Saving Money from home – shop in your PANTRY

In addition to my weekly chores and deep cleaning the living room, I will be preparing to clean out the pantry by first  using up all the food!  This is a tried and true technique that is recommended by the majority of couponers – don’t buy any more groceries for X amount of days and eat what you have!  Instead, shop in your pantry and eat what you have.  As I mentioned earlier this month, we are way over budget!  So, my goal for the rest of the month is to buy only necessities and eat what we have!  And I have to say, so far we have NOT gone hungry at all! 

 

So, much like I pulled out everything from my closet last week and re-organized finding clothes that had been hidden for months, I will do the same in my pantry/freezer. 

 

How many meals can you come up with? 

 

Here’s my meal plan for the rest of the month based on just what is in the freezer:

 

	Breakfast	Lunch	Dinner
Day 1	Fruit and Cereal	PB&J, yogurt, and chips.	Lemon Pepper Chicken, baked potatoes, Broccoli and Rice.
Day 2	Oatmeal and Cinnamon Toast	Chicken Noodle Soup & Crackers.	Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and English peas.
Day 3	Fruit and Cereal	Chicken Salad, yogurt, and Chips.	Oven fried chicken, okra, and corn.
Day 4	French Toast & Bacon	Grilled cheese and tomato soup.	Hamburgers, French Fries, and Fried Zucchini.
Day 5	Fruit and Cereal	Hot Pockets, yogurt, and chips.	Grilled chicken & brats, grilled potatoes, corn on the cob
Day 6	Biscuits, Sausage, and Egg	Cheese & Crackers/Peanut Butter & Crackers	leftovers
Day 7	Fruit and Cereal	Hot dogs, chips, and yogurt	Tacos
Day 8	Fried egg & Toast	Peanut Butter & honey Sandwich, banana, & Chips	Ham, parmesan potatoes, and green beans
Day 9	Fruit and Cereal	leftovers	Sloppy Joes, French fries, and lima beans
Day 10	Waffles, Sausage, and Egg	Spaghetti-O’s, crackers, and jell-o	Fish Fry

 

From this plan, I only need to buy milk, bread, eggs, bacon, and produce!  Wow!  I can’t believe I have enough food here to have a different meal every day!  (or at least a main course).  The only down side to this plan – I hate to see my grocery bill next time!  I will be out of EVERYTHING!!!