Eat from the Pantry - Week Four

Well, it is February and the challenge is officially over. I am proud of how we did overall. And whether anyone has been reading this or not, it helped me stay accountable knowing that I had committed to blog about it.

Here's a recap of my goals and how I made out:

1. Shop at the grocery store only 4 times in January.

Officially, I had 7 trips to the grocery store, but two of them where in the same day (forgot one crucial item). My fifth trip was due to a caveat that I didn't include in the original post, but I forgot that I would need to buy groceries for E's birthday party on the 31st. Overall, I did stick to shopping once a week and that was HARD for me. I think that it did help me keep the costs down, and it forced me to plan ahead. That is one thing that I want to take away from this experience - shop less & plan more.

2. Only buy dairy (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.) and produce (fruits/vegetables).

I did stick to this rule very well. I had some free after coupon items that I'm not counting (they were FREE after all!) and one box of pasta that I confess I purchased... But that's it. I passed up two $0.19 packages of pudding snacks that were calling my name and was very proud at my self-control. Until Doug said, "isn't pudding considered dairy?" I almost went back to the store, but that would've broken goal #1, so I let them go. This goal helped me use up a number of items that have been in the freezer/pantry for a LOOOOONG time and may have never been used otherwise.

3. Spend a total of $200 or less on groceries and household items (i.e. toiletries and Pull-Ups, etc.)

My total amount spent on groceries/household items came to $187.24 so I definitely met this goal! This includes two meals I made for our small group of 12 and most of the food for E's birthday party (14 adults and 4 kids). I surprised myself on how little I spent, seeing as this category of my budget is usually $440 a month and it is ALWAYS hard to keep it within that amount. Hopefully I don't go out and spend $800 this month to make up for it...

4. Put the extra $220 leftover (or more) that we would usually spend on groceries/household into our savings account.

While we originally planned to put all the excess into savings, Doug and I felt led to give to Haiti instead, through our church. I'm not saying this to brag, but just to be honest and say that God has always provided for us - more than we need. It is a privilege to be able to give to others and recognize that all we have is God's anyway. In the end I know we will only be accountable to Him and I want to make Him proud.

Eat from the Pantry - Week Three

So last week went OK. Of course, I did leave the state for 3 days and ate well at my sister's house, but I left the family in my mom's capable hands. I left some freezer meals and recipes for her to use in my absence, and I know she did that, but I also found evidence of a shopping trip and heard they did pizza one night, too. ;-)

All that to say, they didn't use all the suppers I had planned, so we're in even better shape for this week!

I went shopping yesterday and spent $33.57. I stuck to the dairy and produce, with the exception of some bread for our small group dinner that night (see caveats). So far, I've spent $121.18 on food and household items this month. That leaves me with $78.82 and one more grocery store trip to complete the challenge. I am feeling confident!

My Meal Plan is as follows:

Breakfasts
Cereal
Yogurt
Baked French Toast
OJ and granola bars <-- This is what Doug takes to work EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Lunches
Chicken Nuggets
PB & Honey Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese
Leftovers from dinner

Snacks
Apples
Bananas
Strawberries
Crackers and Cheese

Suppers
Dinner w/small group (I cooked a turkey breast, broccoli casserole and mashed potatoes)
Chicken Lo Mein over spaghetti (freezer meal)
Zucchini Garden Chowder (use frozen veggies)
Meatballs (freezer) with pasta
Sausage Strata (using frozen sausage and bread)

Eat from the Pantry - Week Two

This week will be more challenging: 1)I'm going to be gone for about 3 days and 2)my parents will be staying here while I'm away.

Yesterday I did my shopping for the week. I also had to buy groceries to make a meal for our small group tonight. We have a $30 budget for that and make enough food for about a dozen people. I spent $29.96 on food for group and $14.11 on food for our family for this week. About $5 of the $14 is for plastic cups, by the way. Frankly, I'm a little scared and sceptical. I bought milk, yogurt, eggs and fruit. Oh, and I got some free CoffeeMate for my Dad's visit. Wish me luck!

Meal Plan as follows:

Breakfasts
Cereal
Yogurt
Homemade Waffles w/strawberry sauce
Scrambled Eggs w/cheese
OJ and granola bars <-- This is what Doug takes to work EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Lunches
Chicken Nuggets
PB & Honey Sandwiches
Pasta and Parm Cheese
Grilled Cheese
Leftovers from dinner

Snacks
Apples
Apple Pears
Nuts
Bananas
Banana Bread

Suppers
Dinner w/small group
Chicken Lo Mein over spaghetti (freezer meal)
Crockpot Roast w/carrots and potatoes (freezer meal)
Zucchini Garden Chowder (use frozen veggies)
Quick Chicken Curry w/rice (use frozen chicken thighs)
Pasta and Parm Cheese (if needed)

Eat from the Pantry - Week One

Ok, so it's been a week since I started the challenge and time for an update. Last weekend I went through our freezers and pantry to make an updated inventory of what we had on hand. Then I planned out a whole month of meals via Google Calendar.

The freezer inventory I usually do from time to time, so I know what we've got. But this is the first time I've planned a menu for a whole month! But with a challenge like this, you need a plan of attack.

Last Monday I spent $27.30 for the week's groceries and only bought milk, yogurt, OJ, butter, and veggies. I was surprised at how little the bill came to! My budget of $200 over 4 trips might be more realistic than I thought...

Here's what our menu looked like:

Breakfasts
Cereal
Yogurt
Homemade Waffles w/strawberry sauce
Oatmeal
OJ and granola bars

Lunches
Chicken Nuggets
Turkey Sandwiches
PB & Honey Sandwiches
Elbow Mac and Parm Cheese
Lunch @ at friend's house
Leftovers from dinner

Snacks
Applesauce
Canned Pears
Cheese
Crackers
Homemade cookies

Suppers
Dinner w/small group
Lil' Cheddar Meatloaves (freezer meal)
Mexican Shredded Pork over rice (freezer meal)
Homemade Pizza & bread sticks (frozen dough and dough mix from pantry)
Dinner @ at friend's house
Potato Broccoli Cheese Soup w/rolls

All in all, we ate pretty well and I basically stuck to my rules. A borderline slip is that I did stop at Walgreens to buy some Nabisco crackers. I know that is not dairy or produce but they were free after coupon, so I wasn't *technically* buying anything, right??? Also, I decided that juice is OK to buy as my family prefers to drink our vitamins in the form of V8 and OJ.

One week down - three to go!

Taking on Challenge

Maybe it's because I just watched Julie & Julia, maybe it's because I'm a glutton for punishment, or maybe it's just because I have too much food in my house right now, but I have decided to take on the Eat from the Pantry Challenge issued by Money Saving Mom and FishMama.

Doug and I talked about it last night and he's game! The past two months have been expensive ones, with our new hot water heater, new water softener, new tires and brakes on the van... We ended up putting only a fraction of what we planned into savings for November and December. So let's hope that this helps make up for a little bit of that!

Here are our goals for the month of January:

1. Shop at the grocery store only 4 times in January.


2. Only buy dairy (milk, eggs, cheese, etc.) and produce (fruits/vegetables).


3. Spend a total of $200 or less on groceries and household items (i.e. toiletries and Pull-Ups, etc.)


4. Put the extra $220 leftover (or more) that we would usually spend on groceries/household into our savings account.

Crystal has some caveats in her post, so I'll include mine here: We usually have a meal with our church small group each Monday night (which I cook for occasionally) so that will not be included in the challenge. Also, we will be hosting my parents for a long weekend while I am out of town, so we may buy a few items for them while they are here. Our dining out budget is usually $30/month and we'll try to stick to that as well.

So that's it! Wish me luck... Anybody care to join in?