Can Reducing Food Waste Help Me Save Money? | St. Johns Bank

There are a lot of recurring expenses that households have to budget for each month, and while they can all be costly, groceries are often one of the highest expenses on the list.

Buying groceries is much cheaper than eating out, but did you know that wasting food could be drastically eating into the money that you are saving? Whether it is fresh produce, leftovers from a meal or takeout from a restaurant, throwing away food can quickly add up to be a costly mistake.

Why Food Waste Is a Serious Manner

Losing a head of lettuce or a serving of soup may not feel like a big deal when it is time to clean out your fridge, but did you know that the average American household throws out thousands of dollars worth of food every year? Even small bits of waste can seriously add up, especially if you are throwing away expensive ingredients such as condiments or meat!

In addition to losing money, wasted food equates to valuable calories and nutrients essentially going down the drain.

How to Prevent Food Waste at Home

While food waste is a serious problem, there are plenty of ways that you can cut down or eliminate your household food waste entirely. This will not only help you save money on your grocery budget, but it also plays a valuable role in reducing landfill waste which is quite helpful for the environment!

Some of our favorite food waste reduction tips include habits such as:

• Double-checking your refrigerator, freezer and pantry before going grocery shopping
• Making leftovers an integral part of your weekly menu so they do not go bad
• Freezing fruits and vegetables that you may not be able to use in time otherwise
• Planning a weekly menu that uses many of the same ingredients
• Researching how to store the fruits and vegetables you commonly by from the store so they last as long as possible
• Finding flexible recipes, such as soups, stir frys and smoothies, that use up stray produce you may have left over from meals

Saving money can be much easier when you have a way to organize your funds! If you need a new bank to call home, get in touch with us—we have a variety of accounts to meet your needs.