Because cost has gone up, you tend not to waste food any more. You tend to buy things that you know your household will consume. You don’t go buying things they won’t consume, they don’t need. For me, you see, my boy is not going to accept the fact that there is a squeeze in my finances. So you need to watch whatever you buy. So what we do? Me, an African, and my partner is Scottish, you see, this cultural backgrounds bring some issues because what she eats is different from what I eat. So, as much as possible, we try to fuse what I eat with what they eat to eliminate waste, ok? So things like milk, we use to buy large 2 litre ones, and we found out that I am the only one that takes milk. The rest of the family does not. My son for example can only have milk shake that is banana or strawberry flavoured. So to get him to have milk is not on the cards. I am the only one that takes milk. So we buy the big one for everybody. So what I use to do is: I check the date and start drinking cups of milk when I don’t even need to. So what I now do is, buy powdered milk. So, if there is any situation where they need milk, then we can mix the powdered milk and use it. This reduces unnecessary waste. In the past, we will not do this. If the date is past, we will just throw the milk away.
So, our bread too and all the other things we eat. We decide it is better to go to the shop everyday and buy bread than for it to past its use-by date, and waste it. So whatever we are eating, we make sure there is no wastage. You know, especially when you have children. In the past my son will say: “I like this”. But, when provided to him, he will say: “No, I will like something else”. So now, we give him chance to choose before we prepare any food for him. You do so by giving a list of options until he is sure of what he wants or says this is what I want. So because of the squeeze people are becoming more frugal in the way they spend. And things are more expensive than in the past.