Stretch Your Savings

Congratulations! You've decided to take control of your grocery budget and your food waste! Now what? Step 1: Gird Your Loins I know that's something only Barney Fife on "The Andy Griffith Show" would say, but we need to do it. In other words, you need to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for what this upcoming month will be like. Embrace the fact that this will be worth it! But, in the meantime, we will not have access to convenience, laziness, or constantly feeding every craving that comes our way. And it's OK. It will just take some getting used to and some planning. The pile of cash at the end of the month is gonna be sah-WEET! Step 2: Rally The Troops If you have a family, do this however and whenever you think is best. Find a time when your husband is in a good mood...OR when he's really frustrated with not having enough money. This could be the answer he's been looking for. When approaching this subject with my kids, I framed i

Ooopsy. Well, guys...we're only 3 days into the month & I already goofed. It's nothing big. It's nothing irreversible, yet it was an avoidable mistake and a good lesson learned. During our pantry/freezer challenge we are aiming to spend only $20 + tax on perishables each week. My first grocery haul totaled $5.99 before tax which is great. We got fresh foods that will brighten up our frozen and pantry items. However...I didn't get the best bang for my buck. Here's what we got: See those 2 tiny containers of blueberries at the top? They were an awesome price. They were only 98 cents per container which is usually my "stock-up-like-a-maniac" price! However, I should've passed on them this month. Why? Because they lack volume. They won't fill us up. We could easily each gobble up a whole container as a snack. Instead, I should have opted for a bulkier fruit like the apples and pears that were 98 cents/lb or the bananas that were 44

Welp...here we go again.  Maybe. I can't commit. Eek! Have you ever done a pantry challenge (a.k.a. a freezer challenge)? It's where you commit to using only the foods you have on-hand for the month with the exception of a modest weekly stipend for fresh produce, milk and other perishables. We did one 2 years ago and then another one a year and a half ago. They helped us in 3 major ways. 1) We saved a ridiculous amount of money.  For example, our monthly grocery budget is $500 and we spent under $80. Yep. For real. I chose to allot myself $20 per week and I didn't use it all. How much fun could you have with an extra $420? How nice would it feel to pay off some debt? 2) We got out of our usual dinner rut.  We started eating some new, creative (read: weird) dishes and it really shook things up. It was refreshing to get out of our normal routine and the kids were always so excited to see what adventurous dish was next. Now, some of them might be staples in yo