20 May 2009

Stop throwing your money in the bin

As the recession continues, we're all pretty much resigned to watching what we spend and not over indulging in any particular area so we can save the pennies.

But did you know that you are spending a lot of money on food that goes straight from the supermarket trolley, into your fridge and then into the bin a week later without ever passing your lips. You may as well throw the cash straight into the rubbish.

In the UK, we throw away around one third of the food we buy. Yes 33% of what we spend is wasted...read on for some shocking stats and what you can do to start saving today.

Here are some highlights from the new report on Food Waste by Wrap.

• In the UK, we throw away nearly half the salad we buy

• seven million slices of bread

• We also cook and prepare too much, resulting in an additional 1.6 million tonnes of food waste a year.

• 330,000 chicken portions (worth £70 million a year)

• 4.4 million whole apples; (worth £300 million a year)

• 1.3 million yoghurts and yoghurt drinks

• Every year, 20,000 tonnes, or £66 million worth, of breakfast cereals are thrown away by people too much in a rush to finish them.

Not a good list to see and we're probably all guilty of some of the above statements. So what can you do.

1. Think French - they still shop daily on the whole rather than go to the supermarket weekly to have enough food for the week. This way, you shop when you need stuff rather than have a full fridge.
2. If that's not practical for you, try buying a couple of good cookbooks aimed at quick healthy meals that make it so easy for you to use the food you have in and gain more confidence to cook more meals from scratch and use up all your ingredients.
3. Plan your menu for the week and take it to the supermarket. This way, you can guarantee you'll be using what you buy. Stop buying extras just because you fancy them or more gherkins because you think you may be running out. They're not essentials.
4. Don't overcook. Buy smaller portions of meat and count out your potatoes and measure your pasta and rice before cooking.
5. Use your freezer. Not for convenience food but for left overs and clearly date every container and use it within 2 weeks for the best tasting food.

These all sound like very basic lessons but maybe we all have to go back to the beginning to get it right because what these stats show is that we're overbuying, overcooking and throwing valuable cash away everyday.


To see the full article.

8 comments:

  1. Another way to save your money and get healthy is the free workouts from http://www.exercisetv.tv

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great post! I like to plan out my meals for the week in advance and not buy more than that at the store. I also cut all my veggies the night before and also make enough soup and such to freeze, which also cuts down on food costs. Thanks for the other great tips!

    jen
    Boda weight loss Blog

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Jeff,

    I think this is kind of a random question but I really appreciate it if you can answer it.

    What is your opinion on Acesulfame Potassium, which generally can be found in a whey protein supplement?

    From what I understood and read, it is supposed to be safe to consume and does not affect health. But a friend of mine does not recommend whey protein containing this sweetener as it has been said to be dangerous to health.

    Nonetheless the rest of my friends and most folks in gym use whey protein containing Acesulfame Potassium. Few of them assured me that it is safe to consume Acesulfame Potassium.

    I could use a third/fourth/hundred view on this matter from you.

    Very much appreciated.

    Regards,

    JJ

    ReplyDelete
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