Waste less buy less cut food costs
Statistics show that the average family wastes nearly 20% of the food they buy. This is because it is either spoiled before they get around to using it, or they over cook and throw food out rather than saving leftovers, or various other, similar reasons. One fast way to cut down your food cost is to simply not over-buy. Overbuying on food leads to waste. If you overbuy produce it goes bad before you can use it. If you overbuy chips, they may go stale before they are eaten, etc.
So, what are some things you can do to not overbuy, thus cutting your food costs down along with your waste? Try the following suggestions:
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- Make a menu for the week. If you plan out your meals, and your snacks for the week, you can buy only the things you need for those meals. So, make a list of meals your family enjoys, look at your calendar and figure out how many meals you will be eating at home. You do not have to decide to eat tacos on Monday and chicken on Wednesday, just that you will have tacos for one meal during the week, and chicken during the week. Once you pick out the number of meals you need for the week, make a list of the ingredients you need to prepare those meals. This becomes your shopping list. If you already have something (like the oil needed to fry chips) then do not put it on your list.
- Do what you can to overlap ingredients. While planning out your meals for the week, do what you can to overlap recipe ingredients. For example, if something you are making calls for some cream, make something else that also uses cream so you can buy the larger size (which is usually cheaper), and use all of it. You can also plan meals that use up leftovers. For example, if you make tacos one night, plan to make taco soup to use up leftover tomatoes, hamburger etc. You can even use your extra cheese, sour cream, and tortillas for garnish. When you plan to use your leftovers, you waste far less food.
- Underbuy. If you run out of food before the end of the week you can always buy a little more, you generally can't return food if you overbuy, however. If you have the right mindset and are trying to reduce your food cost, you will make due with what you have, rather than make an extra trip to the store. This is going to help you cut down on waste because rather than have surplus, you may be a little short, and find a way to make due. It is a matter of changing your mantra from, "What do I need?" to "What can I do with what I have?" This is a great way to cut costs, still get to eat yummy meals, and have some money available to put in your cash reserve.
