January Eat From The Pantry Challenge

I have mentioned before what I HUGE fan of Crystals I am over at Money Saving Mom. (see the link saved under my favorites) This month she is teaming up with FishMama on a special challenge, and I have decided to give it a shot. Over the last few months I have stockpiled so much food, in my pantry and in my freezer, that I really could go a very long time eating just what we have on hand.

So the challenge is to eat the entire month using up what you have on hand already. Each family sets up the challenge rules around their specific needs, but the overall goal is to use up the food you already have, and not spend as much at the grocery store for the month. Want to give it a try??

As I said, each family would create their own rules for the challenge...so here are mine:

1. Create as many meals as possible using what I already have on hand in my pantry and freezer. (even when I think I don't have anything left that we can make a meal out of....I will try to get extra creative in order to not spend money, and use up what I already have.)

2. Only go to the store for items that we apsolutely need OR for items that I can get as close to free as possible. (I will still go for things like milk, and bread...and maybe some veggies...but mostly my plan is to stay out of the store completely.)

3. My normal monthly food budget goal is $300...so this month I am going to try hard to keep my food budget at $100. $25 a week for just the basics. Anything left from that original $300 will be placed into my $10,000 Snowflake account.

4. I do have two grocery food coupons from the end of last month. One is for $20.00 off my next grocery purchase, and one is for $2.00 off. So I am starting the month off having $22 to put towards groceries without even touching my food money for the month. The $20.00 coupon has to be used all at once, so I will try hard to use that one when I need multiple items.

That's it...my plan for the month. I will try to keep updating my progress throughout the month, and will get my basic menu plan up as well. Hope you will join me in saving some money this month, and using up some stuff you have on hand.