Almost $3,000 a year is what the average family of four spends on food that never gets eaten, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The same page, updated Nov. 10, 2026, says one-third of all food in the United States goes uneaten.
The agency’s advice for turning that around starts before the cart is pushed anywhere. Its planning and shopping tips boil down to five steps worth doing before a grocery trip, and the first one is a look inside the fridge, freezer and pantry, and the freezer is where this list starts.
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1. Look in the Fridge, Freezer and Pantry First
The first EPA step is an inventory check, and the freezer is the place to begin it. The EPA tells shoppers to look in the refrigerator, freezer and pantry before buying anything, to avoid picking up food already at home; the freezer is one of three places it names, not the only one. It adds a second half: make a list each week of what needs to be used up and plan upcoming meals around it.
The EPA does not rank its tips, so this list leads with the inventory check, and with the freezer within it, because everything else depends on it. A half bag of frozen vegetables or a jar of sauce at the back of the shelf changes what the week’s menu can be.
The FDA gives the same advice on its tips for cutting food waste: check the fridge and pantry first so duplicates do not end up in the cart. Utah State University Extension is the one that singles out the freezer. Its guidance to take stock before restocking includes a reminder to check the freezer, where packaged meat should be dated and rotated.
The same extension piece recommends first in, first out: put recently bought items behind older ones so the older food gets used first. Keeping a marker nearby for dating bulk items makes that easier. For a few ideas on fitting more into tight spaces, Frenz Hub’s roundup of clever storage hacks may help.
2. Keep a Running List of Meals the Household Already Likes
The EPA suggests keeping a running list of meals and their ingredients that a household already enjoys. With that list on hand, it is easier to choose, shop for and cook meals that actually get eaten.
The idea is practical rather than fancy. A short note on a phone listing reliable dinners saves time when planning the week, and it keeps shopping tied to food people will eat rather than recipes that sound good in the store aisle.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension, in a Dec. 2, 2025 piece on grocery lists by educator Jamie Carlson, suggests a small kitchen notebook where items are added as they run out during the week. It also advises writing the list in the order items will be found in the store. A pantry that is kept in order helps too, and Frenz Hub’s guide to seasonal storage has tips for keeping shelves tidy.
3. Plan the Week’s Meals Before Shopping
The EPA says to plan meals for the week before going shopping and to buy only the things needed for those meals. A list made with weekly meals in mind, it says, can save money and time, and anyone who buys only what is expected to be used is more likely to eat it all.
The FDA’s tips line up. It says to write the shopping list before leaving for the store while thinking about which meals will be made the next week, and to stick to the list, especially with items that spoil quickly.
Planning also guards against the pull of a sale. The EPA notes that buying in large quantities, such as buy one, get one free deals, only saves money if all the food is used before it spoils. A planned week makes that call easy: if there is a meal for it, buy it.
Small kitchen habits add up, and a list of eight things never to store under the kitchen sink covers another one. Those who want to go deeper on spending can also browse Frenz Hub’s list of things that are actually getting cheaper.
4. Count How Many Meals Will Be Eaten at Home
The EPA says the shopping list should be based on how many meals will be eaten at home. That means thinking about how often the household will eat out, whether frozen precooked meals are on the menu, and whether leftovers will cover any meals.
North Carolina Cooperative Extension makes a similar point, advising shoppers to look at the week’s schedule and note which nights need quick meals and which meals could become leftovers. A week with two restaurant dinners and a pot of leftovers needs fewer groceries than a week where every dinner is cooked from scratch. Counting meals before buying keeps the cart in line with the calendar.
It also pairs with the EPA’s reminder not to leave perishable food at room temperature for more than two hours, and to refrigerate or freeze leftovers in clear, labeled containers with dates. The fridge itself should be set to 40 degrees Fahrenheit or below, the EPA says, a figure that matches the cold-storage guidance on foodsafety.gov.
Anyone whose counter is a landing spot for loose groceries may find the advice in a list of eight things that do not belong on a kitchen counter useful when planning where the new food will go.
5. Put Quantities on the List, Down to the Meals
The last EPA step is to include quantities on the shopping list, noting how many meals each item will cover to avoid overbuying. The agency’s example is “salad greens – enough for two lunches.”
That small note does two jobs. It stops the extra bag of greens from going into the cart, and it gives the shopper a reason to put something back if the plan changes. Buying from bulk bins, the EPA adds, can cut waste and packaging when the amount bought matches the amount needed, as long as the food is stored in airtight, labeled containers.
The EPA’s financial estimate gives the stakes: by throwing away less food, a family of four could save up to $56 per week, according to the agency’s “Cash in the Trash” graphic. That is an upper figure for a household of that size, not a promise for every kitchen.
A reality check is in order. None of the five steps is dramatic, and none requires a special app, only a few minutes with a pen and a look at the shelves. The EPA’s page is guidance, not a rulebook, and what a household actually saves depends on what it already wastes. Still, the first step costs nothing: a look in the fridge, the freezer and the pantry, and a list of what is already there.
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Image: Bruce Turner from AustinTX – CC BY 2.0/Wikimedia Commons
