One enemy of frugal living is impulse buying, and one key to frugal living is creativity. So I decided to participate in the challenge by Money Saving Mom and Life As Mom, which is to reduce grocery shopping and mostly live off what is already in your fridge and pantry. By pledging to do this, you will lower the chance of making a trip to the store to one item (which turns into five), or *gasp* grabbing fast food. Plus, you’re more likely to try something new by being creative, especially as you get to the final dregs of your pantry (which would be fairly quickly if you have small cupboards).

I already spent half of January’s budget on December 23rd, but a decent portion of that was cheese. It’s expensive, but we buy in bulk and go through it pretty quick, thanks mostly to my husband. Also, some of what I bought was for food we brought to my grandma’s for the Christmas gathering, and we got a pretty good feast in return. So I want to try to spend as little as possible on groceries in January. Every person’s pantry and needs are different, so we are encouraged to make up our own rules and remember it’s NOT a contest.

Facts about my household:

1. There are only two humans
2. We go to midweek studies 2x/wk and eat dinner there
3. My husband often skips breakfast and eats a bigger lunch

Now for my rules:

1. I can only buy milk, produce, and bread, with the exception of:
2. Food for my birthday party (i’m turning 25 this month)

I still want to try to be creative in order to save money on my party, but it’s going to be pirate-themed, and there will be specific foods I need to buy that I don’t already have. Look forward to posts on this too.

Today I took an inventory of my pantry and freezer and was surprised to find how much food I had. I even skipped stuff like cheese, chips, cereal, and coffee so that my eyes wouldn’t be deceived. I filled a page with lists of food that could make main or side dishes. I’m going to let this inventory list serve somewhat as a menu plan for the month. Since we’ll only be eating dinner at home five times a week, I see no problem in making everything last the entire month. Stay tuned for my first week of eating from the pantry.

Week 1
Week 2

Tags: Eat from the Pantry Challenge

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