2/5 Update – I shopped last night and was a bit disappointed. I wanted to spend $100 or less and ended up spending $115. But I did not add to my pantry stash. I only purchased items that I needed to complete our weekly menu, dairy, produce, and of course some potato chips!
Peggy has inspired me to use my pantry as a tool for meeting my grocery budget goal for this month. Normally I could feed my family and probably my neighbors on what is stocked in my pantry, but since I just moved, my pantry is not too full. At first glance I have several cans of soup, refried beans, three cans of tuna, five jars of spaghetti sauce, several boxes of pasta, two boxes of mac and cheese, two boxes of taco shells, four jars of peanut butter, one box of graham crackers, and lots of oats, rice, millet, and grain. It will be hard to pass up deals at the store this month, but I do want to clear out my pantry and start stockpiling in a more organized way. I will try and focus my shopping on produce, dairy and meat for the month of February and plan my meals around the food already in my house. I just hope we don’t get sick of eating spaghetti and oatmeal!