With many of us looking to reduce our spending month by month because of the increase in costs and bills, food is one of the areas that you have the most control of. But, even that is going up so what can you do about it? While you can buy budget-friendly brands and meal plans, food waste is still where many people are throwing money away. We have all been guilty of looking at a date and thinking its past its best, when in some cases that is not true. So I wanted to share with you some of the tips to help you reduce your food waste.

Shop smart

One of the first things that you have to do is shop smart. Food waste is a huge problem for some because they overbuy or don’t realise what they already have. The best way to avoid throwing food away is to meal plan and then write a list of what you need. Check your cupboards before you write the list and head to the shops. It will save you money and stop you from wasting things.

Shop your cupboards

Another suggestion is to shop your cupboards, fridge and freezer before heading to the shops. What can you use up? What need’s eating? Can you make meals with ingredients you already have? This helps to save money and also use up what you have bought.

Batch cook

Batch cooking can help you to reduce food waste. This is because you cook with the aim of saving some for another day. It might be that you cook for lunches or double up quantities so you can freeze the meal for another day. This helps to reduce food wastage overall as you create meals from what you have.

Use the rule first in, first out

Have the rule “first in, first out” in your head when looking at putting shopping away or when using items in your cupboard, fridge or freezer. This means you will likely use the food that needs to be eaten, rather than it going past it’s sell-by date.

Embrace your leftovers

If you have made a big pasta dish and have some left in the pot, store it for lunch the following day. If you have leftover vegetables and meat from a roast dinner, utilise them over the next few days. You can make dishes with the meat or turn the veg into a soup or eat for lunch the next day. It is time to embrace the leftovers instead of throwing them away. Doing this will help you to reduce your food spending each week.

Find alternative use for ingredients

Try and find alternative uses for things you need to use up. Vegetables that aren’t looking too great can be transformed into tasty soup. You can add vegetables to pasta dishes. Herbs can be added to butter and frozen, or you can even prep vegetables and herbs and freeze them for when you need them. Look at what you have and use it in different ways.

Hopefully, these tips will help you to reduce your food waste.