Cooking on a budget: food without overspending

A German family spends ~11–15% of income on food. The saving secret: weekly plan → shopping list → checkout. Shop where it is cheapest at Aldi/Lidl/Rewe/Edeka: own brands (Ja!, Gut & Günstig) — same factory, 30% cheaper. The freezer pays off: bread, veg, sauces freeze instead of being thrown. MHD means "best before" — not "throw away on".

• ●Plan: what gets cooked → shopping list without extras
• ●Leftovers are not waste: yesterday’s potatoes are today’s Bratkartoffeln
• ●Too Good To Go & food rescue: 11 million tonnes get binned yearly