Eat From the Pantry Challenge

I've been in the mood for decluttering and revamping for quite some time. We just have too much STUFF. Or maybe it's the wrong stuff. I don't know. But I've been feeling the need for change. I just feel CLUTTERED all the time. And one of our worst "CLUTTERED" areas is food storage.

I know I've blogged about (or maybe I haven't?? Who knows!?!?) the importance of having emergency food storage. And that not only includes food, but other household items as well--water, toothpaste, etc. And not only for emergency purposes, but for the simple economy of it--when you have food stored, you can buy only things that are on sale, stock them and shop from your own "stores" of food when you need to make a meal.

We've done fairly well. I'm sure we could live for quite some time off of what we have. But I know some of that food needs to be cleared out to make way for fresher food. So I've decided to join Money Saving Mom and FishMama's Eat From the Pantry Challenge for the month of January. You can read more about it here and here.

Here are the rules I've set for our family:

1. Shop weekly to take advantage of fresh produce and milk and any "free" items. (Basically I'll be purchasing milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables, and household items as needed (our grocery budget includes household items) such as toilet paper, cat food and cat litter).
2. Budget is $20/week or $100 for the month, which is a SIGNIFICANT decrease in grocery spending.
3. Savings for the month gets split directly between emergency savings and dream home fund savings.
4. By end of challenge have a list of remaining food on hand so I know exactly what we have and can plan to use it effectively in the future.
5. Forgot to add this--absolutely no eating out fast food!