's motd Thurs June 21, 2012

[Guest guest]

CASH INTO TRASH

Thursday, 21 June 2012

Hey, you got twenty bucks? No, I don't need

to borrow it. Instead, I want you to take a

twenty-dollar bill and toss it into your garbage. No,

seriously, go ahead...I'll wait 'til you get back.

Do you have any

idea how much money Americans waste by throwing good

food...into the trash?

Oh, I see you didn't do it and, heck...who

would? Money is too hard to come by and, these

days, that's truer than ever. You hear about it on

the news everyday. Our country's economy, though it's

slowly trying to improve, is still in pretty bad

shape. Oh sure, the housing market is doing a little

better. Gasoline prices have begun to edge down a

bit. And, most important of all, more people are

finding jobs. But still, now is not the time to be

wasting money. But do you have any idea how much

money Americans waste by throwing good food...into

the trash? Well, believe me...it's a lot! Consider these

statistics I saw in a copy of The Wall

Street Journal.

Fruit and juices make up 16% of trash

thrown out in the average American home. Milk and

yogurt make up another 13%.

Grains, such as rice, make up about 14% of our trash.

And let's run over to the veggie section for the

biggest number. Vegetables make up a full 25% of the food

thrown into our trash cans. In fact, according to The Wall

Street Journal, the average American family

tosses about $92.00 worth of fruit

and vegetables every year...into the garbage. Wow! Sounds like

there's enough food thrown into our trash to feed a

whole other family!

Throwing away

all of that food is taking a big, wasteful chunk out

of your household budget.

Now come on everybody, not only is this almost

sinful but

throwing away all of that food is taking a big chunk

out of your household budgets, too. Why do we end up

throwing out so much food? Well, most people tend to

overestimate how much they need when they head for the

supermarket. They don't do an inventory at home to

see what they already have and end up buying more of

the things they already have plenty of. That's why

it's important, before you go grocery shopping, to

take a good look through the kitchen to see just what

you really

need.

You know I've always been a big fan of making a list

before heading to the supermarket. I check my

fridge's vegetable bin to see if I need more tomatoes,

celery or peppers. I look on my dairy shelf and check

the expiration dates on my milk, yogurt, cheese and

eggs. I look through my kitchen cabinets, doing a

check for what I have there, too. Hey! I forgot I

had these four cans of water chestnuts back here. I

would have bought more had I not checked!

See what I mean? It's a smart idea, every now and

then, to do a little visual check of the foods you

already have in your kitchen. I mean, come on, how

many times have you gone to the supermarket and come

back with stuff you already had plenty of? I'm

telling you, it simply makes good sense to make that

list!

Make a shopping

list of what you actually need at the grocery

store.

After your little inventory, make a shopping list of

what you actually need at the grocery

store. And, by the way, it's the perfect opportunity

to make sure you're getting plenty of the right

foods you

need for your weight-loss program, too!

I want you to get started this weekend making those

grocery shopping lists. You'll stop wasting so much

food and you'll save

money. And one other thing, by making that list and

sticking with it, you'll bring home more of the right,

healthy food choices for you and your family! So

please...

Stop trashing your cash!

Love,