Jan 17 2009
Food Frugality: Start With The Fridge!
I wrote a blog recently about saving money when shopping for groceries, so making the most of your budget in effect. However, after sorting out my refrigerator earlier I have another frugal tip for you, and one that will make more of an impact on your budget than focusing on your grocery shopping - start saving money on food at home!
I went through my fridge about 10 minutes ago and was astounded and appalled by the amount of food I had to throw out. My husband is terrible for buying food that we already have or opening a new packet when one is already open because he doesn’t look. When you’re trying to save money that is never a good thing, as it proved when I threw a dustbin bag full of food out. There were molding jacket potatoes (that cost £1), an out of date packet of ham that had 2 slices gone from it (£3), half a block of moldy cheese (£1.50), 4 yogurts (£1.50), olives (£2), soured milk (75p), Satsumas (£1) and a half used bottle of mayo (50p). All in all, i threw out food that we paid £10.25 for. That’s really bad and incredibly wasteful.
As a result of my horror, my frugal tip of the day is to start at home and use everything you possibly can. I could have added the ham and olives into a pasta bake and had the cheese on a sandwich for lunch. The milk could have been used on cereal and the yogurts eaten for breakfast or dessert. I’m going to plan meals from now on and monitor what is in the fridge. I’m also going to sort out a rotational system so all new food goes to the back and the old food remains at the front until it is eaten. I’m also going to make a resolution to throw food worth no more than £2 in the next 2 weeks and work downwards from there!
The moral of the story - save some of your budget by sorting out your refrigerator!
OMG I know what you mean. Things get pushed to the back of the fridge sometimes. I have had yogurts on the fridge door thinking, well they are still good and incase I want one later…then they expired! The same goes for the salad dressings. Such a shame. I think a good way to eat the food you have at home is to portion out meals correctly so there really isn’t any leftovers. Don’t shop when hungry and don’t buy in a whim. Great Tips! Thanks! ~Momma http://savemoneymomma.today.com
I so agree. I have a system at my house where I make meals all week that can be combined into one last meal before I will purchase more groceries. Thanks for sharing your tips!