Poll of the Day > Hard question related to personal life stuff

(+) Yeah! (+)

I tend to not buy fresh groceries because they tend to expire before I get at them. I do try to get the more expensive/less efficient sizes for this reason but more often I simply skip out and not get anything.

However, there's another angle to this. If I DON'T buy the item it is likely it will expire anyways at the store. If I bought it then the OG producer profits, but if I don't then they don't.

Example: If I buy a carton (12) of eggs I usually will only eat like 4 of them before they go bad. I could get a less efficient 6 pack (or buy liquid egg), but I'd still waste some and feel wasteful

so.... what a do?

eggs take a while to go bad, just eat them more often. but otherwise I agree, living alone I almost can't buy anything that expires without it expiring.

I suppose the solution is to plan exactly what you intend to eat, and buy exactly that, and eat exactly that. I'm not that organized though.

Eggs I can normally do before they go bad, but not always.

I used to go to the store everyday after work and cook what I bought that day. And then weekends I would do something big and eat it other the weekend, like spaghetti, roasts, big soups, etc.

Eggs are often still good for quite a while after their "expiration date". Just crack them into a separate container you're not sure

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


cuz I'd buy a carton and they'd be in the fridge for like 2 years

Metalsonic66 posted...

Eggs are often still good for quite a while after their "expiration date". Just crack them into a separate container if you're not sure

I do the float test... they float

If they don't smell bad they're fine

I'm in a situation where I have to buy my groceries for the month all at once as I am not likely to be able to get to the store again.

Bread is a good example here; in the winter I can buy four loaves and it will get me through the month, but in the summer it will go mouldy within two weeks if I don't eat it, so I can't buy a month's worth of bread. This means in the summer I either have to make extra trips to the store or just plan for meals that don't require bread after two weeks.

Lokarin posted...

so.... what a do?

work to rid the world of the system that is designed to allow for thousands of dollars of food to go to waste every day.

Lokarin posted...

cuz I'd buy a carton and they'd be in the fridge for like 2 years

I do the float test... they float

You have to do that test with very cold water.

KodyKeir posted...

I'm in a situation where I have to buy my groceries for the month all at once as I am not likely to be able to get to the store again.

Bread is a good example here; in the winter I can buy four loaves and it will get me through the month, but in the summer it will go mouldy within two weeks if I don't eat it, so I can't buy a month's worth of bread. This means in the summer I either have to make extra trips to the store or just plan for meals that don't require bread after two weeks.

work to rid the world of the system that is designed to allow for thousands of dollars of food to go to waste every day.

Freeze any extra loaves.

Revelation34 posted...

Freeze any extra loaves.

That would require having a freezer that isn't the size of a shoe box that's already full of the meat I will eat for dinners this month; and don't say buy a stand alone freezer and or a bigger fridge, even if I had the money to do that, I don't have the space.

Meal prep. Plan out what you're going to eat for the whole week and then buy accordingly.

I used to have this problem. You might want to try what I ended up doing, even though it is kind of sucky, annoying, and inconvenient:

Go grocery shopping more often, but buy less at a time.

KodyKeir posted...

That would require having a freezer that isn't the size of a shoe box that's already full of the meat I will eat for dinners this month; and don't say buy a stand alone freezer and or a bigger fridge, even if I had the money to do that, I don't have the space.

Buy a bigger cake.

I would love one of those big freezers. I want to order from Omaha Steaks again.

KodyKeir posted...

don't say buy a stand alone freezer and or a bigger fridge, even if I had the money to do that, I don't have the space.

I got a small chest freezer for just over $100 CAD. It's extremely nice to have. it does take up a fair bit of space, though.

Believe me, if I had the room I would find the wiggle room in the budget to get one; I would shave a decent percentage of my monthly grocery bill if I could buy more frozen (or bulk to be frozen) goods.

The other problem would be getting it into my apartment, no way it makes it up the spiral staircase so it would have to be small enough to fit through my west window (and the joy of carrying it by myself up the ladder).

Lokarin posted...

cuz I'd buy a carton and they'd be in the fridge for like 2 years

Eggs stay good even outside the fridge.

I think everyone is missing the point - replace eggs with anything

Is it better to go to waste in my hands, since money goes up the economic food chain... or just let it go to waste at the store.

Lokarin posted...

Is it better to go to waste in my hands, since money goes up the economic food chain... or just let it go to waste at the store.

it's better for you not to buy it in the first place if it's going to go to waste. if you think farmers need more money, donate to a charity or something.

Lokarin posted...

I think everyone is missing the point - replace eggs with anything

Is it better to go to waste in my hands, since money goes up the economic food chain... or just let it go to waste at the store.

Somebody will always buy the item unless it's extremely close to expiring. In most cases that's the fault of lazy store employees who don't want to sort everything and just grab from the top.

sell the excess to a friend or neighbor

Lokarin posted...

I think everyone is missing the point - replace eggs with anything

Is it better to go to waste in my hands, since money goes up the economic food chain... or just let it go to waste at the store.

A well run grocery store will have very little product expire on the shelf.

ultra magnus13 posted...

A well run grocery store will have very little product expire on the shelf.

Not always. Some things expire because people just won't buy them due to the price. It has nothing to do with proper rotation.