Do a Five-Minute Fridge Audit Before Every Grocery Run

Most food waste starts at the store, not in the fridge — you buy things you already have, or things with nowhere to go once you get home. Before you write a shopping list, open the fridge and pantry and actually look: what is about to spoil, what half-used jar is hiding in back, what you bought last week and forgot.

Build your list around what needs to be used, then fill the gaps. It takes five minutes and changes what ends up in your cart. Do this every time, and duplicate purchases and forgotten produce mostly disappear.