memes

I only wish I could buy half loaves of the breads I like.

I can't get through a whole loaf alone to save my life unless I eat the same thing for 3 meals a day and I'd prefer not to.

We waste less by often making small trips to a local market to get just what we intend to cook for one day or evening. That may not work for everyone, but it works for us.

Only buy stuff you're excited to eat

Easy solution. Frozen veggies + rice + meat

Meat is the only perishable so I can manage my meals around it. It helps that im happy to eat the same meal everyday with only minor variation.

1. Get a big freezer. It's really surprising how much delicious stuff you can make just from frozen stuff that can last you forever. Frozen food is also often more fresh and with microwave and air fryer the prep of anything frozen is actually not very difficult.
2. Outsource as much as possible. Often it's really hard to outcompete efficient kitchens. I don't mean order Uber eats or something but there's likely a place in your vicinity that does food prep where you can take your food containers and stock up for 2-3 days. You can even freeze some dishes.

Wife and I really did the math because we feared of becoming lazy and it makes absolutely zero economic sense to cook everything at home right now unless you want to treat yourself or live in a very economically unusual places where #2 is not accessible.

Use a software/app to meal plane. (Mealie/Tandoor) You pick the recipes you fancy for the days/week/whatever period. It generates a grocery list containing exactly what is needed for the meals you chose, nothing else.

I haven't thrown away anything in a couple years now. Oh and freeze leftovers if needed.

Alternately: I can cook 4 iems at once and have a weeks worth of food!

Day 2 update: I ate it all.

Clean-up is what stops many people. Get a good titanium no-stick pan - I like "Our Place" pans. Get individual portion meats or frozen meats or buy bulk and freeze in portions. Do the same with vegetables. Heat your seasoned pan up then put some oil in just before you put meat in. Cook meat until almost done, then add vegetables to same pan - heat them up. Serve. Let pan cool while you eat. Refrigerate left-overs. Rinse and wipe pan down. Wash dish. DONE.

Buy freezer or shelf-stable microwave meals? You have food that way but it shouldn't really just "go bad". At least, not quickly.

No. I wait until the fridge is absolutely fucking empty and I eat every goddamn thing. You ain't gonna find no expired food in my household. And I don't buy things for the hell of it, and I don't buy shit in boxes. Cook in a pan. Buy whole food. Prioritize which expires or rots the quickest. I used a cast iron that I found in the trash. I don't understand how or why people have this issue. But I guess I've been poor for all of my adult life, so. If they drafted me, I'd say take me to prison bitch, because I ain't gonna fucking die for this place. I kinda wish I was never born. People throwing away food. Gawd I hate this country.

Buy stuff you don't have to cook. It's crap nutritionally, but at least it isn't wasted!

Meal planning is number 1.

Being strict with what you buy then so you don't buy something you have no plan for.

Learn a couple of meals that you can throw anything into so you can use up veg that are just about to go off. Eg ratatouille, stew, curry, etc.

Buy a recipe book with easy one pot meals for inspiration. I find the Internet just has too much and you need to know what you're doing, plus there's just too much distraction. Sitting with a recipe book and a pen and paper to plan is way more relaxing, IME.

Buy exactly what you need for the next N meals, easy

I'll only buy something perishable when I need it. I tend to cook for 3-4 days in one go in order to make cooking for only myself somewhat economical. I tend to visit the supermarket every other day so I don't really have to plan too much.

Buy more fruit in summer and cereals in winter.

i dont, my family always buys too much food regardkess to how many times i tell them to not

Try going in with a recipe that you plan on making as soon as you get home, then the other stuff you buy should only be the stuff you know you'll actually eat or stuff that won't go bad. Of course there's the issue of having to buy more of a product than you need for the recipe, but that's hard to avoid.

If you need advice on how to better motivate yourself to make the choices you know you should make, I'm afraid I'm wholly unqualified to help.

I had this issue with produce. I stopped buying it because it would just go bad before I used it.