$100 Grocery Challenge

Well, February has come and gone, and let's see how the Eat From Your Pantry Challenge went...

MAJOR FLOP!!

I made only a handful of new recipes and I still went grocery shopping because I couldn't bear to pass up the really good deals.

BUT, I did spend only $88.92 on groceries for the month of February. Yes, we had the Norovirus for the last week of the month, but I know I still could have easily stayed under $100. If you include the two times we splurged and ate out (McDonalds both times - we're so bad!) we still only spent right at $105 for the month. I think that's pretty darn good.

So good, in fact, that I am going to try it again for March... maybe I'm crazy. March just looks longer on the calendar even though there are only three extra days. And there are things I definitely want to buy that aren't on sale (for some reason when I'm sick I crave Chef Boyardee products). So I want to aim for the goal of $100 this month again, and we'll just see how it goes. Anybody else willing to try? Even if your goal is simply to cut your grocery bill in half, you might amaze yourself!!

February:

Final shopping total - $419.28
OOP - $88.92
Saved - $330.36 (about 79%)

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

So, the pantry challenge is going well so far. Is it weird that I'm keeping track of my meals? Kind of. I feel like I'm reporting to a dietitian. I'm like, "I can't put that I had crackers and Pepsi for breakfast!! I have to eat healthy here!" It's a lot of pressure.

Anyway, I just wanted to note that today, the ninth day of the challenge, I have spent 1/5 of my total budget. I'm especially proud of that because my personal goal was to spend only $25 per week during this month. If I keep spending this little, I will be able to spend a lot more if Harris Teeter does triples this week!! Craaaazzy!

By the way, I just want to point this out. Not only am I not hoarding Worcestershire sauce and Cheese Nips, I am not hoarding sour cream either. Any time you see me purchasing dozens of one item, rest assured it is being donated to Fed By Faith or given to people at church who need it. There are packages of sour cream just sitting in our fridge at church waiting to be snagged by those who suddenly crave a cheesecake, onion dip, or stroganoff.

February Cooking Challenge

Okay, so a few days ago I brought up this cooking challenge where you eat out of your pantry for the whole month and cut way down on your grocery bills. I really want to do this, to force us into eating some of the things in our house (whole chicken, anyone?) and also to prove that I can not buy something just because it's on sale. We'll see if that theory actually does get proven...

In researching online, it looks like people do this challenge in many different ways. You're supposed to set goals specifically for your household. For example, one woman with 4 kids set her monthly budget only $200 less than normal, but she wanted to use everything in her deep freezer and start making more creative meals.

I also found out that most people do this challenge because they end up throwing away lots of food that's gone bad. Praise God, I have never had to do that. Of course, I don't buy in bulk and I've really never had the room to have a psycho stockpile, so that could explain that.

So, considering tomorrow is the beginning of February, I better lay down some rules for this challenge. I'm making these up as I go, so I may decide to switch things around later. Think that's cheating? I don't care.

• I want to reduce my grocery spending. I allow myself to spend as much as I want on groceries. That can be anywhere from $100 to $250 per month, depending on how much stockpiling I do. I believe I average around $150. (Note - that does include Rite Aid and Walgreens purchases.) My goal for February is going to be $100. Including Rite Aid and Walgreens!! I already took out $100 in cash to spend from.
• I want to make new meals based on things we already have here. I want to use the whole chicken in our freezer which I am terrified of cooking. I want to use the Southern Biscuit flour that I bought with good intentions but have never used. I want to make recipes worth saving for future use.
• I want to not pass up incredible deals. There is no reason not to get something that is free. That is always going to be my opinion. I am not going to not grocery shop and pass up something like that. Besides, like Stephen said - there's no point in doing this if I'm going to have to go out in March and buy $500 worth of groceries to restock everything. So I'm going to continue grocery shopping, even several times a week, but be even more frugal than usual.
• I will continue to make certain purchases. Produce, milk, eggs, bread, etc. will be bought as needed, as usual.
• This challenge doesn't apply to groceries bought for special meals. The special meals in this case are for mom and dad. Once a week I cook for them, two meals and two desserts. So if I need to buy groceries for those recipes I will.
  

Now I'm not sure how this is going to work with the $100 going towards all my grocery shopping and my drug store purchases. The drug stores can add up to quite a bit monthly because of the rebate action, but $100 is just a goal of course.

I'll set up a list (a looooong list) on the sidebar of our meals every day. Of course, Stephen doesn't even eat breakfast or lunch here so those meals are pretty light for me. A lot of days I'll just eat a brunch and then dinner with him, so I won't be doing a lot of heavy cooking except once a day.

Anything I missed? Anything else I should specify? Let me know. I feel like I'm throwing this together really quickly.

Oh, and no... I did not run out and buy groceries all week long to prepare for this. That would be cheating!

Eat From the Pantry Challenge

So, although I should be tucked away soundly in my bed, I am scouring the web for great couponing websites. The only one I really use is A Full Cup which is great but even then I only use it once a week - to check and see if Harris Teeter is having Super Doubles or Triples!!! Every so often I stumble across a blog I like but many times the regional prices are different, coupons are different... I just get aggravated at not getting the same deals as those people.

Needless to say - I still search for great websites! And I happened upon this challenge. I can't tell you how many times this month Stephen told me our next house was going to have a walk-in pantry. People's eyes have begun bulging as much as my pantry doors when I open those doors. I had to move an entire shelf of cookbooks today to make room for some of the pantry overflow!!

So I am wondering, what if I do this challenge? I will technically have a few days to prepare and decide what "rules" I want to go by. I know one lady who took this challenge and wanted to spend only $10 per week during January. I probably won't take it to that extreme because I don't want to miss any superb deals! But the fact of the matter is - we have a lot of food. I think if I walked into a lot of homes in our county, I would be ashamed of the amount of food we have. I know we seem to donate a lot (in my head, anyway) but we are certainly in no danger of starving.

Wouldn't you know that Stephen is out of town right now, which means he doesn't get a say in this decision? :) Actually, I think he'd love the idea. We have so many freezer and pantry items I can't believe this wouldn't work. And I wanted to start a real budget in February anyway, for this blog. It would be a great time to come in under budget!

Give me a few days to think about this and plan ahead... I'll let you know what I decide. If you want to do it too, let me know!!!