you come home from the store, check the expiration date. If it will expire before you use it, put it in the freezer. This is huge for meats especially when you buy them marked down. This is because they are approaching the sell by date. Either cook them right away or freeze.

Have a Leftover night: I know this is a continual theme for this blog. But leftover nights allow you to eat those tasty meals you made through out the week. This saves you a night of cooking and all that food from going in the trash.

Start your own compost pile: There are many resources on the internet, as well as books, to help you start your own compost pile. Be aware of what you can put on this pile and how you will use it.

Buy Less: What are you throwing away most of? Sometimes we get in a rut of what we think we need. Chances are, we actually don’t or even not at all. For instance, I thought I just had to have bread in the house. So I bought some every week. But each week I was throwing it away because it got moldy. We didn’t use it. So now, I only buy bread when I plan on making sandwiches or eating it with breakfast. And I only buy one loaf. Some weeks, I don’t buy bread at all. I use the leftover biscuits and tortillas I made for dinner.

Plan for the food you buy: This is where meal plans come in handy. When you know what you are going to make each night and what you need for them, you can know what NOT to buy. If you aren’t going to use it – don’t buy it. Buy only if you plan on freezing and using on a later date.

Waste does happen, even with the best intentions. Plan to use what you buy and you’ll end up wasting less money, which is the ultimate goal!

For more Grocery Saving tips, visit GroceryMama.com!