Some tips for saving money are so obvious, I hate to mention them. And yet, we forget and then it costs us. So here is our Obvious Advice of the Week:

Do not stock up on perishable food during hurricane season. In fact, hurricane season is a good time to eat what's in your refrigerator and freezer. While you're at it, see what's in your pantry and eat that, too. Somehow our desire to gather and hoard extends to food, even when we know it shouldn't.

Really, food does not improve with age. Pretend you don't see that frozen marinara sauce from Laurenzo's that has been in my freezer for more than a year. Or the aging cans of tomatoes in the pantry I could use to make fresh sauce.

Eating down the pantry, or eating down the fridge, is not a new idea. Depression-era grandparents may remember it as a necessity. Washington Post blogger Kim O'Donnel conducted a week-long Eating Down the Fridge campaign in June, complete with participation from guest bloggers as far away as Australia. They even made up a Facebook page.

I have resigned myself to the fact that a small family that tries to eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables is going to throw some away. You can't always predict accurately how many days you're going to eat salad this week, but you know you won't eat it if you don't have it handy. Some waste is, sadly, inevitable. It beats heart disease.

But a lot of waste is avoidable. From time to time, we need to dig into the depths of our freezers and cabinets and eat what's there, before we go out and buy a lot of new stuff.

Add eating down the fridge and pantry to your list of hurricane preparedness chores. And let's hope it lessens the chance of a storm big enough to bring a power failure.

Teresa Mears, The Miami Herald's former Home & Design editor, is the publisher of five On the Cheap blogs including Miami Fl on the Cheap and Fort Lauderdale on the Cheap. She also blogs about savings for MSN Money's ``Smart Spending.'' You can follow her on Twitter @miamicheap.

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