Q: Are there any phone apps that will help me keep track of prices and sizes so that I can be a better comparison shopper at the grocery store? I frequent three different grocers in my town (and Costco every few months), and such an app would be very handy.

Sent by Jena

No one intends to waste food, but things happen — an overenthusiastic shopping spree at the farmers' market, an unexpected string of meals eaten out instead of at home, a container of mystery leftovers lurking in the back of the fridge. Fortunately, a lot of food waste can be prevented by integrating little habits into your cooking routine. Not only will you save food, but you'll save money, too.

Have you heard of Good Eggs? This San Francisco-based startup launched last summer, and we're excited about the concept. Basically, Good Eggs is like Etsy for local foodies. It's an online hub where people can find and buy food directly from nearby farmers and food producers, and then arrange to pick it up or have it delivered. More

I think I've just discovered the ultimate shopping cart for us carless folks. The Go Up Trolley from Spanish company Playmarket is durable, practically indestructible, easy to maneuver, with a (very) large capacity main bag and a thermal pouch. And it folds down. If you think it looks like a stroller, you're not wrong. That's part of what makes the design so clever and useful: More

A few weeks ago I bought a container of fresh, housemade mozzarella from my local gourmet grocery store. I was looking forward to using it in a recipe, but when I opened the plastic container, a fetid smell wafted up from the ball of cheese in its watery broth. The cheese was clearly rancid. I doublechecked the sell-by date — it was well in the future. What should I do, I wondered? More

We all splurge at the grocery store from time to time. A wedge of cheese, a nicer bottle of wine, high-end chocolate. These upstanding pleasures, however, are not what I'm talking about today. The grocery store also offers the lure of tasty treats that aren't so gourmet, and packaged foods that do a little extra work for you. Do you ever succumb to these grocery store temptations, bypassing the healthy whole foods and reaching for a processed treat? I do! Let me show you what I feel a teeny bit ashamed about buying last week... More

When I bring home a shopping bag full of fresh produce, there is some that goes onto a tray on the countertop and some that goes into the refrigerator's produce bins. And that's about where my divisions stop. But when I found that bananas were hastening the ripening of nearby avocados (which is sometimes unwanted!), I decided to look further into produce storage and adjacencies to avoid. Here's what I found: More

My dreams of wealth aren't about diamonds or fancy cars. My fantasy is this: I do all my shopping at Whole Foods and I'm never shocked when the cashier tells me the total. As it is, I only occasionally shop at Whole Foods because I'm often shocked by the total, so when I saw a promotion from the chain claiming "For about $99 you can stock a healthier pantry!" I was skeptical — but also curious. Could I purchase everything on their long list of items at my local Whole Foods for under $100? I grabbed my shopping bags and headed to the store to find out. More

We've all seen those small "Sell by" dates printed on food products. With the holidays over, and the fridge clearing begun, you may find yourself with a few items supposedly past their prime. But how seriously should you take those expiration dates? More

A few years ago I started seeing fresh herbs pop up in the produce section of my local grocer, usually in the $4-$5 price range. Now that summer has gone and my fresh herb supply is gone, I was pleasantly surprised to run across these small herb packets again, but this time for only a dollar! More