Reducing Your Food Waste and Bettering Your Health

Including a grocery budget into your overall financial plan can be a tough thing to nail down. In fact, anything that involves food becomes hard to pinpoint a total budget “average” on simply because the foods you eat are variable to many different factors. At first, it helps to have a rough idea in mind how much you spend in a single month on groceries. From there, you can refine that number, making sure that you go below that total (or even raise the grocery budget if you simply cannot function on a certain number you previously thought you could function on).

The way I look at it all, though, is simple: My partner and I plan 6 meals a week to eat for dinner, and we factor in leftovers to 4 of those days (for lunch) and buy enough lunch meat, snacks, fruits, and whatever else as other days’ lunch and breakfast.

The thing to consider, though, is how often we go to the grocery. We make a trip once a week and buy only what we’ll need for the week ahead of us. In fact, the only time we break that rule is for spices or bulk foods (like rice) that can be stored for a good while and that we know for certain that we’ll use often enough in our dishes.

Rather than buying excess foods and snacks like candy boxes and frozen treats like ice cream that will just take up refrigerator and cupboard space, we like to keep things small and sparse in our stores.

I think this has not only helped us to save money, but it also drastically reduces our food waste. Heck, it even encourages us to eat healthier, buy better foods, and learn to cook new and different things. The more we get into this once a week grocery getting routine, the more accustomed we are to meal planning on Sundays and taking a trip to the local grocery that night or Monday evening after work. It’s been great eating all of our leftovers, reducing the foods we throw away, and even feeling like I snack from bags of chips and candy boxes less at night.

It’s crazy to think that one of these small changes (buying groceries from one week to the next) has had such a great impact on our lifestyle, but it truly has affected our finances, our health, and our food waste in positive ways that we never would have imagined prior to adopting this new routine.

Making a Handmade Paper Candy Gift Box: A Simple and Easy DIY Project

When a gift giving occasion rolls around a small problem emerges, “how to make your own simple and time-saving paper gift box.” Everyone loves to receive gifts especially when it comes in a great gift box. If you’re not really a DIY person, the idea may seem like a bigger problem than to others. There is a simple and easy paper gift boxing method pretty much anyone can do. The gift box will be as pretty and unique as the gift being given.

Rather it be a baby or bridal shower, the chaotic holidays, or a simple gesture a hand-made paper gift box is both thoughtful and creative. It’s a great activity to bring family and friends together and simple enough to have the kids make too. Gift box making is a great way to help keep the kids busy while being crafty. Giving a handmade gift in a handmade gift box that your child or best friend helped you create is a fulfilling experience.

For every special occasion gift givers want to remain hassle free. There has been a quick and easy step-by-step guide created to show you how to make gift boxes for nearly any gift. You can make candy boxes, pen boxes, handkerchief, jewelry, and multiple sized gift boxes for any gift giving occasion.

Here’s what you need:

• Paper

• Scissors

• Paper Cutter

• Scale

• Ribbon

• Glue

• Pencil

• Decorative Mirror

If you have recently done a DIY home project, recycled goods make great additional box decorations.

Steps to Make a Handmade Candy Gift Box

1. Using an A4 sized sheet of paper with 21cm dimensions in length (a little over 8 inches) mark 21 cm along the width.

2. To make 3 rows and columns with 3 squares each, make small markings about 7cm (a little over 2 ½ inches) apart.

3. Cut remaining paper strip.

4. Using the corners of the paper make diagonal folds.

5. To make 4 creases, vertically and horizontally fold along the lines drawn.

6. To make a box shape, fold the furthest squares into a triangle. Repeat process with the remaining squares.

7. Make a crease in every corner, using an adhesive, glue the paper together to hold box shape.

Steps to Make Lid of Handmade Candy Gift Box

1. Using another sheet of paper, lightly mark 9 cm (about 3 ½ inches) along the length and span of the paper. Using a cutter, cut out a square of the same dimensions.

2. On each corner make a 1cm marking. Leaving a 1cm square in each corner, draw lines on all 4 sides.

3. As if to fold them, cut the squares from one side while making the lid.

4. Now that the lid is ready, place it on top of the box.

5. Use the ribbon to make a bow, tying it on top of the box.

6. Using the decorative mirror and other crafts like glitter and stickers, decorate the gift box.

Now you have it! Your very own handmade paper Candy Gift Box. It’s sure to bring a smile to any gift receiver’s face. A handmade gift box is the perfect complement to any special gift giving occasion.

For the next gifting occasion, show a little extra love by making DIY handmade paper gift boxes.