Will You Take the Pantry Challenge?

It's that time again, friends! Time to dig out from under the crush of Christmas bills, the overspending on ALL.THE.THINGS. and get back to real life. A Pantry Challenge is a great way to trim your expenses for January (or any time, really) and to dig to the bottom of the pantry, fridge and freezer and use up those great gems that are hiding in there. That money is already spent, so there's no way to get your money out of those expenditures except to use up that food, so the challenge is on. I've rolled up my sleeves, taken stock (ok, sorta peeked into the freezer) and am ready to take on the task of feeding my family out of the pantry/fridge/freezer for the whole month of January 2018 and only shopping for dairy and fresh produce. With Dan home, we're a family of four most nights of the week. Here is the response I posted on the www.goodcheapeats.com website in response to Jessica's call-to-arms for Pantry Challenge 2018.

 

...The Man Crew House is IN! Between Christmas overspending, too many convenience foods, and one too many stops at the drive through in the past 6 weeks, the food money envelope is empty and the fridge/pantry/freezer are overflowing and yet everyone is complaining that there’s “nothing to eat”. Translation: nothing is ready to fall into their wide open mouths every time they open a cupboard or fridge door. So, this mama is ready to fight back!
Our goals:
1. Get the cold storage to the bare minimum so I can defrost it and clean it well.
2. Use up whatever is hiding in the back of the pantry shelves. I’ve had helpers recently with putting away food (YAY!) but they just shove, not organize it by type. (Oops)
3. Reduce our food budget for the month by at least half. Specific Goal: spend under $250 by only purchasing dairy and a little produce.
4. Eat at home. We’ve developed quite a bad habit of eating out more often than our budget can truly handle and that ends today. I’m aiming for one family meal out this month. Everyone else eats at home or packs a lunch.
5. Remember that I bake fantastic bread and it’s better for us and way cheaper than store bought bread.
I think that’s enough goals for one month. I'll update throughout the month with our progress.

So, are you in?