Have you ever wondered about the amount of food an average American family wastes each week in pounds? Guessing even a single pound may seem staggering, let alone more.
According to an ABC News report, the average food waste in the U.S. is a shocking 14 pounds per week! They traced a family, the Dickinsons, who spent $300 weekly on groceries. Sadly, they discarded 13 pounds of food per week. This translates to $4,000 annually, straight out of their pockets and into the trash.
CREATIVE PATHS TO SAVINGS
The internet is full of savings strategies. Some offer substantial savings like home refinancing, while others propose minor cuts, such as preparing homemade dog food or negotiating lower credit card interest rates.
These methods are certainly worth exploring to reduce your expenses. But if you feel you’ve exhausted all such avenues, another potentially fruitful avenue to consider is minimizing waste.
SAVE BY EVALUATING AND REDUCING WASTE
Food waste, as highlighted above, makes a compelling case for where your money might be draining. For instance, if you routinely discard leftover meals and untouched produce, consider reducing your weekly grocery budget by a third. If you normally spend $300, aim for $200. Does it suffice for the week? Do you waste less now that you have less? You can always visit the grocery store later in the week if needed, and adjust your budget until you find a comfortable spot.
But remember, waste is not solely about food. Check through your and your kids’ closets. Are there clothes with tags still attached? How about items worn just once or twice? Maybe it’s not necessary to buy so many clothes, and reducing your apparel shopping by a third or even half could be a sensible move.
Accessories can also prove to be expensive. Such as, do you really need dozens of purses when three would serve the purpose? Are dozens of bows and barrettes for your child really essential, or would a handful be sufficient? And shoes – possessing hundreds of them may seem extreme, so do consider if you really need more pairs.
Electronics, too, can become a bit of wasteful expenditure. Do you need unlimited texting or could you lose some of your services? How about upgrading to the latest smartphone – is the one you own working perfectly fine?
Generally, we deem certain purchases as critical – groceries, clothes, electronics. Yes, we need these, but perhaps not in the large quantities we tend to buy. Opting for smaller quantities won’t diminish your quality of life. In fact, with more money saved, your life quality could substantially improve.
Finally, where do you think you waste money the most?
