Last year we committed to an eating from the pantry/freezer challenge for the month of January. This year we are going to attempt to do it again. We have a nice stockpile in the pantry and refrigerator and it’s time to clean out. It will help us get rid of those food items we pass over, for the better stuff! Of course there will be trips to the store for essentials like milk, bread and produce.
Here’s the plan I had last year with updates in pink:
1st: Have a family meeting to discuss the plan. My kids will have to learn to eat from our stockpile, but I think if they know the plan ahead of time, they will be able to adapt. We can even make a list of what we currently have that they like, so they can refer to it when they need to make a decision. (We did this last year so this year should be a piece of cake)
2nd: Attempt to make a menu plan. I’m not very good at this, but once I take inventory, I should be able to plan several dinners. This might even help me overcome my habit of standing in the kitchen at 4:30 trying to decide what we are having for dinner. I’m so bad about that. (I have a whole turkey and ham in the freezer that will help with this)
3rd: Make a list of items we will need from the grocery store. ie: Milk, bread & produce. I will only be buying the daily essentials.
4th: Understand that we may not make it the entire month of March, but something is better than nothing.
5th: Break the news to my husband. Hopefully he’s reading this and I don’t have to verbalize it! 
Actually he’ll probably be the one to adapt the quickest. (We’ve already discussed and he’s onboard and loves the idea, or at least that’s what he said.)
Would you like to participate? I could use some support. I’ll post about how it’s going and let you know the challenges we’ve faced.
Never miss a deal from Saving The Family Money
Follow on Facebook, Twitter and get the free Newsletter
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That’s an awesome idea …. I think im going to that also, are you just doing it for dinner or all meals?
Awesome Krystyn! My plan is to do it for all meals. Even school lunches. Although we just ran out of waffles so there may be a revolt! I’ll just have to make pancakes from scratch!
We have done this since our VyStar Money Makeover. We do an inventory at least 2 times a month. I then plan at least a week’s worth of meals based primarily on what we have in the freezer or pantry. It helps out so much!!
I’m in! I feel pretty confident we can do this since I’m well stocked and just noted on Saturday that my freezer lid was not closing all the way. Sounds like I’d better start with a freezer inventory and go from there. We’ve got quite a bit of food in our home for only three eaters. Seems wasteful to run to the market to get more!
Thanks for the challenge Karen.