How do you keep food fresh longer at home? The free FoodKeeper app is a project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that is designed to help consumers "understand food and beverage storage." The idea is simple: Their tips and proven strategies can help maximize the freshness and quality of your groceries so you can waste less and safely eat your food. It's easy to search: Select a main category (like "dairy," "grains" or "meat") and then choose the subcategory in that section to find out how long you can safely store and use your ingredients at home!

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

If your garbage disposal smells funny, don't pour toxic chlorine bleach down the drain. Instead, think tomato soup. Tomatoes can neutralize odor -- like washing the family dog with canned tomatoes after he's been sprayed by a skunk -- so they'll do wonders for your garbage disposal. This is an excellent thing to do when making or heating up tomato soup for lunch or dinner; just water down the leftovers and try this hack (to avoid food waste). Let the soup sit in the drain for a while before washing it away with regular tap water.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION

Did you know that for every extra 100 pounds of things in your car, you reduce the fuel efficiency of your automobile by around 2%? While that may not sound like a lot, over time that adds up to a significant amount of gas (and money) wasted hauling around those never-used golf clubs and boxes of office papers. Take the time to clean out the car. You’ll be surprised what’s in there that you don’t need, like snow-removal equipment when it’s hot and sunny outside, or bags of clothing that never quite made it to the donation bin. Lightening the load helps improve efficiency, and it also declutters your car.

ANDREWS MCMEEL SYNDICATION