Every time you throw out spoiled food, you’re retroactively tossing out misspent money. Add waste to overspending at restaurants and poor choices at the supermarket and you could find that food is taking more of a sizable bite out of your budget.

Kimberly, the U.S. News & World Report writer who has started selling personal finance-based personal planners, shares how to save on food in a post on Alpha Consumer.

A few of the tips, from the book American Wasteland:

* Buy less food, more frequently. Rather than stocking up in large-load hauls from the supermarket, break up your week into smaller purchases and buy food as needed. You’ll waste less and have more fridge and cupboard space.

* Clean out your food storage spaces. Somewhere in your cupboard is a can of tuna, I promise you. So don’t buy any more at the store. Sorting through your food inventory lets you see what you’ve got so you won’t end up accidentally doubling up.

* Take expiration dates as suggestions, not mandates. If it smells like milk and tastes like milk, it’s still milk, not nonpotable swill that the expiration date might have you believe. Use common sense and you could stretch your food out longer than you’d think.

15 Ways to Stop Wasting Money on Food [Alpha Consumer]

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