I Feel Like It Has Been a Trend
By Jim Bauer
@porwest (92743)
United States
October 29, 2024 6:03pm CST
I am usually so good about not having to throw food away. But there have been at least three times I have had to do it in the last month or two, and I just feel like that is beginning to become a trend.
And not a good one. Not only is it wasted food. It's wasted money, and that makes for a double whammy when you get down to it.
I found a jar of salsa sitting in the back of the fridge that was had about a third left of it, and I knew it had been a while since we opened it—in fact, we brought it out for a birthday party we threw for my mom in September.
I opened it and it looked like someone had dumped a layer of Parmesan cheese on top of it. Certainly that was spoiled. Down the drain and into the garbage disposal it went.
I estimate that was at least 60 cents worth of salsa.
It's not like it will break me, of course. But pennies add up over time and any waste is costly. It just means, third time is a charm, and I need to get my butt in gear and pay better attention to anything we have in the fridge. Maybe I'll pick a day, like a Wednesday every week to take a glance and make sure there's nothing going to waste in there.
I have to do something. Because it gets on my nerves like nobody's business.
13 people like this
14 responses
@lovebuglena (44733)
• Staten Island, New York
31 Oct
I hate throwing food away. Try to avoid it whenever possible. Our fridge is never full so it is easier to keep track of what’s in there and if anything has gone bad.
2 people like this
@lovebuglena (44733)
• Staten Island, New York
3 Nov
@porwest you can just put a post-it note on the container to let you know what’s inside.
2 people like this
@porwest (92743)
• United States
3 Nov
Ours is not typically full either. But things still tend to manage to get lost in the muck sometimes. Part of it as that we reuse sour cream and butter containers and things like that, so unless you know it's not what the container says, you sometimes forget you put something else in them. We used to mark them with an X with a Sharpie. I should probably start doing that again. But of course, this was not a reused container. It was actually salsa in a salsa jar.
3 people like this
@porwest (92743)
• United States
4 Nov
@lovebuglena We do have labels. Using them is another story. lol
2 people like this
@kaylachan (71942)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
30 Oct
I try to be real careful about what I keep in the fridge. When George was in the hospital, I did a major clean out since I'd be the only one eating and I really wouldn't be home. Then before Milton I got it bare bones, again for milton. I think 'ts fairly stocked again. so that's good.
2 people like this
@kaylachan (71942)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
5 Nov
@porwest We've all done that. I am sure.
1 person likes this
@allknowing (137958)
• India
2 Nov
We do not waste a grain. Excess food is frozen and taken out any time we want to.
2 people like this
@dgobucks226 (35778)
•
31 Oct
Good thing it wasn't a roast or something more costly. You would be pulling your hair out about now. 
2 people like this
@2ndchances24 (9348)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
30 Oct
That's not good, I hate when things go bad in the fridge, cause your right
food is expensive & wasting it isn't cool, that's why we keep food we eat
close to the front to be seen & used within 3 days Or it goes in the freezer.
2 people like this
@2ndchances24 (9348)
• Cloverdale, Indiana
5 Nov
@porwest (I am not broke largely BECAUSE I mind my pennies.)
that's the same way I feel & DO.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (160998)
• United States
30 Oct
That bothers me as well. Another pet peeve is running out of an essential item and hubby making a 30 minute trip for that one item. (His choice. I plan to shop tomorrow.)
2 people like this
@Marilynda1225 (83103)
• United States
30 Oct
I hate when that happens and this week I had to throw away half a box of English Muffins that had gotten moldy. What annoyed me most was I had just bought them a few days before and they aren't cheap anymore.
2 people like this
@innertalks (22107)
• Australia
30 Oct
Of course, if you had eaten it with the misguided idea that waste-not want-not is always the way to go, you would have wasted more money, if you had become sick as a result of it. Sixty cents is a small price for the lesson learned.
If you have a compost hole, in the ground, like I have, you could have buried it in there, and eventually it would have become compost too.
@LindaOHio (182154)
• United States
30 Oct
Since it's such a big bother to you, checking every Wednesday sounds like a good idea (or the day before your trash goes out). Have a good day.
2 people like this
@jefferson126 (3316)
• Shenzhen, China
30 Oct
We really need pay more attention to things in fridge,sometimes,i also forgot a jam in fridge,when i remembered,it already expired.good that you realized this,i believe you will have less food waste in future.
1 person likes this
@Beestring (14699)
• Hong Kong
30 Oct
Talking about throwing food away. My fridge was down the other day. I had to throw away a lot of food. What a waste!
2 people like this
@grenery8 (11174)
• Zagreb, Croatia (Hrvatska)
30 Oct
i understand you. i had similar experience with cheese lately. i buy it not as slices but a piece. then i open it, forget a bit, try cutting on the side and if something remain, i throw it. t's also strange how that all happens in a week. some weird cheese too, i doubt.
1 person likes this
