memes

Planning.

1. Get a big freezer. It's really surprising how much delicious stuff you can make just from frozen stuff that can last you forever. Frozen food is also often more fresh and with microwave and air fryer the prep of anything frozen is actually not very difficult.
2. Outsource as much as possible. Often it's really hard to outcompete efficient kitchens. I don't mean order Uber eats or something but there's likely a place in your vicinity that does food prep where you can take your food containers and stock up for 2-3 days. You can even freeze some dishes.

Wife and I really did the math because we feared of becoming lazy and it makes absolutely zero economic sense to cook everything at home right now unless you want to treat yourself or live in a very economically unusual places where #2 is not accessible.

I plan on escaping the cycle by ceasing existence tbh

I'll only buy something perishable when I need it. I tend to cook for 3-4 days in one go in order to make cooking for only myself somewhat economical. I tend to visit the supermarket every other day so I don't really have to plan too much.

I had this issue with produce. I stopped buying it because it would just go bad before I used it.

Buy exactly what you need for the next N meals, easy

i dont, my family always buys too much food regardkess to how many times i tell them to not

Use a software/app to meal plane. (Mealie/Tandoor) You pick the recipes you fancy for the days/week/whatever period. It generates a grocery list containing exactly what is needed for the meals you chose, nothing else.

I haven't thrown away anything in a couple years now. Oh and freeze leftovers if needed.

Try going in with a recipe that you plan on making as soon as you get home, then the other stuff you buy should only be the stuff you know you'll actually eat or stuff that won't go bad. Of course there's the issue of having to buy more of a product than you need for the recipe, but that's hard to avoid.

If you need advice on how to better motivate yourself to make the choices you know you should make, I'm afraid I'm wholly unqualified to help.

Buy stuff you don't have to cook. It's crap nutritionally, but at least it isn't wasted!

Buy freezer or shelf-stable microwave meals? You have food that way but it shouldn't really just "go bad". At least, not quickly.

Buy more fruit in summer and cereals in winter.

Clean-up is what stops many people. Get a good titanium no-stick pan - I like "Our Place" pans. Get individual portion meats or frozen meats or buy bulk and freeze in portions. Do the same with vegetables. Heat your seasoned pan up then put some oil in just before you put meat in. Cook meat until almost done, then add vegetables to same pan - heat them up. Serve. Let pan cool while you eat. Refrigerate left-overs. Rinse and wipe pan down. Wash dish. DONE.

In my household we tend to buy just enough that we know we can eat it over the course of two to three days if it is perishable foods.

If the store sells smaller packs of meat and vegetables and other perishable foods, we buy those and use them in our cooking the next few days.

We don't have a lot of freezer space and we don't have a garden, so we try and avoid bulk buying unless we know we will be able to eat it all before it goes bad. It works pretty well.

Meal planning is number 1.

Being strict with what you buy then so you don't buy something you have no plan for.

Learn a couple of meals that you can throw anything into so you can use up veg that are just about to go off. Eg ratatouille, stew, curry, etc.

Buy a recipe book with easy one pot meals for inspiration. I find the Internet just has too much and you need to know what you're doing, plus there's just too much distraction. Sitting with a recipe book and a pen and paper to plan is way more relaxing, IME.