Buy freezer or shelf-stable microwave meals? You have food that way but it shouldn't really just "go bad". At least, not quickly.

Solution: freezer. I basically never have food go off because basically all of it is either frozen or non perishable.

Alternately: I can cook 4 iems at once and have a weeks worth of food!

Day 2 update: I ate it all.

Buy empty deli containers and food prep at least half the meals for the week.

Clean up fridge on day off, note overstock and old stock

Plan meals for the week using the over/old stock.

Use the pickup service at the market instead of shopping so you don't buy stupid things.

When you buy raw meat, cook it within two days, even if you're just going put it back into containers, it'll last far longer.

1. Get a big freezer. It's really surprising how much delicious stuff you can make just from frozen stuff that can last you forever. Frozen food is also often more fresh and with microwave and air fryer the prep of anything frozen is actually not very difficult.
2. Outsource as much as possible. Often it's really hard to outcompete efficient kitchens. I don't mean order Uber eats or something but there's likely a place in your vicinity that does food prep where you can take your food containers and stock up for 2-3 days. You can even freeze some dishes.

Wife and I really did the math because we feared of becoming lazy and it makes absolutely zero economic sense to cook everything at home right now unless you want to treat yourself or live in a very economically unusual places where #2 is not accessible.

Please don't waste food.

Meal prep brah, freeze that shit up

Only buy stuff you're excited to eat

Escape car dependency. I'm fortunate enough that I live within walking/biking distance of a few groceries. I can easily buy produce as I need it so it doesn't go bad.

Fuck cars.

I found that visitng shop frequently and buying a little each time helps with this. Also, knowing what you have and planning what to cook with stock in mind. Also, one might find better to buy at small grocery stores (turkish in my area). These have ability to buy as an example 10 or less potatoes instead of fixed 2.5kg of potatoes. That way you're not bound to swiftly eat potatoes before they rot.

I buy stuff that lasts. For bread, I find that rye takes weeks longer than white or wheat to start going bad, and bagels last ages too. I make smoothies with mostly frozen fruit. For dinner stuff, if I'm not feeling like cooking I either buy things I'm going to eat in the next few days or I get these sealed precooked things from Aldi that are great and keep well. Coconut milk also tends to keep better than cow milk and lately I've realized I greatly prefer it.

About the only things that are super perishable that I keep around are bananas and avocados, and I just tend to eat these a lot. I also keep spinach or kale around for my smoothies, but I rebag them into separate smaller bags as soon as I get them. If my bananas are getting overripe, they get frozen for smoothies.

I also tend to buy canned soups, which last ages.

When I was cooking regularly I'd make a lot of chilis and pasta sauces. They're good to freeze and they keep well on their own. Chili is arguably better after freezing and having more time to develop.

You can definitely eat pretty healthy and keep plenty of food in the house without constantly chasing waste.

My problem isn't that I don't use what I buy, the problem is that I buy too much. Like the recipe I need calls for one stalk of celery, but I can only buy an entire celery plant, like 11 stalks in a bundle because that's all the store offers. What do I do with the remaining 10 stalks?

Buy stuff you don't have to cook. It's crap nutritionally, but at least it isn't wasted!

I solved this by getting into a relationship with someone who genuinely loves to cook for others. I felt super guilty about it for a while but eventually got over it.

For me, I try to focus on buying stuff that will keep well, things that I can use a lot of ways, or things I have an immediate plan to use all of.

Or multiple of those things at once. Like if I get a crown of broccoli, it will only stay good in the fridge for a week or two, but I don’t need to eat it all at once, I can just take a bit at a time and add it to other things, like a soup or a pan fry, to get some green in. Frozen veggies solve the only lasting a week or two thing also.

On the other hand there’s things like canned tuna, there is only really one way I’m gonna use that, but it keeps forever in the cabinet, so no wasting fridge space, and the cans are usually small enough I can use it all at once.

Like, if it doesn’t keep well, you you wouldn't use it all at once, and you’d probably only use it for one thing, just don’t bother.

Also, like, look in to how certain things should be best stored, some things can last a lot longer if you figure that out.

I only buy packages, containers, or cartons that will sit within my nutritional budget to eat all of in a single sitting. One, maybe two of those = one meal. Especially those wonderful single-course entrees I can buy at ALDI for like six bucks a pop. That's actually a day's worth of food. Especially because I tend to eat one meal a day (when i am behaving).

Costco rotisserie chickens rock my fucking world too. Those things can be more than one meal!

I will also buy packages of "salad mix"--mixed greens with a few other veggies in it,
and then I'll add a nice dash of salt, and either a splash of apple cider vinegar or a liberal dusting of Parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, then shake it all up and just GO TO TOWN on the whole container.

The only perishables I buy are things of this sort that I will most certainly eat RIGHT AWAY.

Everything else is either
a: canned goods where i'll use the whole can at once adding to one of the above items
or,
b: non-perishable usually dry goods with which i can augment other things with pinches and dashes at a time (there are some things like vinegar or certain hot sauces that age and develop more flavor over time).

It’s called a freezer and lunches for the extra. Eat chicken? Batch cook that pallet- brine in about a couple of water, a bouillon cube, garlic and a bunch of salt, parsley, oregano, rosemary (to your taste), and a couple of the cheapest white wine at the grocery store if your feeling fancy or really like gravy. After a few hours or overnight, dry and throw in your oven at 400 for twenty minutes. When its out, let the chicken cool on a cutting board, slice some up and chop up the rest. You now have a baseline chicken that tastes as good as deli-quality that works well in everything from dinners, sandwiches and salads, and if you skip the rosemary, its a good stir fry addin.

No. I wait until the fridge is absolutely fucking empty and I eat every goddamn thing. You ain't gonna find no expired food in my household. And I don't buy things for the hell of it, and I don't buy shit in boxes. Cook in a pan. Buy whole food. Prioritize which expires or rots the quickest. I used a cast iron that I found in the trash. I don't understand how or why people have this issue. But I guess I've been poor for all of my adult life, so. If they drafted me, I'd say take me to prison bitch, because I ain't gonna fucking die for this place. I kinda wish I was never born. People throwing away food. Gawd I hate this country.

Freeze your fresh bread and only defrost the amount that you're going to eat.

Use a software/app to meal plane. (Mealie/Tandoor) You pick the recipes you fancy for the days/week/whatever period. It generates a grocery list containing exactly what is needed for the meals you chose, nothing else.

I haven't thrown away anything in a couple years now. Oh and freeze leftovers if needed.

In my household we tend to buy just enough that we know we can eat it over the course of two to three days if it is perishable foods.

If the store sells smaller packs of meat and vegetables and other perishable foods, we buy those and use them in our cooking the next few days.

We don't have a lot of freezer space and we don't have a garden, so we try and avoid bulk buying unless we know we will be able to eat it all before it goes bad. It works pretty well.