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.

Planning.

Stop buying so much food then.

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.

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.

Don't buy any perishables unless you're going to use them immediately, i.e. the same day that you buy them. If you buy them, take them home and eat them. Keep lots of non-perishables on hand so you'll be able to cook something without going to the store when you want to do that.

This is actually a real issue for a lot of people. The solution that I found is that you should sit down and write out a meal plan for the upcoming week. Like actually sit down and plan out your every meal and include snacks as well. Then write down the things you need to buy for those meals and snacks. Make sure you only put down things that you actually like eating.

When you go shopping take that list with you, and only buy the things you wrote on there and only buy amounts for the meals you're planning for. If by the end of the week, you bought too much, then that means there are meals in your planner that you don't really like. From there, you can refine your list and make improvements every week.

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?

A slow cooker helps. You can use random ingredients before they go bad easily enough, and you will have left overs so cooking one time results in not having to cook for multiple meals.

Buy food that you can cook in advance and reheat. Make a list of meals for the week, cook it all, then freeze it. Too tired to cook later in the week? Take it out of the freezer and reheat it.

Also, try to do recipes you can do in sequences that don't require too much dishwashing, then clean everything up at the end.

Do y'all need some recipes for simple and quick homemade meals? These are for one person or 2 meals.

• Potato - get the gold/yellow kind. Nuke for 5 minutes and top with whatever. If you want to spend 5 more minutes, put butter in a pan, smash it and cook on upper low for 4 or 5 more minutes with scallions, cheese, or whatever. If it's too dry, add milk.
• Frozen hamburger-put it in a large skillet with cut veggies over butter. Add herbs and/or onion flakes to taste. Let cook on medium heat with the lid on for 20 minutes. Add water and break up the meat, let cook for 10 more minutes with the lid off.
• Fresh or frozen chicken in the air fryer. Take a cup of flour and add some salt, garlic and/or any other herbs that sound good. Sometimes I add oregano or basil. Shake the 4 pieces in the flour. Air fry for 30 minutes (fresh) and 40 minutes (frozen). Take out and brush on butter. If there is flour left over, sprinkle on if necessary. Cook another 20 minutes (fresh) or 30 minutes frozen. This one is more easy than quick.

There are tons more, but I'm hungry and need to eat now.

Accept that you won't make the food and just buy fast food instead of both. It isn't as good as cooking yourself, but it will cost less overall.

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.

I solved this by planning out all my dinners for the week and then buying only what I needed for those plus topping up any thing I need for breakfast, lunch and snacks. Any perishables get used because i mostly only have what I've planned for that week. I can recommend Recipe Tin Eats as a good resource for easy to cook meals.

I plan on escaping the cycle by ceasing existence tbh

I only wish I could buy half loaves of the breads I like.

I can't get through a whole loaf alone to save my life unless I eat the same thing for 3 meals a day and I'd prefer not to.

Start with just one recipe. When I first was getting into cooking I was buying too much making it overwhelming to open the fridge and decide what to cook. As someone else mention shoot for having leftovers. One recipe scaled for 3-4 meals that you can split into containers and throw in the microwave when you are hungry.

We waste less by often making small trips to a local market to get just what we intend to cook for one day or evening. That may not work for everyone, but it works for us.

Go to store every day and only buy what I will start using that day.

Eventually, I extended the time, but I had to learn what I will actually use.

Clean-up is what stops many people. Get a good titanium no-stick pan - I like "Our Place" pans. Get individual portion meats or frozen meats or buy bulk and freeze in portions. Do the same with vegetables. Heat your seasoned pan up then put some oil in just before you put meat in. Cook meat until almost done, then add vegetables to same pan - heat them up. Serve. Let pan cool while you eat. Refrigerate left-overs. Rinse and wipe pan down. Wash dish. DONE.