There’s nothing wrong with splitting a bunch of bananas to save money

Have you ever picked up a bunch of bananas at the supermarket, let’s say five or six, only to have half of them end up going into the trash?

One simple tip to prevent this from happening is to buy fewer bananas in the first place!

Read more: The best and worst supermarket chains in America

Don’t need an entire bunch of bananas? Split them up!

If your grocery store sells bananas by the pound, not the bunch, you can simply split the bunch of bananas and leave behind the ones that you don’t want to buy.

Keep in mind that if you want just one banana, some stores keep singles in a separate area — but again, you can always just take one off the bunch.

Reddit user MissBee123 said she was explaining the practice of splitting bananas to her husband and was surprised that many people didn’t realize it was okay to do.

However, Commodore_Vanderbilt said there are some unwritten rules to follow:

Grocer here. Please don’t start tearing different bunches of bananas to pick the perfect bananas. I’ve seen many customers rip one or two bananas from about two or three different bunches.

You want four bananas? Take a bunch of four; please don’t take one from four different bunches. The split bunches are harder to sell because people prefer bunches that haven’t been man-handled beforehand and some of these eventually end up in the trash or compost because they don’t sell. This causes prices to rise and that will not help anyone be frugal.

If your bananas are too ripe, freeze them to use in smoothies! Simply peel the bananas, cut them into small pieces and store them in a freezer bag.

Sarah Fit shares a few other ways to use old bananas in this YouTube video:

Do you break apart bunches of bananas or other grocery store items to save money? Share your tips with us on Facebook and Twitter.

Read more: 5 tips to choosing the fastest grocery store checkout line