Avoidable food and drink waste costs the average household £470 annually. That’s at least £40 a month you could save.
Being more careful about what food and drink we buy and how we use it will soon start to add up. What you save as a household could pay for a gym membership, day trip or night out each month. Or look forward to a week-long staycation after a year or so of smart shopping.
Did you know?
At least £18 million-worth of the food waste that gets thrown away each year hasn't reached its 'use by' date.
What does food waste cost you?
- Money – reduce how much food we waste and spend only what you need on food shopping
- Effort – why go out and buy, bring home and put away food that we then throw away?
- Time – plan meals, shop smarter and use up leftovers, and we could enjoy more time to ourselves
Shopping smarter can help us to throw away less food and drink. Buying fresh produce as and when you need it can make sense. If we buy a lot of fresh food at once, more of it may go off before we have the chance to use it up.
Why plan ahead?
- Know what you’re going to cook to save yourself time and effort at the end of a busy day
- A check of your cupboards shows you what you need to put on your list
- Knowing what you have in your cupboards, fridge and freezer means you can use up the food you already have and buy less
- Writing a shopping list saves you time when you go to the supermarket – you can go straight to the aisles you need
- Sticking to a shopping list helps you to avoid impulse buys and save money
- Remove the hassle of cooking meals every day by freezing extra portions to defrost and reheat as you need them