Up for a challenge?

Last week, I went to the grocery store and spent almost $200.

I wanted to pass out. I felt sick to my stomach. So much money sucked out of our bank account. Even with my menus carefully planned out, list in-hand, I still spent way more than I anticipated. And it's like that almost every week.

I know groceries are a necessity. It's not like I'm getting my hair highlighted and my nails done. We must have groceries. But still. It is so much money. And despite some great tips, I'm still spending too much.

Driving home from an errand today, I began to think how nice it would be if I could just take one week off from grocery shopping. Right now, I plan my menus on Monday morning and the girls and I head to the groceryafter breakfast and shop for the week. I get just what I need for the week, save for a few staples or pantry re-stocking, and the occasional impulse buy.

But back to my idea about taking a week off....

You know it's not like my cupboards are bare except for the things I'm putting in each week. They are still stocked with rice and beans and cans of soup and pastas and..... There are the odd cuts of meat and frozen breads in my freezer. I have flour. And sugar. And yeast. And butter.

It's just that I often ignore those things in my pantry for what I feel like making that week.

I'm not using what I have.

So here's my challenge for this week. My own mini no-spend challenge. I'm not going to the grocery store next week. (And I'm not going to stock up this weekend either--no cheating.) I'm going to make do with what I have in my cupboards and freezer. I'm going to get creative. I'm going to do my best to put together some meals with what I have on hand. I'm going to save a little money this week.

Sometimes my best meals are the ones created when I think "I have nothing to make for dinner".

So as I head in to next week, here are a few things I'm allowing:

1. I'm allowing myself to buy milk for the week (a necessity for my children), a bag of coffee beans (c'mon, I'm not crazy), and I'm going to refill the propane tank on my grill.
2. If someone invites me to dinner. I'm going to say yes. :)
3. I'm going to buy two quarts of strawberries at the farmers' market tomorrow.

Here's what I'm slightly concerned about:

1. I have no fresh greens in my fridge. But I do have frozen varieties.
2. I still think I'd rather go with a meal of rice and beans than break into the deer sausage my grandmother kept passing on to us. Which has been sitting in my freezer since, well....deer season. Yuck.
3. I hope I can make enough to eat for meals, plus leftovers for Dan's lunches.

All next week, I'll let you know what I make each night for dinner. In the midst of my normal posts, I'll keep you updated on how it's going and whether or not I'm making it. Ugh. I'm nervous. But I know it will be fine. I like a little mini-challenge.

Anyone brave enough to join me? And by the way. We have lots of granola.

Comments

[Mama Urchin]

This usually happens to me at the end of the month. The food budget is gone and there is still a week left. What about using the sausage in a hash with potatoes or rice? My kids always eat that.

[mommycoddle]

yeah, i'd definitely have to disguise it somehow. and i have a LOT of deer sausage.

[Gabriel]

Yikes! I can do that for a night or two, but a whole week!
Tuna melts? I always have tuna and cheese and you probably have the ingredients to make the bread if you run out.
I am also astounded by how much I spend sometimes at the grocery store, but I usually (thankfully) find that if I spend a ton one week I have enough stuff left that I spend much less the next week. It's always for a reason, too, like ending up needing dog food, lots TP, and something else big all on the same week.

[Missy K]

This is such a good idea. We buy our meats in bulk from Costco and supplement with the grocery and Farmer's Market, and I am horrified by what we spend. Part of it is the trade off for buying generally better food than we were a could of years ago, but still, yikes!

I'll be following you with interest.

[chris carleton]

This is why I hate going to the grocery store. It's always a pit in my stomach. I'm trying to cut back as use what we have as well, but I don't think we'd make it a full week around here. Good luck though! I am so curious to see what you come up with.

[Susan]

I regularly spend $170 per week at the grocery store. I laugh whenever I see the bloggers who use coupons to get their groceries for next to nothing. There is not a retailer in my area who doubles coupons let alone triples like I see these people getting. It will be interesting to see how it goes for you.

BTW - your blog isn't showing up in google reader for days on end and then 4 posts will show up all at once. This one isn't there yet.

[Molly Irwin]

ditto. I wholeheartedly agree with this. I buy meat once a month (costco) and we eat it sparingly, which helps a lot. Frankly I'm sick of pasta though.

[Lee]

They did this earlier this year on eGullet I think. I didn't officially participate but I did go without shopping for 2 weeks. It's amzing what you can find socked away in your pantry and freezer! (Esp. when you are in the food biz.) Good luck-you'll do fine, I'm sure!

[Tasha]

Put the deer sausage in eggs, or in casserole. Or in pasta with parmesan, chicken stock, and spinach. Or give it to someone who needs/wants it; there's no use in wasting it.

And this is how I live all the time. You'll love the time freed up from being at the the grocery store!

[wilsonian]

Yay you! I'm in. I guess from tomorrow until next Saturday. My eating habits have tanked since work got stressful two months ago, and I keep buying/eating junk instead of what's in my cupboards. Which means I'll be eating soup. Everyday. Everyday. Woah.

ps. it doesn't sound like it, but I'm really really grateful that I can do this. I know too many people whose cupboards are truly bare, or who have no cupboards at all :(

[Louise]

This is a great idea. Sometimes I try to do this once a week, but a whole week would be even better. We're really trying to cut back on our food budget, too.

[mommycoddle]

Thanks for the heads up about google, susan. I was having trouble all week. I *think* I fixed it. Anyone getting here from google reader????

[mommycoddle]

molly--you should blog some of your meatless dinners!! I'd like more in my repertoire.

[mommycoddle]

wow! two weeks?! I'm really impressed lee.

[mommycoddle]

good point. :)

[laeroport]

Good luck, Molly! I know you'll pull some amazing meals out of your pantry & freezer. No problem.
I'm off to pick up my weekly CSA bag. You have no fresh greens, I still have half of last weeks + a whole new bag for this week. I wish I could bring you over a pound of spinach. :)

[mommycoddle]

I wish that too!!!

[Kate]

I'm here from Google Reader!

I've been thinking about doing just this very thing. I guess there's no time like the present to give it a go. :)

[laeroport]

I'm trying One Local Summer this year. I think that is all the challenge I can handle at the moment. ;)

[domesticali]

I am such a storecupboard pack rat - we could probably last a month!! But we'd all have scurvy.

Sometimes I go for a few days allowing myself to buy food, but not from the supermarket - only the farm stall and the bakery. It's all those additional extras that I toss in the trolley that cripple me.

[amelia studio]

I'll be doing this, but not like you. We'll visiting relatives for a week. What a cheat I am. :)

[Olivia]

Oh my goodness! I just made my own batch of granola today!

I love the idea of an "every other week" grocery schedule! I am pretty thrifty when it comes to grocery shopping but with 7 of us it is still a hefty bill at the end of the month.

I'll look forward to your posts on your mini no-spending challenge!

[Amanda @ www.kiddio.org]

I'm so in. We had a very rainy Memorial Day weekend and I did a full-on kitchen scrubdown. I could NOT BELIEVE the amazing stuff we had in the freezer! So this week I'll buy milk (we get it delivered), and that's it. Handily we're going out of town on the 9th, so it'll be nice to come home to a (hopefully) cleaned out pantry and freezer!
Can't wait to hear how you do :)

[mommycoddle]

yay, amanda! And I'm SO jealous of your milk delivery!!!

[LaMammina]

Hi Molly, I've been off the blogging radar for a while. But I'm still around.
I just wanted to say that our family has gone through our ups and downs in the budgeting arena and I have come to one conclusion. The place to make savings is not in the family food allowance.

You should get the things you like to eat/ are good for you. These are not things that you should compromise on. I'm not saying that families should be wasteful. Everything should be used each week or each fortnight depending on how you shop. But a dollar or two saved here or there for going without something that is enjoyable to eat and good for you is not going to make a difference in the grand scheme of things.

If you want to save money in your household budget attack the big things like contracts, utilities, insurance etc. Make deals, negotiate and get yourself some big savings each month. Swap companies if you don't get the reductions you are looking for.

Remember, food is expensive and you are not going to be able to feed your family of five for the same amount of money that you spent 5 years ago for example.

I still think your challenge is great and it is good to use things up. Just make sure that once you finish this challenge that it becomes a regular habit to use things up. The night before our weekly shop we have usually eaten up all the fresh stuff, so I do have to make use of what is in the pantry and we have some very slap dash meals, but if we eat one meal a week like that, then so much better for getting value out of what we have.

By the way, I can recommend an excellent book on managing household income which is so different and such a better way to look at things. It is called All Your Worth by mother and daughter duo Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi.

I hope I'm not being too preachy but reading that book made me breath a whole lot easier and meant that I didn't sacrifice the simple, wonderful things in life. Like good food.

Best of luck with your challenge. It really does get you to be very creative.

[Georgia]

Oh I will definitely be following your week. I swear that I go to the supermarket EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. I think it's partly because I have to run there last thing at night or in the middle of a busy afternoon and I'm in a total daze and I always forget something!!!! I think this month was worse because I didn't do my big costco shop and I'm so used to having tins of tomato or granola bars down in the basement. We have a family of 6-2 teenage boys, one husband training for a 100mile bike race and 2 others who under 10 who eat like there's no tomorrow. I wish I had a freezer...then I could make up bulk meals and divide them up and freeze them. I usually make dinner with whatever we have-but I'm continually supplementing the basic: vegetables, fruit, bread and milk and cold cuts for sandwiches (I make 5 packed lunches each morning). I need to get back into baking more. The kids come home ravenous for afterschool snacks before going off to sport. (It's their 4th daily meal). But I've highjacked your topic again-you just come up with such good ones!!!

[gardenmama]

We are a vegetarian family so I think that helps some with cost.
We were shopping about every week (family of five) and spending too much, it is crazy and I always felt like "what did I just buy" there was not a huge show of food for our spending. We adopted the eat what is in the fridge/cabinets too, your right it does seem to bring on creativity in meal planning. We have eaten more interesting meals this way and it is *amazing* how much food really is in the house, so much more than I ever would have realized.
Yup. rice and beans alot over here too... ; )
Good luck with this, there is always something to balance huh?!

[Meg Evans]

I like the idea of staying out of the grocery store--I went on Monday, spent way too much (it was the salmon that did it), and was back today buying things for a Sunday birthday party. I felt sick to my stomach at bill time...I do have a stockpile of rice and pasta, and a decent amount of meat in the freezer, but I feel weird about not having fresh greens. Come on, summer! It'll be so nice when I can pick the broccoli from the back yard!

I'm glad you made exceptions for the necessities (around here, that's milk, coffee, and half-and-half). I think I'd like to take this one on! And to add to the fun, I have no menus planned beyond Sunday night, so I'll really be flying by the seat of my pants.

[meg]

I've done this a lot lately, mostly because I'm pregnant and lazy (and because going to the grocery store with a 2 and 3 year old is just not fun). Pasta is my best friend. Carbonara and Puttenesca are usually whip up-able. And I have discovered some parts of my freezer I didn't know were there. And now I can fill it up with summertime goodness.

[katie]

oooh I'm definitely in. I've been so lazy about this, but my cupboards could really use a cleaning out. Do you have cheese on hand? Homemade pizza is a staple around here and maybe you could put your sausage on that.

[Linn]

My freezer is always overstuffed with things that I'd like to eat again someday...but that someday never comes! Great challenge.

[Marcijo]

I've been thinking about doing this lately as well. My cupboards & freezer are well stocked, yet I keep buying. I can't join you next week, its coupon day for the month at my local grocery, but I'll take you up on it the next week.

[melissa]

YAY!!! Are you in midwest or south?

[melissa]

Hey, I'll take your venison sausage (you can turn it into meatloaf w/ tom. paste, herbs/veggies, oats, and an egg or two)!!
I only go to the grocery store every few weeks- but we did get a CSA bag all winter and when I go (besides milk/bread runs), I restock the pantry. Fully stocked freezer, too.
BUT- we somehow don't seem to eat a lot. N is on a lean-eating phase, I have no sweet tooth, G eats cereal in the mornings (I make him buy it so I don't see the receipts) and supper, and I pick at leftovers at lunch- not a breakfast gal. I know a lot of people who are committed to eating down their pantry and freezer, but my thing with that is that I'd hate HATE to restock it all at once.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

[melissa]

Oh, and- my two boys could eat an entire canister's worth of oatmeal-into-granola in a single week. glad it is inexpensive.

[mommycoddle]

Lori, that is wonderful! And plenty of a challenge!!

[Nava]

We've been doing this for a while, seeing how little we can buy between food pantry days (2x a month). It's been a little nerve-wracking eating down our stash of food, but we've also been using up all the food that's been sitting around pretty much since we got married (over 3 years ago!) and I really didn't want to be lugging food along when we move in a couple months. It's a good exercise for the future too, so I can really get used to using cheap staples and just supplementing with the inexpensive in-season goodies with the occasional splurge.

[Francesca]

I am! And it tells me this was posted 8 hrs ago.
PS we are a family of 5, and I spend around 150 EUROS (!!!) a week for groceries, even though we eat simply and we have a veg garden. Fortunately, someone invited us for dinner tomorrow:)

[Kristy]

I want your deer sausage! I love deer sausage! And that deer had a good life.

We do $150 CDN a week but it's only for 2 adults & 1 kid.

I try to buy everything organic, as much local as possible. We'll be stocking the freezer with local meat this fall.

I try to only plan meat for max. 3 nights a week. Other nights we do eggs (a lot! perfect for you!), tofu & beans as protein.

I bake my own bread & make granola to cut back on costs. But it's still all a bundle. I'm super excited to see what you cook this week!

[Erin Zackey]

Ok, I'm in! I have a stocked fridge though, so I feel a little like I'm already cheating. Oh and I have lots of greens in the garden already, so that's feels a little unfair too. Thanks for the reminder that I CAN do this!:)

[Slugs On The Refrigerator]

Molly-
We only have a family of 3, but have recently switched to a method like you are trying. One big shop at the beginning of the month for cupboard and freezer items and then we use our weekly delivery of fruit and veg from a local farm (the UK equivalent of a CSA). It forces me to be MUCH more creative and we rarely eat the same thing every week.

What about scavenging for greens? I am sure the library has some resources on which "weeds" are edible. We have been doing a lot of this recently...much to the shock and horror of the other villagers, but oh well, gives people something to talk about.

Good luck!

[tiffany]

You can come over and get some fresh greens from my garden! I have arugula, romaine, curly green and butter lettuces. Make your own spring mix!

You can have lunch with us while you are at it. I have roasted pepper hummous and babe ganouj from Wegman's with homemade pita chips and tabbuleh. Email me if you want to set up a day.....

we are strawberry picking at Brad's on Monday as well...

[tiffany]

Woops, I meant Baba Ghanouj, but you know what I mean, I think. I am glad this isn't Scripps!

[Erin]

you go girl!
i don't know if i could do this for a week. maybe a few days at most. i am horrible shopper although i have cut down on my daily trips to the store and now go twice a week. the other issue is that i am really bad about frozen foods. we NEVER eat them and it must be an aversion on my part. if i don't see it, i forget i have it and i am not in the habit of checking the freezer. i hope to get better about that. i think that should be my goal for now.

[Kari]

We do this at least one week out of every month out of sheer desperation. It works and is very rewarding when everyone likes what has been made. :-) (Can you tell I live with picky family members?)

[mommycoddle]

great, francesca! And oh how I wish our vegetable garden was giving us a little extra this week. And yes, I hope we eat somewhere this week, too!!

[mommycoddle]

erin, send me your greens. ;)

[mommycoddle]

baby steps, erin. baby steps.

You know, I really miss my "fridge on top, freezer on the bottom" refrigerator, which we left in the wisconsin house when we moved. I think it makes it so much easier to keep track of what's in my fridge. And I could look down into the freezer and see what was there. I often find little fresh "gems" go bad because I forget they are jammed down in the drawer of my fridge. Is it wrong to pray for your fridge to die (and your washer/dryer, too?) Yes. probably. :)

[mommycoddle]

thanks, kari. i'm excited to see what I come up with this week.

[Lee-Ann]

I've done that, but not necessarily from choice. It works to clear out some of your food that's been sitting there for a while. But eventually, you have to replace that too! Good luck! You can do this, and you'll find it easier than you though. Sometimes, most times, we need less than we think. If nothing else, this will certainly shift your thinking. Best of luck!!