Introduction. The present research studies the extent to which recent crises have affected the food purchasing habits of Hungarian consumers and whether the financial difficulties caused by the crisis have changed their food wastage patterns. Materials and methods. The research method was a questionnaire survey, and the authors evaluated the data based on the opinions of a total of 798 respondents. The evaluation was carried out using SPSS version 28 and Smart PLS software. Results and discussion. The results showed that the current economic crises have a significant impact on the purchasing habits of the Hungarian consumers surveyed and the amount of food they buy. During a crisis, Hungarian consumers are more conscious and buy less. Consumers are less optimistic about the future (mean: 3.00 standard deviation: 1.248). The study shows that optimism has no effect on whether they waste food. Anxiety has a strong effect on perceptions of crisis and wastage. The study also shows that Hungarian consumers are not satisfied with the way the economic crisis is being handled (mean: 2.29, standard deviation: 1.185). The responses also show that consumers surveyed are typically careful about how much they buy (mean: 3.70, standard deviation: 1.113), what they put away and what they throw away. More conscious thinking about waste and consumption is well outlined (mean 3.62, standard deviation 1.205). Less food is thrown away, with 18.7% of respondents never throwing away food waste and one in five respondents buying only as much food as they can afford to take away. When food is left over, around 18% of survey respondents compost the leftovers. However, there was no difference in the extent to which those affected by economic impacts abandoned their previous consumption habits or stuck to their previous lifestyle. Conclusion. Wastage is affected by the experience of the crisis and a sense of uncertainty about the future. Similarly, the experience of the crisis is influenced by our knowledge of eating habits and our environmental awareness.