Eating what I have at home for 2 months

[ilovedolphins]

So far this month I have only bought a gallon of milk. The first of February I decided I needed to clean out my pantry and freezer. I am not buying any food unless it is milk, bread, or fruit/veggies.

Tomorrow I may buy a loaf of bread and some bananas. But otherwise I am going to see if I can go to the end of March before buying food.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

Good luck with this experiment! (I'd miss fresh veggies, but that's just me.)

[pepperdoo]

Now that someone else is doing this, I'm in too. The only thing I have to buy is fresh veggies, milk and my juice. Other than that a "Clean Out The Pantry" challege sounds good again:)

[ilovedolphins]

I decided I didn't need to spend any money this month unless absolutely necessary. I have $3000 worth of medical bills due and I am starting to panic about my daughter's wedding in June.

My daughter's in-laws to be are very well off. The parents and sister and her family are going to the Virgin Islands for 2 weeks for the wedding. My son and I can only afford 1 week and barely even that. I am hoping I don't feel "poor" around them because I am going to have to watch every penny I take.

[Becks]

I'm pretty sure I have enough food here to try the same thing. That being said I probably have a few things that I really don't want to eat either. Some of those frugal purchases that seemed like a good or practical idea at the time, but now seem like a waste of a few peso's.

Let us know how it all turns out!

[angel007]

We, for the most part, have done this since last Fall, ilovedolphins...

Even after donating alot of food about a year ago, we had a ton again by last Fall, even more because dh decided to plant a large garden an acres' worth last spring/summer....and canned/froze alot of that stuff, too......yikes!

Makes the chore of those large grocery store trips nice though since I don't have to get nearly as much... ;D

[Apple]

I've also been doing this a lot. Clearing out room in the freezer and have really cleaned out the kitchen cabinets and pantry. I haven't really had a big shopping trip since around Thanksgiving!

[donnafreedman]

Me too! Except for fresh stuff, eggs (when they go on sale for 99 cents at Walgreens) and a little bit of meat here and there, I've been surviving on pantry and freezer.
It's amazing how much I had put aside. I'm nowhere near finishing up.
I love not having to go to the store very much.

[lisabelle]

I like the idea of this, but not sure I could completely do it. I cook w/fresh veggies and would not give that up. I do shop the ads/sales and pair w/my coupons so to go 2 months I think I would miss out on good deals. Also, spending a little $$ to get good deals on a weekly basis makes more sense to me than running out of my freezer and pantry stuff and having to pay full price to restock. IMO.

[Frugal Nurse]

Feb 17, 2011 8:53:29 GMT -5 @lisabelle said:

I like the idea of this, but not sure I could completely do it. I cook w/fresh veggies and would not give that up. I do shop the ads/sales and pair w/my coupons so to go 2 months I think I would miss out on good deals. Also, spending a little $$ to get good deals on a weekly basis makes more sense to me than running out of my freezer and pantry stuff and having to pay full price to restock. IMO.

I'm with you on this one. I am vegetarian, and most of what we is is made from scratch using fresh veggies. The things in my pantry are staples (like canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, whole wheat pasta, etc) and stuff for DH. I do consider skipping some of the sales each week, but I'd lose too much money waiting for the items t come back around. My stockpile isn't large, and is contained to our kitchen cabinets, so I feel OK with it.

My bigger problem is fresh veggies. Some things- like celery and carrots- seem to last forever, and I can't find enough ways to use them! I usually end up throwing out some celery because it goes bad before I get to it!

[Apple]

My bigger problem is fresh veggies. Some things- like celery and carrots- seem to last forever, and I can't find enough ways to use them! I usually end up throwing out some celery because it goes bad before I get to it!

Do you have a juicer? I used carrots, beets, ginger, etc in mine (I need to start doing that again). Can't remember if I ever used celery or not though. I know it's not recommended in some machines because the "strings" will wrap around the shaft and burn up the motor, but since they have so much water they'd work well if you could use them.

[ohmomto2boys]

We would need some fresh fruits, veggies, milk, eggs and bread to supplement our freezer and pantry. We have plenty of pasta, chicken, beef (might pick up pork if rock bottom), rice, cheese and staples to make homemade pizza, mac & cheese, enchiladas, etc.
However, it would be hard for me to pass up a deal of a pantry staple that hits rock bottom price during the next 2 mths.

[998fbird]

I relocated in Oct. and am still stocking my pantry, and I only shop every other week when I get paid. However, I like to have the pantry stocked because it's the 'no money' emergency fund. I always try to have the basics on hand. If I needed to I could probably go about a month w/o buying anything but milk, bread, and eggs.

[Agatha]

Feb 17, 2011 8:53:29 GMT -5 @lisabelle said:

I like the idea of this, but not sure I could completely do it. I cook w/fresh veggies and would not give that up. I do shop the ads/sales and pair w/my coupons so to go 2 months I think I would miss out on good deals. Also, spending a little $$ to get good deals on a weekly basis makes more sense to me than running out of my freezer and pantry stuff and having to pay full price to restock. IMO.

I could probably eat completely out of my freezer for two months; I could even feed myself and one nephew but my vegetarian nephew would be hungry. All that said, lisabelle, I've got to say I agree with you. I don't see the point in running out of my freezer and pantry stuff. Two months from now I'd have to start stocking again.

I can't help it. It sounds a lot like yo-yo dieting to me. I'll keep the steady course.

[blackcard]

Sounds a lot like "Shopping in your closet" but with food. I think I will try it.
DH, get ready for a lot of soup.

[lisabelle]

frugalnurse - my mother freezes onions, celery and carrots and uses them in soups. I'm still a little leary about that but it works for her. I will try it one day, becuase I too sometimes don't use it all and do hate to let it go bad and have to throw it out.

[gsbrq]

Every time I need diced onion, I'll cut the whole thing up even if I don't need that much. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll do two. Put the diced onion in a ziplock & freeze, then I can just take what I need if I'm making spaghetti sauce, or fried rice, etc.

I do the same once I've eaten my fill of fresh celery or carrots (I can never finish the bag); just dice it and use in soup, sauces, or stir-frys.

[sj3339sta]

Weird! I had this same thought and started a blog about it. I'm giving myself $10/week. Mostly because I have a toddler in the house who needs some fresh fruit and milk.

[❤ mollymouser ❤]

We've been methodically going through our freezer and pantry, eating older stuff and making room for new stuff (later!) I think my next challenge will be figuring out to do with a dozen cans of tuna........

[daisylu]

Most of my family does not care for onions, and the single onions you buy are HUGE now, so I also freeze them befor they go bad. The key is to cut them before freezing - a whole piece of onion deforsts into a soggy mess. Plus I like the convenience of just pulling out a baggie and shaking out what I need.


We have a small chest freezer that is ALWAYS packed to the gills. In December, I got so frustrated with the constant rotation that I decided not to buy any meats until it is down to 2/3 empty. It needs defrosting anyway, plus we have a bunch of venison & a couple of turkeys in my inlaws big freezer. So it isn't like it won't fill up again right away.


With a family of four you would think that we would be closer by now, but I am an expert packer.

[hsclassic]

I go through a pantry eat-down 1-2x/year. That's underway now. Only buy the perishables, plus anything needed to use up what is in the pantry. We do the same thing for the freezer - stock up and then eat it down until empty.

[HappyLady]

I used to do this once or twice a year too as my "pantry cleaning". Lightly, instead I do an every six month pantry donation instead now. Anything I bought that I haven't used in a couple months, I give away to my local food pantry.

[pauletteg]

I just replenished my pantry and filled my freezer with Costco items yesterday, so I'd like to try this too. I do buy bread, eggs and milk along with fresh vegetables weekly, but am trying temporary drastic grocery shop cuts to crash-save for our tax bill due in mid-April.
I'll consider my challenge a success if I can reduce my weekly grocery costs by one-third.