The Worse Mistakes People Make with Food

There are a number of common food mistakes that costsdearly in money, health, and time. What are the majormistakes made? What changes do you need to make? Here aresome food mistakes to avoid.

1. Last minute meal planning or no planning at all. Theresults: not knowing what ingredients to have and/or nothaving the right ingredients.

2. Bad planning for shopping; not knowing what's on sale,what's in season, what you are out of, etc. Result? Onebuys what isn't needed and spends too much on what is needed.

3. Convenience spending/cooking. Examples are; TV dinners,chicken already cut up, items in ready-to-use/servingsizes, etc.. This buying habit costs lots of money. Wholechicken at 49 cents a pound is much less than skinnedbreast at $3.89 a pound.

4. Unplanned trips for missing ingredients. Buying anitem at the last minute means paying full price and buyingother items not needed just because you are there.

5. Buying "wants" not "needs". This habit causesincomplete meals or snacks as meals. Also, it results innot having healthy food for meals.

6. Improper storage equals wasted food. A good habit toget into is to properly store food the moment you get home.Make it a family event. I call it "divide and conquer".Each family member can place items in their proper placeeven if they can't cut the chicken for freezing, or fix thecarrots, celery, or whatever for serving sizes to be storedin the frig.

7. Trying too hard can result in giving up. Changing theway you cook or buy can be exciting and frustrating,especially if one attempts to do too much at one time. Ifyou want to try stir frying, don't try to do pressurecooking at the same time. Frustration causes some to quit.

8. Surprise! Company's here! Unexpected company can putthe budget in a sling. What recipes can be fixed ahead oftime and cooked at the last moment? What foods feed a crowdthat can be stored year around?

9. Bad diet/bad eating habits. For whatever reason peopleoften just fall into bad eating habits. Unhealthy foodscosts more. Eating too much of certain foods costs more.

One way to spend less and feel better is to take a goodlook at your buying habits. Decide what needs changedfirst. Prioritize. Even if you are good at sticking toplans everyone is in the habit of doing things certainways. As you become hurried or stressed you may fall backinto old habits. Precautions avoid unnecessary spending infood buying and preparation.

Spending less money on food and eating better is possiblefor almost everyone. Few are doing all they can. But don'tget all caught up with insignificant details. Life is tooshort. Decide what will work for you, and don't stressabout it. You need to reserve energy for more importantthings. Avoiding common mistakes can save time, food andmoney.

Author info: Check out http://www.grocerystoresavings.comfor more information on saving money on food. L. C.Peterson is a writer, and web marketing consultant withover 400 manuscripts published. The author's web site is athttp://www.lcpeterson.com.

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