‘Tis the season to buy too much food—and, after the guests have gone home, to toss too much of it into the trash. Before heading back to the grocery store to fill up your shopping cart and start the whole cycle over again, take a long, hard look at what’s in the refrigerator and see if you can make do.
On average, one-quarter of the food you bring into your house ends up in the trash rather than in someone’s belly. That’s a lot of wasted food—and wasted money.
By periodically putting off a trip to the supermarket and dutifully finishing what’s in your refrigerator—a.k.a., joining the “Eating Down the Fridge Challenge”—you can save 10% or so on your grocery bills. The holiday season, when the fridge always seems full and there’s a strong likelihood for throwing food away to make space, is as good a time as any to make a habit of actually eating what you’ve already bought.