Pantry Purge Update

After checking out some of your blogs, I started to feel embarrassed.  I thought our food stockpiles were somewhat normal.  My mother has a big freezer in her laundry room along with extra shelving for those items that are "on deck" and are waiting for a home.

Jay's parents have an extra mini fridge for drinks and quite possibly a deep freezer or two in the garage or basement.  (I'm not allowed to go in either.)  Also, Jay's Pawpaw has an extra refrigerator in his garage.  An abundance of food is normal right?

Well not according to your pictures.  Some of you (who have more people than me to feed) aren't working with the space I have to work with.  Quite frankly my excess is embarrassing. 

Warning - I took pictures of most of the places I have food in the house. This blog is going to be very picture heavy.

Jay thinks the cabinets are beginning to look a bit sparse.  I haven't been to Sams Club in a while nor have I shopped at the store with my mind on stockpiling. 

Okay so I'm cheap and by Big K (the Kroger generic) soda.  Jay loves orange and grape soda and the generic tastes the same.  And I get them for $1.99 a 12 pack. 

(Please overlook the dirty clothes hamper also in this photo - I don't have a laundry room, just a laundry closet.  The hamper stays on top of the dryer, unless I'm doing laundry.  That must have been the case when this picture was taken.)

Here is the top portion of the pantry.  Notice the Tupperware with a brown substance in there?  I'd like to claim that's brown rice, but I'd be lying.  Both that container, and the Christmas snowman tub are filled with popcorn Jay received in a tin for Christmas.  The remainder has since been thrown out.

Also, yes those are cases of canned green beans, corn, and sweet peas.  Meijer had them on sale for $0.30 a can or something insane like that and Jay had his mom get us 3 cases of each.  (We don't have a Meijer nearby, but his parents do.)

Here is the bottom portion of the pantry.  Lots of diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and tomato sauce.  We love spaghetti and chili in my house.  Well I love how easy it is to make, and Jay swears my chili is the best non-chili in the world.  (According to him, its not real chili if you can eat it from a plate.  Mine is thick and hearty enough to eat with a fork.)

The most embarrassing thing in that photo?  The bottle of strawberry daiquiri mix.  Jay and I bought it on our honeymoon and I had daiquiris that whole week.  We didn't use it all and brought the rest home.  We've been married 2 years come fall.

This is the freezer in my kitchen.  Its stuffed full of things that have already been opened - bags of fries, hash browns, pizza rolls.  We check here first, before going out to the mud room freezer.

When I took this picture the refrigerator was actually kinda full.  Eggs have been eaten, beer drank, and some wilted lettuce thrown out.  I wanted to get a picture of the after but I couldn't find Jay's camera.

On top of the fridge was my empty bottle of Darma Initiative beer, bread, and some chips.  Those are all long gone by now and Jay has stashed the beer bottle.

I had trouble taking pictures of the big freezer in the mud room, because the door kept shutting on me.  Here's the door though.  Those big jugs and powerade bottles are full of water - I've read that full freezers are more energy efficient.  Also, in case of emergency we'd just have to wait for them to thaw and we'd have a decent water supply.

More crap.  And some not crap - the frozen tilapia is perfect for those nights I really don't feel like cooking.  Just a little lemon pepper and some time baking in the convection oven and I've got a healthy meal.  (Remember all those canned veggies?)

The 2nd draw is full of frozen veggies.  I tend to throw those into one dish meals I make, just to add in some veggie content.  We love stir-fry so I tend to stock up on those veggies when Kroger has them on sale for $1.  Last time I was at Sams I bought that box of Boca burgers and I love them. The taste is good, but I love how simple they are to make.  Just 2 minutes in the microwave and I have dinner!

Some chicken, ground turkey, beef tips, and chicken thighs round out the rest of my freezer.

I also have a cereal/baking products cabinet as well as one full of spices, and a drawer with Kool-aid and chili, spaghetti, and alfredo sauce packets.

This weekend I made a list of all the items I have on hand and put it in an excel spreadsheet.  Turns out I have 170 different items in my kitchen.   I'm not taking about 10 boxes hamburger helper + 3 containers chicken.  I mean 170 different varieties of food in my house. 

I told you it was embarrassing!

So for the month of September I'm vowing not to grocery shop.  I will use my pantry stores to make breakfast, lunch and dinner each evening.  Like many of you suggested, I'll take the planning a week at a time, surveying what I have on hand at the moment.

I'm giving myself $15 a week ($60 for the month) for fresh produce.  I also want to know, given how much we have on hand, how quickly we'd go through it. 

I was reading Shop, Save, Share by Ellie Kay this weekend and she told about an ice storm her family experienced.  Because of her food stockpile, her family didn't go hungry.

While it seems like a lot of food just looking at it, I'd like to know just how long it'd last us if we had to rely on it.  We're not in an area that gets lots of snow, but I am married to a man that works off straight commission.

No sales = no paycheck.

Sure we have our emergency fund in place, but it'd be nice to know that on those months we don't have as much money coming in we can skimp on grocery shopping and not have very much money going out as well.

Now that I've bored you with the details of mine, how's your pantry purge coming?

Help - I need a plan!

Yall know how I like a good challenge right?  I loved doing the Monday Projects earlier in the year and feel like I had some good personal growth because of them.

Well...the Monday Project has become the Monthly Project.  This month over at the Sisterhood we've been challenged to clean out our cupboards, refrigerators and freezers - purging what has gone bad or we don't need in the house tempting us, and taking an account of what we do have on hand.

I've taken the pictures, throw out the 7 month old popcorn some stuff, and am in the process of cataloging my food. 

What?  When you see how much I have you'll understand why its a process!!

*Puts on nerd glasses*  I'm then going to put it all into an excel spreadsheet that I'll update as I use/add to my inventory.

So - here's the part where you chim in.  I'm batting around different ways I can challenge myself for September.  It really is embarrassing how much food I have.  In a "I'm so incredibly blessed if I post what I've got it'll look like I'm bragging" kinda way.

Have you ever cooked from your pantry - and only from what you have on hand - for an entire month?  Is it possible?

I definitely want to try it, but I didn't know what parameters to put on it.  Is this for dinner only?  All meals for September?  Am I allowed to purchase fresh fruits and veggies?  (I wouldn't go without if I didn't - I have plenty of canned and frozen of each.)

I'm also considering making a sub category in my budget.  *Adjusts nerd glasses*  Right now we have a category for eating out and a separate for groceries.  I was thinking of subdividing the eating out.  We spend a lot on fast food, instead of going out once or twice to nice restaurants.  Anyone had luck tackling this beast?  Maybe split off half the budget for fast food?

Also, I'm going to need lunch ideas.  If I'm not going to go shopping, I'm not going to be allowed to buy Lean Cuisines.  I'd like a variety of things I can bring to work.

Breakfast ideas are welcome too, but I'm boring enough that I could eat oatmeal every day and be happy.

Please feel free to leave novels of information in my comments section.

1-2-3 go!!

Because I'm lame with titles...Thrifty Thursday

I thought I'd take a moment to brag on myself...well because its my blog and I can!

Jay and I try very hard to be frugal, sometimes to the point of being miserly.  I hope over all that's not the case, and I think the big year we've had proves it.  We got the thrill of paying off our 5.5 acres of land in less than a year as well as a super-cool awesome trip to California.

Not exactly the "self imposed poverty" that a friend of mine accuses me of.

I suppose, in her defense, we are very weird. 

We don't have cable.  Which honestly this time of year sucks.  All the normal TV is off until January and all the Christmas specials are lame.  So I've been going to sleep around 9 each night - and loving every minute of that extra sleep.

We figured it out, and could rent a Redbox movie every night for a month and still make it out cheaper than cable.  Since the sparing TV choices is an exception, not the norm, we're just fine with Redboxing it for Christmas.

I also don't spend that much at the grocery store.  I stockpile ground turkey when its on sale for $1 lb and do the same with chicken breasts at $1.99 lb.  (I tried the chicken parts thing, and its just not worth it to me.)  I only buy coke when its on sale (I never pay more than $2.50 a twelve pack), never buy chips or cookies, and menu plan so that I use from my stockpile (and replentish the stockpile when things are at their rock bottom sale price).

Our goal is to have the new home paid off in 5-6 years.  Its totally doable assuming our incomes stay the same and we keep our standard of living where it is.  He is 1/3 owner of some commercial property, and if we can get that sold, then we'd probably be able to pay the house off sooner.

The thing about our standard of living is that neither of us feel like we're missing out on anything.  Sure I'd like to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe of clothing, but that's just impractical.  We've set price limits on Christmas ($15 for my sister and $15 for her husband - they are doing the same) not because that's all we can afford, but because none of us need anything. 

Jay and I were talking the other day and I told him the one area that I'd like to branch out in and spend more money (when we've got the house paid off and we're off rice & beans) is our meat selections.  I got some beef cubes on manager's special last year and they were delicious in with stir fry and rice.

Can you keep a secret??

I spent $37 at the grocery store this week!!

I normally spend about $100 or less on groceries for the month, so this was a big splurge (although I've only spent $30 the rest of the month, so I don't think I'll go over budget.)

There were a couple of packages of beef shank something or other on sale for $1.50 each (slightly less than a pound per package) so I figured I would grab those suckers up!  Chicken breasts were on sale, as were the tenders, so I grabbed about 6 lbs of those. 

I was excited that the tenders were on sale for the same price as the whole breasts because i usually end up cutting up the chicken and putting it on the George Foreman grill for recipes calling for cooked chicken any way.  The tenders saved me a step!

I found two 1/2 gallons of milk on manager's special - taking it down to the same price per ounce of a whole gallon.  Since Jay doesn't use milk, a half gallon is the perfect size.  I put one in the fridge for use this week (its sell by date was today) and one in the freezer for later.  I'm sure between cereal and protein shakes I won't have a problem using it up.

Speaking of cereal, I had noticed a $2 off any all bran cereal coupon in my binder that expires at the end of the month.  I figured I check it out, and if the cereal wasn't too pricy I'd go ahead and get a box.  Most of the flavors were in the $3 range. 

Then I noticed an item close out sticker.  The All Bran Yogurt bites cereal was on sale for $2.58.  Which mean $0.58 after coupon!!  Not the most yummy sounding flavor, but for the price I couldn't pass it up.

I also had a coupon for frozen fruit, so I splurged and got some frozen peaches (to be used on oatmeal in the future).  I finished my splurgefest by getting wheat thins and garden veggie cream cheese just because I was craving it.

I grabbed the salad stuff for this weekend's Christmas party and I was headed to checkout.  Mentally it was hard spending almost $40 on one week of groceries, but I keep telling myself that was Money Saving Mom's budget so it couldn't be too frivilous.  (Of course all the while ignoring the voice in the back of my head reminding me that she's a family of 5, and I'm just feeding one and a half people - Jay only eats dinner).

So that's my shopping trip for the week.  Probably the most boring post I've written in a while, but I was quite proud of myself and wanted to share my exictement!!

What's your money saving tip that you swear by?  Is it in your grocery budget?  Clothing budget?  Frugal McFrugalson is always looking for new ideas!

February Grocery Wrap-up

I started the month with a lofty goal – to not spend any money on groceries for the month of February. Since I rarely buy fresh fruits and veggies, and my freezer is stocked full of meat purchased on sale, I thought I’d have a relatively easy time of it

One thing I didn’t consider was lunch. I knew that I had plenty of canned soup and frozen lunches to do me for the month, but I didn’t factor any variety in.

When Kroger put their deli lunch meat on sale for $1 a pack – I decided that I had to break my “no spend” rule. The objective was to save money, and buying it down the road at a more expensive price doesn’t save anything.

After coupons (and adding green peppers and baby carrots to my cart) my first trip to the store totaled $11.20. I put a couple of packs of lunch meat in the fridge and threw the rest in the freezer for future use.

My next trip into the store included buying a pack of diapers for my sister (with coupon of course) and a few other almost free items totaling $13.27. The next trip was $11.73.

Then came the temptation – a $5 off when you purchase $45 or more. These coupons come around every few months and I like to use them to stockpile food. I rarely spend $45 a week on groceries, so I use this as the opportunity to stock my cabinets full with staples.

I couldn’t pass up this opportunity to save $5 on items I would use any way, so I caved under the pressure. Luckily for me, Kroger was having another $10/10 sale. I ended up spending a total of $33.09 (after coupons and beer*).

*Beer doesn’t count toward your $45 total. Its also something not regularly purchased at the house. Instead it’s a “stop dipping aid” that never seems to work. That $8.20 will be added to my “dip money” shopping spree!

My February monthly total came to $69.29. Not quite low enough to make me happy, but I know I got some great deals out of it.

Maybe I should reinstitute the challenge for the month of March. Then again, I have a $6 off a $60 purchase for next week. So maybe not!

For more money saving tips, head on over to Frugal Friday.

February Monthly Challenge

Over at Frugal Hacks, they are challenging us to adopt a new behavior for a month, and see how well that works for us.

My challenge for the month is staying out of the grocery store. I currently have a well stocked pantry, so I should be able to pull it off. My menu plan for the month is complete, and requires no shopping on my part.

Lunch is the only challenge I foresee right now. I've got about a weeks worth of canned soup in my desk at work, as well as some Lean cuisine meals in the freezer. I might have to get a little creative and make a hamburger helper to bring to work for a couple days near the end of the month.

I look forward to the challenge!

Update - This is a post I composed at the first of the month, and I've already 'failed' in the challenge. Kroger had their lunch meat on sale for $1 a pack - and I had $1 off when you buy two coupon. This was a deal I just couldn't past up.

My total was $11.73 for several packets of sliced turkey & ham (which doesn't expire till the end of March and can be frozen as is), $1 bagged salad, and a couple of green peppers and onions.

The purpose of the goal is to make sure that I would/could actually use the items in my stockpile, not to deprive myself of a great deal and pay more later.

I've set a new goal of getting through the month and only spending $20 total at the grocery store. Which could be a challenge...depend on next week's sale flyer!

For more Frugal Friday ideas, check out Crystal's Biblical Womanhood blog.

Frugal Friday - Grocery Bills

This summer to go along with the economic stimulus checks the government issues, Kroger ran a special where they added 10% when you purchased a gift card with a $300 $600 or $1200 value. I participated in this special twice - both times for $300 cards.

Turns out, it was a great way to track grocery spending. I just finished the last of the gift cards this past week. I had purchased $660 in cards, and a couple of co-workers went in on a $50 gift card when I got married.

I've used nothing but those cards since I got them (excluding the very rare trips to Wal-Mart and Food City to buy groceries), which means I've spent approximately $710 in groceries since May. That's under $90 a month for our grocery bill!

Keeping in mind that over the past 8 months, I've used those cards to build up a food emergency fund. So that $90 not only contributed to our weekly grocery expenses, but also to the full cabinets that we have right now.

How'd I do it? The typical - shopping sales, using coupons, menu planning. I know those are ideas everyone in the bloggy world has heard a million times. But it works. Also, in the past I've been more willing to compromise on health type items. But that is something I'm working on. (I actually bought the flavor seal ground chuck this past week, rather than the ground beef.)

For more great ideas, check out the weekly Frugal Friday carnival at Biblical Womanhood.

Rebates

This month with Walgreens I haven't been quite as on top of things as I should have been - and I'm loosing about $10 because of it.

The first was choosing the wrong acid controller tablets. I got the 30 pack instead of the 25 pack. $6.99 + tax down the drain. I had a $10 off of $40 purchase coupon, so it wasn't lost money, just money I didn't earn.

My other error cost minimal out of pocket but will cost $4.99 in rebates. I used my $2 register reward coupon and my $3 off pert plus coupon, so I had less than a dollar in out of pocket expenses. But now I can't find my receipt to add it to my September claim.

Lesson learned: be VERY careful when shopping and ALWAYS know where your receipts are.

1 months groceries + new eco bags =

okay so I was going to have this really cute picture of my ONE bag full of a month's worth of groceries. then i was going to have a cute picture of me carrying the bag over my shoulder. but Mr. Right got busy with work last night and forgot to transfer the pictures over. so get a mental image - a black fred meyer bag with pictures of veggies on the front. and inside loaded down with groceries.

yesterday was the first time this month i had been to the grocery store. normally i do my main shopping at the first of the month, then only head back if there are any good sales. there have been none in my area this month and we've been eating out of the pantry. so last night my $26.82 worth of groceries is my bill for the month (unless they have a can't beat sale next week).

i don't count my health and beauty purchases because not only do i play the drug store game - but i've been playing it for the past three months with a $25 gift card i got from CVS when i moved a RX there. (BTW - I still have $15.98 on that card so it should do me through October.)

July's groceries

10 lb bag sugar (store brand)
2 cans diced tomoatoes (store brand)
mexican blend shredded cheese (store brand)
shredded cheddar cheese (store brand)
shredded mozzarella cheese (store brand)
2 jars minced garlic (half price close out)
pizza sauce (enough for 3 large pizzas)
1 dozen medium eggs
1 sloppy joe seasoning packet
36 packets of kool-aid

just check out my menu plan mondays to see that i do indeed cook real meals (well not by everyone's standards). i stockpile meat, so some months i spend closer to $80 a month for groceries. but you will notice no fresh fruits or veggies. i buy frozen veggies to mix in, but Mr. Right and I just aren't healthy eaters.

my LOST message board friends and i started a "bag lady" club. whenever we see a new or cool reusable eco-friendly shopping bag, we buy it in bulk and ship it across the country. I'm the proud owner of a really cool trader joe's bag from california. no doubt the only shopper in this town to have one. B-) from experience they had all told me that you use far less bags with the reusable kind, since they are bigger/stronger they can hold more. and the elderly man who bagged my groceries proved them right. he got the entire month's groceries in one bag. and it wouldn't have been to bad either if not for the weight of the 10 lb bag of sugar! it did make my trip to the car in the rain much easier. i just threw the bag over my shoulder and didn't have to mess with returning a cart!