Waste Not

I love 'lightbulb' moments. Especially if they have dollar signs on the inside. Who wouldn't?

"Thou Shalt Waste Not" was one of those light bulb moments for me. Anything I throw out comes at a cost to me. At one point and time I paid for this item and now I'm throwing out 1/4 of it. What $ amount am I tossing?

I hate cleaning out my refrigerator to begin with but one day last fall I analyzed the dollar amount of what I was getting rid of. That was the turning point.

No more money going into the trash. The items in your pantry and freezer obviously have a longer shelf life BUT when you clean out the pantry or the deep freeze are there items that get tossed? You can also figure into this vegetables like potatoes and onions that the last 2lbs sometimes get tossed or the apples and oranges that came in a big bag and last 1/4 of the bag gets tossed.

Maybe I'm the only one who has had to deal with this. I will say we have come a long way. I think I can safely say it has been months since I've tossed anything. I can assure you though, that isn't the way it used to be.

Have you ever analyzed the cost of what you toss? Maybe I'm the only one crazy enough to pull things out of the frig, analyze the cost and keep a running tally in my head. :)

How do you eliminate waste? How do you manage your refrigerator? What are good ways to keep the pantry and deep freeze organized to eliminate waste?