Categories: Frugal Tip

4 Quick Tips to Cut Down on Food Waste

You get full and throw away the rest of the spaghetti on your dinner plate. Your bananas rot before you get around to eating them. Your kid doesn’t like the sandwich you made him, so he tosses it.

There are countless causes of food waste, but the effects may be less well known. Wasted food can consume a good chunk of your budget, and it’s harmful to the environment. A few simple lifestyle changes are all you need to reduce your food waste, allowing you to save money and be kinder to Mother Earth.

Shop Strategically

Buying too much food can be a surefire recipe for creating food waste. If you shop without a clear idea of what you want to eat for the following days, you might just buy whatever looks good to you at the moment, which will make it harder to use everything you’ve purchased.

Going into the grocery store with a clear idea of what you’re looking for can prevent impulse buys and help ensure you don’t buy more than you need. Check out these 5 Simple Tips to Avoid Overbuying at the Grocery Store.

Avoid Kitchen Clutter

A cluttered kitchen can make it difficult to spot the food you really meant to eat. After all, you won’t see your delicious leftover curry in your fridge if it is blocked by an impenetrable wall of condiments.

Make sure your counters, cabinets, and fridge are as neat as possible to allow you to see and access the food you have on hand.

Eat Your Leftovers

Didn’t finish your meal? Don’t throw it away! Leftovers make great meals.

Your leftovers can be a meal in and of themselves, or you can find fun ways to transform them, like these clever ideas from ThinkyBites.

Don’t Fear Your Freezer

Regardless of your best intentions, sometimes you’ll have food on hand that you know you won’t be able to eat before it goes bad. But that doesn’t mean you have to toss it in the trash!

A lot of food can be frozen so that you can eat it at a later date. Whether you freeze entire meals, cooked vegetables, or extra fruit that you can use for a smoothie, frozen food can be wonderfully convenient, so you might be glad you didn’t just throw it away.

Reducing food waste doesn’t require a lot of effort, and it can reap big rewards. These quick tips are an easy way to waste less and save more!

Meredith Kreisa

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Meredith Kreisa

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