Free Tool
Enter your household size and see a data-backed estimate of what wasted food costs you a year, based on UK WRAP and US EPA research.
Add this to see wasted food as a share of what you already spend.
£1,040 / year
Estimated cost of wasted food for a household of 4
This is a rough estimate based on national averages (WRAP for the UK, EPA for the US), adjusted for household size where the data supports it — not a personal audit of your own kitchen.
Food waste costs are easy to underestimate because they're spread across dozens of small decisions a week, not one big purchase. These figures come from the most cited national studies on household food waste, not estimates we made up:
This calculator scales those per-person averages by your household size, and adjusts for single-person households where the underlying research supports it. It won't know exactly what's rotting in your specific fridge, but it puts a real number — and a real breakdown — on a cost most households never actually add up.
In the UK, WRAP's 2022 household food waste report puts the figure at around £260 per person a year, or roughly £1,000 for a four-person household. In the US, the EPA estimated in 2025 that the average consumer loses around $728 a year to food that's bought and never eaten, or close to $2,913 a year for a household of four.
In the UK, yes. WRAP's research found single-person households waste around a third more food per person than the average household, mainly because fresh produce, meat, and bakery items go off before one person gets through them. This calculator accounts for that when you select a household of one. US data doesn't currently break this down by household size, though the EPA notes the same general pattern is likely to hold.
The calculator scales published national averages (WRAP for the UK, EPA for the US) per person, adjusts for single-person households in the UK where WRAP has published that data, then multiplies by your household size. It's a rough estimate based on national data, not a personal audit of your own kitchen, but it's a useful starting point for seeing the scale of the cost.
A simple weekly habit helps most: scan your fridge and pantry for anything close to going off, then plan a meal or two around using it up before you shop for anything new. A pantry-aware meal planning app like FoodieFlow can suggest meals from what you already have and automatically leave those items off your next shopping list.
FoodieFlow suggests meals from what you already have, then keeps it off your shopping list automatically. Free to start.
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