I highly recommend it! We follow several of her tips already (taking food out of the big boxy packages, organizing the cabinet, etc) and I do find that it helps. We aren't wasting food.
According to one book (referenced in the article), Americans waste 40% of their food. That means that for every $1,000 you spend, you're essentially throwing $400 in the trash. Ouch!
The USDA has estimated what groceries should cost per person for 4 plans - thrifty, low-cost, moderate and liberal. I'm thrifty, so that's what I went by.
$643.80 a month! For thrifty? The liberal plan was $1054! For a month!
I'm still baffled at the $643.
My grocery budget for a month is literally half that. $80 a week = $320 a month. That's my budget. I try really hard to spend between $40-60 a week on groceries (Most weeks I can make the $60. Occasionally I use the whole budget of $80, sometimes I can get away with $40.)
Now, factor in our eating out. We eat out too much. Let's say we eat out once a week for about $30. That's $120 a month. Let's round up to $150 to be liberal.
So $320 plus $150 is $470 for food per month. That's still $173 LESS than what the USDA says.
I'm guess I'm better at being thrifty than I thought!
