FoodBozo.com

Do you overdress? In pursuit of flavour, we often drown our foods in “extras” like sauces, dressings, and mayo-infused spreads. Condiments and salad dressings often contain loads of calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. But the full bad-for-you potential of condiments hides behind food label servings sizes. Take mayonnaise, for instance. In a recommended serving size of 1 teaspoon, you’d consume 10 g of fat, 90 calories, and 90 mg of sodium. But who uses just one teaspoon? One tablespoon of soy sauce adds up to almost half of your recommended sodium for the day, while one ounce of ketchup costs you 6 g of sugar.

Read more: 8 bad eating habits to break

Feeling pressured to go green at the grocery store? The good news is you don’t have to go 100% organic in order to eat healthier. And it pays to get smarter about just what you’re getting for your money. Organic foods are grown without synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. “That means fewer chemical residues get into the environment and your body,” says Marion Nestle, Ph.D., a food researcher at New York University and author of What to Eat. But it also means they’re pricier—costing anywhere from 10 to 100 percent more—than conventional produce.

So what’s a cash- and health-conscious person to do? The answer isn’t to simply opt for organic no matter what. Not all conventionally grown foods are smothered with chemicals. So all you really need to do to protect your health, the planet, and your wallet is focus on buying just a few key organic foods. A good rule of thumb: “If you’re going to eat the skin, consider organics,” says MF adviser Tanya Zuckerbrot, R.D., a New York-based dietitian and author. “But if you can peel the fruit or vegetable, you’re going to strip away a lot of the residues anyway—so it’s not really worth the extra money.”

Read more: Is ‘Organic’ Worth It?

Do not shop at Costco if your baby wears only Pampers. Don’t go to Walmart for Glad sandwich bags. And don’t visit a CVS drugstore for Energizer batteries. Big retailers are culling major brands from their stores in a bid to boost sales of their own in-house labels.

The latest sortie in this war on brands came this month, with Walmart’s decision to stop selling Glad and Hefty food storage bags, opting to stock only Zip-loc bags and its own Great Value brand. The disappearance of a few sandwich bags from store shelves may seem like a small shift, but analysts expect Walmart will shed other brands as the year progresses. Meanwhile, CVS drugstores in the United States announced last November it will no longer carry Energizer alkaline batteries. It now carries only Duracell and its own store brand, or private label.

Read more: The push on private-label brands

The skyrocketing food and gas prices affecting much of the world have many of us looking for ways to stretch our dollars at the grocery store and at the gas pump.

Food for thought: Pay attention to how you shop

Here are 10 tips for saving on food and everyday expenses.

Buy local. You can save money on fruits and vegetables by buying local as much as possible. Planning your menus around food that is in season means fresher ingredients and that you won’t be incurring expensive food transportation costs.

Comparison shop. Look around for the best bargains, and not only in grocery stores. Pharmacies and hardware stores often offer good deals on staple items. If you find a good price, consider stocking up.

Read more: Wallet woes: Ways to save on food and fuel

Ever walk into a supermarket to buy milk, then emerge half an hour later having spent $200? It’s no accident. The food industry has spent years studying how we can be lured into spending more.

“The floor design, the length of aisles, the end-of-aisle displays, as well as lighting, music, color scheme, location of flowers and the addition of a bakery are all designed to encourage customers to linger and gaze at product,” says Marion Nestle, a nutrition professor at New York University and author of What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating. Grocers know that the more we see, the more we buy. If you want to resist temptation, follow these five rules:

Read more: How grocers turn us into buying machines