ONE common grocery mistake is costing British families as much as £800 a year.
The biggest mishap they are making is throwing away perfectly good food.
Nearly three quarters of UK households say they bin unopened or unused food.
The country's largest supermarket retailer, Tesco, revealed the staggering stats.
The budget store also claimed that half a million people are throwing away food on a daily basis that they simply forgot to eat.
Sliced bread, bananas, and milk, were the worst offenders according to the supermarket giant.
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But families are already being clobbered at the supermarket as grocery prices soar at their fastest rate for 11 years.
The average shopping bill is set to rocket by £271 this year.
So the otherwise good food, that's simply being chucked, is just like pouring even more money down the drain.
The majority of households want to plan their shop more carefully though, as they grapple with the cost of living crisis.
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But the research conducted by Tesco found that lack of time, and understanding about what to cook, and by when, is getting in the way.
“The average UK household wastes eight meals a week," revealed Catherine David, director of collaboration and change at climate charity, WRAP.
"Wasting food costs money and feeds climate change. But less food wasted means more money in people's pockets, and a lower carbon footprint – a win-win for people and planet.”
Being savvy about how you do your food shop, or where you store your buys can help.
And most importantly, the slap up meals you can pop together with what IS in the fridge, can all help bring costs down.
Tesco has even announced its own new initiative called the Use up Day campaign.
The drive is set to encourage families to use-up what they've already got lying around at home before they splash out on another trolley full of goods for the week.
How to avoid wasting food
Use it up
An easy way to avoid waste is by eliminating it all together.
Use up what you've got lying around and you won't have to fork out more to replace it.
Tesco says if you take on its new challenge, your "Use Up Day" should ideally be just before your typical shopping day.
Then you'll be able to refill the bare cupboards without worrying about what you have to chuck to make room for newbies.
Take stock in the kitchen by foraging in your fridge or taking a deep dive into your freezer, and slap it all together so you don't waste a morsel.
Kené Umeasiegbu, Campaigns Director from Tesco said: “No one sets out to waste food but all too often hectic lifestyles, changing plans or just plain forgetfulness can mean good food ends up in the bin and money down the drain.
"We know that right now every little helps that’s why we are launching our ‘Use Up Day’ campaign to help our customers spend less and cut waste by using food already in their kitchen."
The waste experts reckon it could save families £260 a year too.
Everybody freeze
Making use of your freezer can help to extend the lifespan of what you do have even further.
Keep an eye on the "use by" dates of quick to "go-off" foods like meat, fish and dairy products.
And if you think you’re not going to use them in time, freeze them to save them meeting the bottom of the bin instead.
You can freeze fruit and veggies to stop them ripening too quickly too, or freeze your leftover meals so you can enjoy them again later.
If you've got food in the house that is due to expire, cut it up and put it in a zip-lock bag to put in the freezer to use at a later date as another savvy saving tip.
Making a list
Really, it all starts before you head out the door to embark on the daunting supermarket sweep.
By planning your meals and taking into account what you already have in the cupboard, you can avoid buying more than you need.
That just leads to overstocked cupboards and more being thrown away anyway, so it's best to keep it short and sweet from the get go.
Shoppers who try to take on the task of the big shop without a list, might find they'll over spend otherwise.
So grab a pen and paper and write down ONLY what you need to refill the pantry this week.
Stick on
You can take the war on wastage one step further with yellow stickers too.
Supermarkets will often reduce the price of food nearing its use by date to shift stock and avoid their own food wastage.
The food is still good to eat, but not forever.
So try freezing these deals too, to make them last that bit longer.
The biggest perk is that you can often save up to 75% off products marked up in this way, massively reducing your grocery bill to begin with.
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Just be careful that you don't end up creating MORE waste in your home.
The foodie bits will go out of date quicker than your regular shop so you don't want to have wasted your money throwing this away too.
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