Let no food go to waste
This is a pet peeve of mine; PEOPLE WHO WASTE FOOD!. To be fair we all do, myself included but here are some tips to reduce your food waste.
-leftover night. Clean out the fridge regularily before food goes bad
-Take up canning, or freeze food from your garden when it is in season
-Freeze your leftovers, buy some tupperware and freeze individual portion sizes for easy meals
-When buying perishables only buy what you can eat before it goes bad
-make soups out of leftovers
-make banana bread with black bananas
-make bread pudding with stale bread
There are tons of ways to reduce the amount of food you waste. Please comment with any strategies you use that I missed. Your co-workers may give you a strange look when you bring lasagna soup* for your lunch, but is well worth the money you'll save. Your wallet will thank you.
*lasagna soup tastes amazing and is easy to make. Simply cut leftover lasagna into small pieces with scissors and add to tomato soup.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tip #6
More, MORE, MORE!
First of all yet another apology to my readers for the delay of this post. I have been busy getting settled after my move across the country. I will continue where I left off with my series on food.
When trying to save money on food costs 2 words that should be on your mind are 'bulk' and 'unit price'(Ok I lied its 3 words, but only 2 points). That's right buying extra. It may seem more expensive but overall you will save. Lets say you like to eat a granola bar everyday for a snack. In the store you will be faced with a choice; to buy the box of 8 (which will last about a week) or the box of 24 (lasting 3 weeks)*. This is where unit price come into play. The unit price is the price for 1 granola bar based on the price for the whole box. Some manufacturers are kind enough to write it on the box, others aren't. To calculate unit price simply divide the cost of the whole box by the number of bars in it. After factoring in unit price you will see that the larger box is cheaper. Always calculate though, sometime a middle size box will be cheaper or a sale will make the small cheaper. Another tip is to go to an actual bulk store (in Canada I recommend the bulk barn or bulk barrel). These stores often forgo the expensive packaging and place their products in big bins that you scoop out of. Here the unit price is listed by weight. These stores are a great place to buy flour, soup stock, juice crystals, pasta and best of all candy. One more point on bulk purchasing and I'll let you go. PLEASE consider the shelf life of the product. Make sure you will be able to actually use all of the product before it expires because if 3/4 of the box goes bad you might as well have bought the small box and saved the money.
So grab your calculator and head out to the grocery store, you may get some strange looks as you're crouched down reading boxes and calculating unit price but it will be well worth the money you save.
*and yes I know a week has 7 days not 8 but I'm factoring in an extra one for those days your extra hungry.
First of all yet another apology to my readers for the delay of this post. I have been busy getting settled after my move across the country. I will continue where I left off with my series on food.
When trying to save money on food costs 2 words that should be on your mind are 'bulk' and 'unit price'(Ok I lied its 3 words, but only 2 points). That's right buying extra. It may seem more expensive but overall you will save. Lets say you like to eat a granola bar everyday for a snack. In the store you will be faced with a choice; to buy the box of 8 (which will last about a week) or the box of 24 (lasting 3 weeks)*. This is where unit price come into play. The unit price is the price for 1 granola bar based on the price for the whole box. Some manufacturers are kind enough to write it on the box, others aren't. To calculate unit price simply divide the cost of the whole box by the number of bars in it. After factoring in unit price you will see that the larger box is cheaper. Always calculate though, sometime a middle size box will be cheaper or a sale will make the small cheaper. Another tip is to go to an actual bulk store (in Canada I recommend the bulk barn or bulk barrel). These stores often forgo the expensive packaging and place their products in big bins that you scoop out of. Here the unit price is listed by weight. These stores are a great place to buy flour, soup stock, juice crystals, pasta and best of all candy. One more point on bulk purchasing and I'll let you go. PLEASE consider the shelf life of the product. Make sure you will be able to actually use all of the product before it expires because if 3/4 of the box goes bad you might as well have bought the small box and saved the money.
So grab your calculator and head out to the grocery store, you may get some strange looks as you're crouched down reading boxes and calculating unit price but it will be well worth the money you save.
*and yes I know a week has 7 days not 8 but I'm factoring in an extra one for those days your extra hungry.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
