I don’t remember who originally posted this, but a few months ago someone here suggested “shopping your pantry and freezer first” before making a grocery list. It's become my new favorite thing!
Basically, look at what you already have, build meals around that, and then only buy what fills in the gaps. So simple and seems like it would be intuitive. But it wasn't for me.
I’ve been doing this for about a month now, and my grocery spending has dropped more than I expected. And I’m just wasting less and buying fewer “extra” items because I already planned around what’s in the house.
It also forced me to finally use random freezer stuff and those pantry odds and ends that normally sit there forever. Turns out I had way more actual meals in my kitchen than I thought.
So whoever originally shared that tip, thank you. It genuinely made a difference. And if anyone else is trying to cut grocery costs, this one is simple and actually works.
This is How I Quietly Cut My Grocery Bill
byu/FriscoNellie inFrugal
Posted by FriscoNellie
5 Comments
There are a few people on Instagram doing these pantry challenges and I love watching them. I am really bad at not using what I have, and buying more (never wasting food, I freeze or use it before it goes bad though), and I don’t want to meal plan – I like deciding on the day what I eat. But the gamification of it with the challenge motivates me to not stop at the shop on my way home and to use what I actually have, which is surprisingly more than I always assume.
Yess – especially helpful if you have stock of dry goods like rice, beans, etc. Hopefully you have some frozen /canned vegetables on hand too to round out your meals.
You can eat for ~$1.50 / day with some simple recipes from the website Efficiency is Everything – doesn’t let me link here but super simple recipes with stuff you may already have on hand. Ex: egg drop soup – chicken broth, eggs, soy sauce, sesame oil. Voila
I did this in Feb! I tried my best to eat through my freezer and pantry. I did slip once or twice and ordered takeout on days I was too fried to cook. But it deff taught me to be a bit more creative and put thought into my meals, especially since I eat mostly healthy.
It was kinda fun and I think I only spent $10 on groceries the whole month.
Deff gonna try and do this once every few months
This is probably an unpopular opinion, but I know people say that meal planning saves money. I think if you shop what’s on sale as far as your proteins go then that’s what saves money. You have to plan from what you’ve loaded up that was a deal in your freezer. Just creating what people want during the week based on a list isn’t gonna give me the best prices.
I live in an area where we have to hurricane prep. That leads to a pretty stocked pantry that we hope never to need. So on years we are lucky, I try to incorporate a lot of those purchases into our meals and then restock for the next season.