I am sure of that and am ashamed of this behavior.
I definitely didn’t mean to shame you, so sorry! I’ve experienced some minor shortages – nothing other than first-world problems-level, mind you – and picked up tiny habits to save a little waste, that’s all.
Take paper towels – I’ll save used paper towels if they’re only very lightly used. They go in a bag. Then the next time I need a paper towel for something gross – wiping bacon grease out of a pan, say – I’ll use the lightly-used ones instead of brand-new off the roll. I’ll still get a nice new paper towel to use as a dinner napkin, but I created some spares in the process.
6 hours at temperatures where humans are comfortable in normal day clothes is plenty long enough for food to become unsafe to eat - it does depend on the food a bit - wet, PH-neutral, high protein foods will tend to spoil faster
I’m glad to hear you’re starting with therapy! But, I’d try not to think of yourself as “not normal”. Anxiety issues are extremely common, and nothing that should make you feel not normal. What the heck is “normal”, anyway?
I just hate to throw food out. My wife often cooks for two or three dinners, but I don’t call that leftovers. If we do have leftovers we try to find creative ways to use them. Like splitting them and filling out the meal with some bread and cheese.
On the other hand she uses a lot of paper products while I use none except toilet paper.
I can buy a whole chicken for around $10, (yeah, prices have been climbing!)
First night, roast chicken with fresh veg and rice, hubs eats the breast, I’m having the leg and thigh, yum!
Next night, I make cashew chicken. Stir fry veg, add sauce, cashews, serve with rice, yum!
Third night make fried noodles, with veg and shredded chicken.
Fourth night, (def leftover rice from previous nights!) make fried rice with whatever chicken remains, the wings, etc, yum.
Throw out leftovers? Never! Leftovers are some of our favourite foods!
I worked at a place that had a canteen for the staff. They had a very efficient kitchen.
Sample Menu:
Monday: Roast beef
Tuesday: Beef Casserole
Wednesday: Beef Burgers
Thursday: Something with Beef Gravy!
Friday: “Let’s just go out for lunch, okay?”.
Yay for you, I guess?
That reminds me of the military chow hall menu, we could guess what was going to be for lunch, baked chicken led to chicken ala king a few days later.
There’s something to be said for not preserving leftovers, if the alternative is finding mystery items weeks later (“It might be meat…it might be cake.” - George Carlin).
I regularly get warnings from Mrs. J. about eating stuff that’s been sitting in the fridge for what she considers an excessively long period (“if you get food poisoning, don’t come running to me.”). Though yesterday she challenged me about a styrofoam container holding what she thought was my restaurant excess; it turned out to be her 10-day-old fried rice. 
Since my family has moved home we don’t have leftovers much.
I am kinda anal about cleaning. Every body groans when I say clean up is gonna happen.
At the moment Mid-daughter is running the show. She’s not nearly as fastidious as I am. But she’s doing good.
I’m so happy she’s home while I’m away.
I really try not to be wasteful about paper products. It’s not easy.
I have even had milk go almost a month past the date without any noticeable impact. I buy skim or 2%.
If it starts to smell I dump it out. If it doesn’t smell I use it.
I mean none of it matters now, we didn’t make it as a species, but younger generations are starting to figure out they don’t have a future and they’re starting to call out older generations who treated the planet and their lives as disposable. It’s a drag, you know?
I’m with Llama_Llogophile. I don’t like wasting food… especially if it’s tasty and I cooked it. With some dishes, there’s a certain minimum amount that can (reasonably) be made. I’m perfectly happy to eat the same thing meal after meal, day after day, until leftovers are gone. My wife might have leftovers one day; otherwise she leaves them to rot. This is especially a problem when the food has more carbohydrates than I like. And it’s especially especially bad when she wants pizza. With the delivery charge and tip, a ‘supreme’ medium-sized pizza from Dominos costs about $45. I’ll have two slices, she’ll have two slices, and the other half goes into the fridge. And sits.
And she’s always throwing useful things away because she gets tired of them. We have a liquid soap dispenser in the shape of a black cat, which she bought a long time ago. One day I noticed it was gone, and there was a non-decorative container of soap. I asked her if she threw the cat-shaped dispenser away. She said she didn’t, and asked ‘Am I really that bad?’
I don’t throw useful things away, but I’m also realistic about what possessions I will and will not use in the future. Whatever I know I will not need, I give to the janitor of my building or someone else I think may have some use for it. I’m constantly decluttering, reducing my possessions to just two categories: things I use now or will use in the future, and things with high sentimental value (and these can fit in a shoebox). My rosebuds, so to speak. Ticket to a concert I enjoyed very much or which carries special significance. A coin from Georgia (the country). A picture my mother had given me. A letter my little sister has written me when she was young, telling me that she loves me. Things like that.