I can't afford to throw food away, I eat everything I buy. I had a conversation the other day with someone about buy one get one free offers. They said when they get their food home, they eat one of their BOGOF's and the other is left to fester in the cupboard or fridge, and eventually gets thrown out. I asked why they didn't eat it while it was still edible and they replied, because they didn't fancy it. Well to my simple mind, that's just plain daft, so they throw money away.
I look at my food and think I am so lucky to have something to eat. We all complain about how the cost of food is going up and up, and yes it is hard to make ends meet, but there are a lot of people in the world who live in real poverty, they don't even have a roof over their heads. Looking at the pictures of the recent hurricanes puts it all into perspective. I thank my lucky stars that I have food in my cupboard and my belly will be full today.
Using up all my food is now second nature to me. No longer am I fickle, no longer do I turn my nose up at what's on my plate. With the exception of meat and fish which I will not eat, no longer am I picky with my eating. I thank God that today I have food.
My lunch today, which I have just eaten, was a few steamed veg that I couldn't manage last night.
Toodle pip
You share the same motto as me - if I've paid for it, it's getting eaten up, even if it's stale or the same food as I've eaten the past two nights. There are always ways to use up leftovers so that nothing gets wasted. BOGOFs are only bargains if you actually use the food and it saves you money. Nothing is a bargain if it ends up in the bin!
ReplyDeleteCan anyone help me please? I was at a neighbours house yesterday and there were rectangular offcuts of beautiful carpets waiting to go to the skip. Being mega frugal, I asked if I could have them, with the intention of turning them into rugs to cover our cold laminate floors. Does anyone know how to 'hem' or edge them frugally so they don't fray? Sorry for butting in on your blog Ilona!
Hi Sue - you need to do a 'blanket' stitch around the egde to control any fraying. Check this lick to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD42zZy0iN4
DeleteHope that helps!
Tracey/FM x
Not sure how well it works, but I've seen duct tape used underneath to join the pieces together.
DeleteThanks so much Tracey. Just watched it on youtube and will blanket stitch them. I know you can buy various tapes and glues to stop the fraying but I like to use what I have as far as possible to avoid spending money!
DeleteThanks Ilona for letting me use your blog to get this information.
My pleasure Sue, this is a place where we can come together and swap ideas.
DeleteI don't know why someone would be frugal enough to be interested in BOGO and then bother to waste the 2nd item! We really live in such a wasteful culture, it's very sad.
ReplyDeleteYo Ilona.....love your blog girl. I echo your comments. I thank whatever powers that be every night & often through the day that I can feed myself/animals/birds & lie in a warm, clean bed. Wish all the world might have the same. As an aspiring Buddhist requests.....'may everyone be well, may everyone be happy, may everyone be free from suffering & ill will........may we dwell in peace...' Blessings be upon you & your compassionate heart. F.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Ilona! When I was young and heedless I did waste some food and if something didn't get eaten I would toss it. Now I do put quite a bit of thought into the food we purchase and how to fix it so it all gets eaten. Now the only food I don't eat is the odd rotten potato (which is frustrating in itself!) hidden in the bag. I just got a bag home from the market yesterday and one of the potatoes was completely squishy! Ew.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it does take a commitment to non-waste, but it's a matter of personality, in my opinion. If one is a disciplined person, that follows through in diet, exercise, purchasing, saving, etcetera. I've also found that disciplined people are often concerned about the environment. BUT, discipline is a muscle that will grow stronger with exercise, it's not like you are born with it or not. People can teach themselves how to be disciplined in their life. And disciplined does not mean no fun! Since we don't waste food, energy, etcetera, we can do other things with our money that we enjoy.
p.s. Sue, I don't know personally but I've seen it on the internet, so a search should yield some advice!
Thought provoking comment Danielle, thank you for posting. You are right, discipline is something which can be learnt. It does grow stronger the more you exercise it.
DeleteMid November and still so many delicious fresh home grown food to eat, Onions, pumpkins, squash, leeks, Brussel sprouts, parsnips, cabbage, swede, apples then pears from the freezer, potatoes in a sack. Yes we are SO LUCKY. and we also love the food we eat too.
ReplyDeleteI hate throwing food away and l am very particular to not get "bargains" l know we will not be able to eat. One thing that makes me VERY angry is programmes on the telly where they play around with food. One stupid show had an upside down kitchen and played at cooking. Several litres of milk, flour and eggs ended up on the floor! Like you say, there are people in the world with absolutely nothing and food is a great blessing we need to value! Just eaten up the rest of yesterdays macaroni cheese. Hope you have a good weekend, Pam
ReplyDeleteNot just 'throwing money away' they're throwing FOOD away! Egads! I'm fortunate when I have enough to eat, much less have a surplus to waste. One thing I used to do with hard bread: put the slice on the bottom of the meal, then it gets steaming hot and soft.
ReplyDeleteWell, throwing food out that`s perfectly ok to use is a wasteful attitude. I don`t throw out what I can eat. I freeze it for later use or eat it within two to three days of making. I`ve seen poverty abroad that we don`t know here in Britain and throwing food out goes against my grain. ( Whilst eating out in Marrakech an old lady came to our table after we had finished our meal and begged us to let her have the fish bones and meat bones from our plates, so she could take them home to make some broth, we assumed. And, of course we let her have them.) I had to educate DB on that wasteful behaviour when we had first met, but now he wouldn`t do such a senseless act either. Whatever is beyond our consumption now feeds the compost bin, thus also feeds the garden soil that my home grown veggies will be planted in. There really is no need to produce food waste if we can organise ourselves with careful meal planning and a sensible shopping list. It`s not just food that`s thrown away. Whatever these folk had bought has cost money, so money is wasted as well as the food. That`s a shameful way to live and I will not let myself be one of those wasteful people. Now more than ever is it essential to us to eat whatever foods we have bought and created. We are frugal and proud of it.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons I enjoy your blog so much is how your enjoyment of your life and chosen lifestyle shines through! You are one happy gal! It's a sad fact that so many folks are discontented.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jan, you've cheered me up even more.
DeleteI feel the same about food and don't often throw anything out. I hate wasting my pennies.
ReplyDeleteX x
I've had a look at your blog, Please May I? Some good stuff on there, I will be visiting again.
DeleteIt's not even about being frugal, it's about not being wasteful. So many have nothing, makes me mad about tv shows too. I just hope it gets eaten by the crew.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you 100 per cent. Watching the news about the Phillipines brings it home. I do so hope we can help those poor people. Think we've gone consumerism mad in our country. My friend's young daughter has every gadget imaginable and would feel deprived if she didn't. I was raised by my grandparents who had nowt No bathroom, outside toilet, bathtime was a tin bath in front of the gas fire and I remember the pretty patterns the frost made on the inside window. I am so grateful to have food and warmth and would never waste food. The freezer is packed with homemade ready meals and left overs and I'll use them all. Louise (Burton)
ReplyDeleteYou would have loved my mom, Ilona. When she died, there was very little in the refrigerator--and all of the leftovers were neatly labeled and dated. She never wasted a morsel of food!
ReplyDeleteWe have " Friday Soup." When I've been shopping, I make soup from whatever is left in the fridge from the previous weeks shopping. I think one reason for so much waste is that some mums cook different things a night for their picky kids. When mine were little, they ate what was put in front of them. I never had time, money or inclination to be cooking seperate food for every member of the family.
ReplyDeleteStale bread can be freshened up by sprinkling it with water and baking in a hot oven. Scones or fruit bread etc can be popped in the microwave for a minute, restores them back to their original softness.
ReplyDeleteI buy less stuff at once so things don't get forgotten in the back, as I only have a smallish fridge for two of us. If I try to buy food for a week, things have been occasionally forgotten.
ReplyDeleteIf we don't finish it, well then it goes into lunches or into the freezer where I keep every piece of meat,chicken, veggie and stock which I will make into a stew or filling for wraps. We don't waste anything if I can help it. Sure we might have strange things sometimes but my kids are used to it since they were raised on the eat or starve concept.
ReplyDeleteI will never understand people who knowingly waste food. It just amazes me!
Here here, I will never understand anyone throwing food away, it strikes of having more money than sense. My bread was going a bit stale yesterday so I made a bread and butter pudding.
ReplyDeleteTesco are planning to do away with the fresh produce BOGOF's because of the waste. The free item could be prepared and then frozen if suitable.
ReplyDeleteWe dont waste much food either but our council have started a scheme to collect leftover/wasted food which is collected with garden waste.
On a slightly different subject Ilona, you probably will of heard about the truck driver CPC that we have to have by September2014. I read yesterday that up to now 270,000 drivers have done their training. Since their are 430,000 hgv,s on the road, i wonder wether there will be anything in the shops next autumn. Maybe we should start stockpiling the BOGOF's.
Dave.