Yesterday, I cleaned out my fridge.
I knew I was going to find some doozies because it had been a pretty busy week, and I am never as good about not wasting food when I’m busier.
This hasn’t happened in a long, long time, but I had to throw out a completely unused chicken.
I’d bought it, intending to roast it, and one thing after another kept coming up until the chicken was several days past the sell-by date and I am not one to play fast and loose with meat dates.
(Had I been smarter, I’d have thrown the chicken in the freezer for future use, but I kept thinking I’d have time to roast it. Optimism has its downsides.)
When I realized I was going to have to throw the chicken away, one of my first thoughts was, “Great. I’m throwing away an entire chicken. What good was my freezer challenge if I’m doing this the next week? Who cares if I used up bread ends when I’m throwing away a whole chicken??”
While it is true that this line of thinking sometimes is valid (Why patch a small leak in a dam when there’s a gaping hole?), it’s only true if the two things are connected.
For instance, if saving the bread ends from my freezer had caused me to waste the chicken, that would have been a dumb use of my time.
Or if I’d had the chicken and bread ends both sitting in front of me and had chosen to use the bread ends instead, that also would have been not-so-smart.
But in this case, the chicken and the freezer challenge were completely unrelated. I did the freezer challenge the last few weeks, and I wasted the chicken this week.
Still, though, I can tend to think that the chicken mistake negated all my other food waste efforts.
I’ve sometimes had this thought about money-related things too.
Like, what was the point of being so careful about my grocery spending when a hospital bill cropped up the next week?
Or, what was the point of working so hard to earn some extra money when a new higher tax bill came at the same time as the extra money?
But when I stop and think about it, this is pretty silly.
The hospital bill was going to happen regardless of whether or not I stuck to my grocery budget.
The chicken was probably going to get wasted whether or not I did my freezer challenge.
Taxes were going to go up whether I earned extra money or not.
While it stinks to throw away a chicken, what’s worse is to throw away chicken AND a freezer full of food.
And while hospital bills are no good, what’s worse is to get a hospital bill AND go over the grocery budget.
Higher taxes are depressing, but it’s more depressing to get higher taxes AND not earn extra money.
So, I’m reminding myself that one mistake doesn’t cancel out all the other good choices I’ve made, it doesn’t render them pointless, and the worst reaction would be to give up altogether.
That would be why, after throwing out the chicken, I took some soft grapes off the stem and froze them for future smoothie use.
Because as long as I keep trying, I’m going to have more wins than losses.
_________________________
I feel so silly for being tempted to think that my mistakes negate my successes, but silly or not, I have to keep talking myself out of it! You?
__________________________
Joshua’ 52 Project post: Sequoia, Part 1
Stephanie Henry says
For me the cost of the chicken would be annoying – however the life of a chicken is much more. If I waste meat I am very upset at myself that an animal died for my consumption but in the end I trashed it as if its life had no value.
Kristen @ Joyfully Thriving says
What a well-written post, Kristen, and a perfect reminder that we all make frugal mistakes! I’ve had similar thoughts more than once so can certainly relate. I once left an entire package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts on the counter to thaw – but left them out 24 hours instead of a just a couple – and threw them away, too. Sigh. Like you, I err on the side of caution when it comes to meat. Thanks for this encouragement! And here’s to continuing on and not letting mistakes frustrate us too long!
Doree Weller says
I’m so with you on this one! I tend to have that same kind of black and white thinking, and I also have to remind myself to not let perfect be the enemy of good. Good post.
Laura Vanderkam says
In life it’s good not to talk ourselves into false absolutes. Even if it can be fun (many a dieter subscribes to the “what the heck” philosophy: screw up once and the day is shot, so eat what you want!)
Kristen says
Right-best to get back on track as soon as possible. Why make the problem worse?
Katie D says
It was a chicken – value $10. You and your family’s health – value ‘priceless’. You came home from the hospital fit and well plus you didn’t risk food poisoning! Your family is truly blessed.
Kathleen says
I went through this with decluttering recently. Part of accepting my daughter’s food allergies a couple of years ago involved getting rid of a waffle maker, a pasta maker, an ice cream maker, and several other things. Recently I decided to try making vegan-free ice cream, and for a moment I was really annoyed at myself for getting rid of the ice cream maker. Then I came to the realization that if I hadn’t decluttered, I would still all have all that other stuff in my basement as well.
Claire says
Kathleen, I feel your pain (my son also has multiple food allergies). The other day we made “ice cream” using our food processor and just two ingredients: frozen strawberries and frozen bananas. It was a big hit, and very easy to make, and did not require an ice cream maker. Here is the link to where I found the recipe:
http://www.thekitchn.com/magic-one-ingredient-ice-cream-5-ways-peanut-butter-nutella-and-more-171618
You’ll need to scroll almost all the way down to see the strawberry-banana recipe. And they instruct you to use some cream but we skipped that and it came out fine.
Kristen says
Yep, that’s like what I do too! I do add the cream because I’ve rarely met something heavy cream doesn’t improve.
https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2014/06/strawberry-banana-ice-cream/
Claire says
I’m a big fan of cream myself (unfortunately). But my son has a dairy allergy, among others, so I was thankful that it was possible to make it dairy-free.
Kristen says
I know I’ve read that some people use coconut cream too…so if you want to up the creamy factor (and your son isn’t allergic to coconut!), that’s an option.
Liz Bishop says
Kristen, I know your pain. Last spring, I cleaned out my upright freezer, as well as the freezer of our spare frig in the basement (you’d think I was feeding an army on a regular basis, or something…..). Well, I ended up tossing so much food that was far past expiration dates that it wasn’t even funny. I was sooooo disappointed in myself – why buy things that are on sale or “good deals” if they don’t get used? You’re not saving money if you throw it away, I told myself. It made me very conscious of rotating the stuff in my freezer, so things don’t get shoved to the back and get ignored. Your Freezer challenge has also inspired me to start my own – use up the stuff that’s in there, taking up valuable space! Thank you for that.;-)
Rebecca N. says
Well said Kristen, I do this to myself all the time. Then I stop and remind myself that the car would still need repairing and at least there some extra money towards it!
janet says
This post was comforting. It’s been awhile since I had to throw out bad food, but I have some ground beef and ground chicken that didn’t get used over the weekend, and now I’m feeling horrible that it’s going to have to go in the trash.
Thanks for making me more food-waste-conscious in general.
Jennifer N says
I go through this with savings. It seems like the second I’m able to get a small chuck of money in our savings account, it has to come right back out for some reason or another. It’s so discouraging and my knee-jerk reaction is “Why do I bother to save at all?” I have to remind myself that if I hadn’t had that little bit of money in savings, whatever situation that required me to empty said savings would have been more like an emergency. So I just keep plugging away, hoping that one day my savings will outweigh the cost of life!
Holly says
Guilty of this. The title of your post is a very profound statement. It could be applicable to many areas of life: eating, exercise habits, sin, relationships, you name it. I like your take on it. And good job otherwise! It’s a tough pill to swallow wasting that. While I’m sad for the losses, on the positive side, I bet you will be extra cautious from now on. Maybe it’s a blessing to waste a chicken because it will keep you from wasting something even more expensive.
Lydia says
Just think how costly things would have been if you cooked the chicken, ate it, and had to be hospitalized for food poisoning. The cost of your chicken-gone-bad is probably cheaper than paying medical bills.
Amanda says
This is why I stopped budgeting. Our discretionary spending was never out of line because we are just naturally frugal. But we take a kid to the emergency room, and even though we have the money to pay for it, I’m kicking myself because I went “over budget.” I think you are exactly right. Sometimes life happens. Because we are frugal in so many other ways we don’t have to sweat the unexpected bill.
Frugal Paragon says
I have been known to play a little fast and loose with preserved meats, like sausages, that I am going to cook quite thoroughly–but a whole chicken? Which is hard to get right cook properly? You did the right thing! (Eggs, on the other hand–they last waaaay past their dates, or so I’ve heard.)
This morning I had to throw away a whole quart of homemade, uh–well, it was supposed to be yogurt, but I guess it was just sourced milk–that failed to set. That’s frustrating, but I know it doesn’t negate all the money I save making yogurt.
Nor does the nearly thousand-dollars it cost to fix Little Brother’s broken leg. (We have decent insurance, but the deductible…) Yeah, it stings to write check after check for the hospital bills, but that’s just a whole separate category from yogurt-making. Keeping the grocery budget down is one reason why I had the money to pay the whole bill. Last time I ran up a big hospital bill, I didn’t have the money and had to get a payment plan. Now THAT stung!
judy salazar says
Good post. I have been having a similar conversation with myself as I’ve been wasting
produce lately because we’ll eat out too often or grab something easy, or I’m just too lazy to prep it, or get busy and forget about it.
On the chicken- I’m all for erring on the side of safety, “when in doubt throw it out” cuz
getting sick from bad food is worse than throwing it out, especially with young children.
Consistent frugality does pay off in the long run. Those unexpected bills are inevitable and if we blow the budget all the time, it’s harder to pay.
Keep up your good work and great blogs!
Renata says
Uau! This post is just in time. This month I really tried to keep my spends really low, and yesterday had such a terrible time and lost so much money at the vet.
I also thought for a moment that I was wasting my time, but after some thinking realised that it would be worst if I had just spend it all AND the unexpected vet bill.
David says
I hope that you didn’t really throw that chicken way Kristen? You should have put it in the freezer and then you want a day out with the kids CRABBING you re all ready!!!
Diane says
Whew. I feel a little better, reading your posts. With “help” bringing in groceries, every once in awhile I’m missing something that I’d bought. Occasionally, it’d be a now “previously frozen” item, usually vegetables or a package of meat- that would be soup night! I don’t like to waste. And nobody’s the wiser. (p.s. Kristen – I would have cooked the chicken)
WilliamB says
I agree with your point. Saving money, eating well, not wasting – these are not yes/no items. They’re more/less items. We’re all going to fail at them sometimes, but losing $8 bucks (estimated cost of a chicken) is better than losing $25 (estimated cost of a chicken plus other fails it might lead do if you get discouraged).
Better, I think, to look at it in the exact opposite way “My other food frugality balanced out this one big whoops.”
Kathy says
Kristen: Are you sure your “mistake” of wasting a chicken was such a mistake? Many people read your blog – probably most/all are frugal. You wrote about discarding a chicken because it was several days beyond its sell date. You opted for safety over saving money, and were public about it. Some people might decide that if even The Frugal Girl is willing to have food waste in this case, it is the right thing to do when it comes to meat and poultry safety.
You will never know who read your post and because of it, will pitch something that was iffy – something that might have made someone’s family member ill (especially if they are frail for whatever reason.)
Patti says
This is a great point! it definitely is more frugal to waste $8 on a questionable chicken than risk the possible financial cost of what a few days of food poisoning can do to a household (yuck!).
Jenny says
I think the mistake in this case was not throwing out the old chicken, but not using/freezing it before it got old enough to be questionable.
Kristen says
Oh, totally. I DO think it was smart to throw it out when I did…what wasn’t smart was letting it get to that point.
Claire says
I am totally guilty of this! When we have a major financial bill or obstacle, my gut reaction is that all my thriftiness is nickels and dimes compared to what we’re facing, so why bother? Thank you for putting this in perspective.
Patti says
Thank you for this post this morning! We had a bad budget week last week between mother’s day and paying for the kid’s activities. I was just looking through it all when I took a break to read your blog. This helps to remind me it’s time to move forward and make a more frugal week happen now.
Jen Y says
This is real life – hard to keep up with everything at times. I am so grateful that my mistakes like this have not put my family in danger of starving – that’s how my husband looks at them anyway.
I think these kind of mistakes have helped me to be more diligent in the future.
Siobhan says
I do that with healthy eating and it drives me crazy. “Well, I ate that piece of chocolate, so I might as well eat _____.” Making things from bad to worse doesn’t help at all. I need to forgive and move on. But it’s so hard.
DIane says
A little meditation for those of us wh are sometimes too hard on ourselves.
The words that follow are mainly from Thich Nhat Hanh ‘s so simple prayer.
Breathing in, I calm my body.
Breathing out, I trust.
24 brand new hours are before me.
I vow to look at all beings –
Including my own dear and familiar self –
through the eyes of unconditional acceptance, and compassion.
Frances M. says
Thanks for the poem. It evoked calming thoughts and will aid my Tai Chi practice.
Nathalie says
Ah, I feel for you! It’s the same feeling I have when I get a great deal on milk and then I promptly waste a gallon by not securing it properly in my trunk and it crashes to the ground in the parking lot when I open the door. So frustrating.
I would have cooked the chicken if it was only a few days past its sell-by date (note: NOT an expiration date) and had been refrigerated properly in the meantime. I probably would have put it in the crockpot, one of those recipes that call for cooking it for 8-10 hours. But I’m not squeamish about sell-by dates. On the plus side I haven’t poisoned anyone yet
The whole “why work so hard if I have to pay more in taxes” thing though… I did use that. I’m a SAHM and got a part-time job at the local elementary school several years ago, the same year that we sent our youngest to public school after homeschooling him. It was a very time-consuming part-time job because I always go above and beyond and worked many unpaid hours from home, but was paid $10/hour, minus taxes, of course. It also was a very unrewarding job with constant red tape being thrown in the way of my accomplishing the mission I had been tasked with and a miserable work environment. The result was that I had a miserable year, my family was miserable too, I made very little money, and in the end, it made us go up a tax bracket. My husband and I looked at each other, decided it really hadn’t been worth it, and I declined to stay on for another year and went back to being a SAHM. We didn’t need the extra money though (we had thought it was time for me to re-enter the workforce since we weren’t homeschooling anymore) so YMMV.
Dawn says
I feel your pain. A few years back I somehow lost track of several family size packages of chicken thighs when I was putting groceries away. The kids are a big help taking care of things after a grocery run, but with lots of hands in the fire, sometimes things fall through the crack. When I found the chicken the next day off to one side in the basement, there was no way I could save it, and I felt that heartsick feeling that I had wasted a fair amount of money. It was too late to fix the problem then, but it made me extra vigilant from then on when it came to double checking that everything got put away. I suppose mistakes are only motivation to do better if there is some pain and frustration felt. If that weren’t there, and it truly didn’t bother you, why try to be sure it doesn’t happen again? It’s still no fun though.
Elise says
Great point! We can’t let small failures take away from our successes. I also find that when I make a big mistake (like forgetting 7lbs of pork on top of the fridge rather than putting it inside), it pushes me into hypergear so that I work harder to find other ways to save money.
Battra92 says
Maybe I’m more courageous but I would’ve at least butchered the thing and made stock out of it. Heck, cooking it to 165/170 in the breast and thighs would’ve made it safe to eat.
That said, chickens immediately go to the chest freezer at my house since we buy them on sale and very rarely use them
Kristen says
I thought about it, but was worried that an off-smelling chicken would make some off-tasting stock. It might be safe, but would it be tasty?
WilliamB says
I would have used the sniff and feel tests, myself. My experience is that a slight off smell, or ever-so-slight slimy feeling (IOW, so slight I couldn’t tell if it were just a little dry/tacky or actually bacteriologically slimy) does not translate into off-smelling food or stock.
Tina S. says
I asked an expert once about using ‘off’ meat. He said that, while cooking to the normal safe temperature will kill the normal bacteria, it won’t necessarily kill off the other toxins that have developed in the meat as it has started to spoil. So doing this can be risky (also for making stock).
I’m not squeamish about using food beyond its prime, but I draw the line at meat that smells bad.
Kristen says
Yeah, I’m pretty flexible about a lot of foods and dates and whatnot, but when it comes to meat, I tend to do more erring on the side of caution.
I’ve had food poisoning twice before and that experience was enough to scare me! So painful.
Amy says
Kristen – I know exactly how you feel. What it really boils down to is that it feels stupid and frustrating to make a mistake, any kind of mistake, but the truth is that we are human and we will never be able to stop making them entirely. But one mistake does not negate the money you normally save, of course. My worst food mistake: I used to go shopping at night when my kids were very little so I could be alone and not so distracted. But I was also really too tired – this night I know I was came home really late. And left a grocery bag with at least $15 worth of items on the porch, and of course it had refridgerated/frozen items in it that were ruined.