Money Matters - Dumb Money Moves: Do You Need The Food Police
BOSTON (CBS) - Are you growing penicillin in your refrigerator? Do your hot dogs have polka dots all over them and smell funny?
[Audio https://assets1.cbsnewsstatic.com/i/cbslocal/wp-content/uploads/sites/3859903/2011/02/february-1-2010-money-matters.mp3|titles=Do You Need The Food Police|artists=Dee Lee]
Next to your mortgage and car payments, food is a very big household expense. It's great that you save money when you shop, but what happens to the food once you get it home? If you don't use it and you end up throwing it out, you've not saved those dollars.
The US Department of Agriculture estimates that 10% of our grocery dollars are wasted. Other studies have shown it is 25% we waste. To get these numbers they go through people's garbage to see what they threw out!
Part of the blame on the waste we see in our kitchens is the packaging of foods today. The giant sizes! You get a membership at one of the giant warehouse stores and everything is super-sized. But do you need the economy size, which will serve a small army? We're seduced into thinking we are saving money by buying the larger quantity. Not always and if you threw it away because it has gone stale or outdates you have not really saved anything.
If you are spending $5,000 a year for groceries and waste just 10%, that's $500 you have just tossed out. If its 25% that's $1,250! That's serious money!
Go through your refrigerator often so you know what's there and plan to use the ingredients in meals. Cook up the Hamburg and have it ready for spaghetti sauce or tacos. In our house we have leftover night where we clean out the refrigerator and usually everyone gets something different for dinner. Gotta love microwaves!
Check the outdates on your groceries. Milk will smell sour so you know it's gone by but what about those prepackaged foods? The prepared meats or mashed potatoes. Only buy what you are going to use. The temptation is buy them when they are on sale so you have them.
The five-pound bag of apples, the ten pound bag of potatoes, the box of clementines or the giant sack of oranges from Florida may all seem like a bargain at the time you are buying them but unless you are going to use them up in the next two weeks you will be throwing them out in 3 weeks.
Spices lose their zip in a couple of months. Date the jars when you open them. Bread has a shelf life even in your freezer. Dishwasher detergent, toothpaste and deodorant should not be bought in huge quantities for they lose their potency sitting on your shelf.
Don't forget those doggie bags you so righteously brought home to have for lunch the next day.
One more thing: If you are using a separate freezer I would suggest that you set up an inventory list on the door so you know what you have at a glance and keep it updated. Trying keeping it on Excel and update daily if you can.
