Comments on: Financially Secure People Eat Leftovers

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 10:45:12 +0000

Leftovers I make taste just as good as the original night — Chicken and mashed potatoes, steak and green beans, gen tsao’s (yes, you can make it), etc. Even sandwiches– toast the bread, heat up the meat and melt the cheese, *voila* magically transforms a mediocre sandwich into a wonderfully tasting thing. Not sure why that happens, but it does.

Bottom line to me is eating in almost every work day saves me and avg of say $6. Times 250 days a year = $1500. That’s cash. If I pay 25% of my income in tax, that means I’m burning $2000/yr of my gross pay eating out. So I don’t think of it as ‘saving $5′. I think of eating this single ham sandwich I made as ‘saving $2000′. What could you do if someone gave you a $2,000 check at the end of the year just for eating ham sandwiches?

Still, can’t get my sis, who is in serious financial distress, to buy into this. She’s married w/3 kids. Makes a lot less than my household. The logic is undeniable to her, but she just trails off “yeah…”, like “that’s a great idea, but I’m not gonna do that”. I guess some people just aren’t built for the action. I’ll always love her, but I believe she’ll always be broke. So, yes, I buy this article 100%.

By: Jennifer M.

Jennifer M. — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 02:11:28 +0000

Wow. I had no idea there were people snobbish enough in this world to actually throw away perfectly good food! What is wrong with people that they would think this is acceptable behavior? If you take the time to buy and prepare a dish, why on earth would you throw half of it away?? This makes no sense to me.

By: pn

pn — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 02:34:56 +0000

I find this such a weird discussion. I think the problem may be just the word “leftovers”; it definitely sounds yucky. BUT, when I roast a chicken for dinner, there is always some left. The next day, I might make chicken salad sandwiches. Do I call them “leftovers”? Nope, they’re just chicken salad sandwiches. Then I might freeze what’s left of the chicken. A week later, I use that to make homemade chicken noodle soup with carrots, celery, onion, noodles, etc. Do I refer to that as “leftovers”? Nope, when I serve it, I call it chicken soup. We are not poor at all, but I cannot imagine tossing half a chicken in the garbage. And I can’t imagine my kids refusing to eat the soup or sandwiches, probably because they taste delicious and I don’t present them as “leftovers.”

By: Olivia

Olivia — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 09:56:45 +0000

Lately this hasn’t been much of a “problem”. We have two boys in sports. If you want to borrow them for a while…..

In the old days (when they were smaller) we had a leftover smogasboard night. The kids liked being able to chose their meal.

Thanks for the tip Frugal Jana, about only precooking food. Will keep that in mind for the time the kids move out.

By: Carol Schultz-Weil

Carol Schultz-Weil — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 05:39:20 +0000

Love this article. Leftovers. So obvious that they are often forgotten. All the comments show you hit the nail on the head with this one and sure got a stir of emotions. Good writing.

By: Frugal Jana

Frugal Jana — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:52:51 +0000

I personally think that most people don’t know how to avoid the left-over taste. I have very little time (and by the way we are financially very well off) and so I often fix several meals in advance on the weekends to save time on the weekdays. The trick to keeping them tasty is to not cook them all the way. That way you are just finishing cooking them when you are ready for them. My husband loves my cooking (and so do our friends and family) and rarely do I fix food that was prepared from start to finish on the same day. I grew up on yucky left-overs and learned tricks to make them wonderful. Food for thought.

By: Debbie Roberts

Debbie Roberts — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:49:07 +0000

My husband was opposed to eating leftovers…his mom never did it. Well, coming from a family that didn’t believe in wasting food, leftovers were a way of life. So, I started educating him — big pot roast at the beginning of the week, then using the leftover beef and broth for beef and noodles. He’s come around and leftovers aren’t a bad word in his vocabulary anymore.

By: Minimum Wage

Minimum Wage — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:35:23 +0000

Financially insecure people eat leftovers too, so what’s the big deal?

By: Susan

Susan — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:59:59 +0000

Man, I love my leftovers and even if I was rolling in it($,) I wouldn’t mind eating them. I don’t feel deprived of taste nor does it feel like I’m sacrificing quality of life. Geez Louise, it’s food. Besides, leftovers are generally for one, two, maybe three meals, after that–freeze it! If you can cook, leftovers can be righteous!

By: Michele

Michele — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 22:09:45 +0000

I love to cook (gourmet, I might add), and love to eat, and still I eat leftovers. The reason? I was taught (and firmly believe) that it’s a sin and a shame to waste food.