Save money and make groceries last longer

Having to throw away uneaten food from the fridge is like throwing money right in the garbage—something that’s even more painful with today’s high food prices. 

Consumer Reports offers some easy tips to keep your food out of the trash and your money in your wallet.

Consumer Reports’ home editor, who’s a classically trained chef, will do just about anything to keep food from going in the garbage. 

One of his biggest pet peeves is wasting food. He says not only is it a waste of money, it also seems unethical. So he goes to great lengths to do whatever he can to use food before it goes bad.

He recently repurposed leftover meat to make several different meals for a week, something he does often. 

For example, he has used beef stew as a topping on nachos, hot dog buns for a dessert, and hamburger buns for grilled cheese.

Another great tip for saving is meal planning. When mapping out meals for the week, you can  buy in bulk. Buy frozen vegetables, for example, and use just the portion you need for a meal.

One way to make sure expensive proteins can be used for different dishes throughout the week is to keep them as plain as possible, because once you alter the flavor of something you can’t undo that.

Then add the unique seasonings to the portion you need for the day’s meal. Round out the meal with any veggies you may have that are almost past their prime.

When it comes to storing food, CR says that keeping groceries on the right shelves and in bins in your fridge can help cut down on food waste and save you money.

For your more expensive grocery items, such as meat and eggs, you want to store them on the lower shelves inside your refrigerator, which tend to be coldest.

And don’t be afraid to use your freezer. Something like bread is going to last a lot longer when it’s frozen.

CR says save your fridge door for items like butter and condiments instead of milk or eggs. That’s because temperatures on your refrigerator door tend to be a few degrees higher than the inside shelves.