Almost everyone stores at least some food that is not used on a day-to-day basis. It could be ingredients used in a recipe only once; items bought on impulse but never opened; or packets, cans, and frozen foods that have simply been forgotten about.

If funds are low and outgoings are high, why not use the food you already have in new, creative ways? You'll save money and reduce food waste.

First, go through all of your kitchen cupboards, pantry, freezer, and anywhere else you store food that is not in everyday use. Keep a notebook or smartphone by your side.

Sort through every shelf in turn and discard anything that is past its use-by date. For everything else, write down what it is, how much of it you have, and its use-by date in brackets. For example, part of your list could look like this:

.           4 x 10oz cans of chopped tomatoes (December 2017)

.           1 x 8oz pack of cashew nuts (June 2017)

.           2 x 16oz packs of frozen peas (January 2018)

.           2 x cans of mixed vegetables (September 2018).

Now comes the fun bit. Look down your list for two or more ingredients that would make a good combination in a recipe. It doesn't have to be a conventional pairing. In fact, you'll achieve better results if you use your imagination and mix ingredients that you think would taste good together, even if they're not commonly combined in recipes.

Now type the word, "recipe," followed by these ingredients into a search engine on your phone or computer. For example, if you thought that cashew nuts and peas would blend well together, type in "recipe, cashew nuts, peas." A whole range of interesting recipes will appear, including: 

.           cashew nut and pea curry

.           gizzard, cashew nuts and peas stir fry

.           cashew, ham, and pea salad

.           vegetarian risotto with cashew nuts.

Browse through the recipes and choose those you would like to cook. Avoid choosing recipes with additional expensive ingredients. Set a budget for each meal so that your enthusiasm for the new recipes doesn't entice you to spend a lot of money on extra ingredients.

If you are on a particularly tight budget, look through the lists of ingredients to see if you can use up anything else you already have. Some ingredients could be substituted for others. For example, you could use a vegetable you already have instead of buying the vegetable stated in the recipe. Challenge yourself to find recipes that use only one or two extra ingredients.

As well as being a fun way of discovering and trying out new recipes, this is a good way of saving money and minimizing waste by using food that you would otherwise have forgotten about and eventually thrown away. 

It is a particularly good method of reducing household costs before, during, and after holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter.

So, sort through those cupboards, search online, and enjoy some incredibly creative meals at a low cost.