wasting $ and food

I used to have the same problem about food going bad, but that was before I actually started cooking (I used to never cook except for breakfast on the weekends). For me the key is menu planning for the week and using the soon to expire foods right up front. I too eat a lot of chicken as that is my main source of protein, so I know that I have to cook and consume it within three days of buying, so I plan the meals accordingly.

For the veggies, maybe lower the temperature for that drawer in your refrigerator, I think this has helped me a lot. Also, I now put cut onions (it takes me awhile to finish an onion despite trying to use a lot of it for an anti-inflammatory diet) and other cut veggies that I cannot use all at once (though I often try to use it all at once) in brown paper bags, in the veggie drawer of the fridge as I read that light is what really deteriorates the food.

Now I bring lunch to work too, so this definitely helps me with consuming the soon to expire foods. For instance, I make my own tikka masala sauce and cook chicken with it enough for 3 meals, and it is consumed in about 1.5-2 days since I bring it for lunch too. I am not a fan of repeating meal after meal, so I change it up and insert a different meal in between.

Tortillas are my weakness, and as much as I love my uncooked flour ones (I think they last a bit longer than the pre-cooked ones and are WAY better, I like the Tortilla Land brand), I rarely allow myself to eat them as the calorie count increases significantly. So I store them in my fruit drawer in the refrigerator, and eat them with breakfast when I make eggs, or sometimes when I'm going to use chicken by cooking the chicken with cumin, onions, garlic, and fresh salsa. If I run out of naan bread or lavash, I use tortillas as a substitute.

Another thing that helps is to only buy what I really need, this forces me to use other non ready to expire foods in my fridge and pantry, so this alone has helped me finally use things sitting in my pantry and at the back of the fridge. Something about less is more goes really far. It also prompts new menu ideas.

Also, I've found many of the staples that I use like Bob's Redmill 13 Bean Soup and Soo Foo are also in the bulk foods section of organic based grocery stores, so I don't have to buy a whole large package, I can buy much smaller amounts. These grocery stores may be a bit pricey, but for organic, good, clean food, I'm worth it, plus things are generally packaged a lot smaller, so it works out better for me.