This is a special post for my FPU Seacoast friends.
To my subscriber friends, yes, after a long hiatus, I will be back soon with some regular posts, and I will fill you in on all that’s happened and how God has shown up in a big way. It might interest you to know that the idea of starting a pantry came from my favorite how-to manual, Proverbs, particularly Proverbs 31:10-31, some years back. I hope you find this post helpful in planning and maintaining your own pantry.
*PLEASE NOTE: Any links associated with this article do not constitute an endorsement of that website or organization but serve as merely a starting point for you to further your investigation on the topic.
Pantries
Pantries vary in style and uses. These pantry thoughts are limited in scope to grocery items with a shelf life. The purpose of this article is to share money-saving tips on your grocery bill, particularly items you buy and use regularly in the preparation of dishes for your household. An additional benefit is the feeling of peace you will have in being able to feed your loved ones if you encounter an unplanned hardship in acquiring food for any reason.
You will want to use multiple savings techniques that best suit your lifestyle and shopping preferences when considering the items which you will stock. The first rule of stocking a pantry: Limit the items you stock. Only buy items you and your family will eat. This means 1) recognize the quantity of food you and your family can reasonably eat before expiration dates, and 2) only purchase food that you normally consume, and this includes making sure you like the brand. Throwing food out will negate any savings and defeat a wise use of resources.
GET ORGANIZED
The best way to limit items you stock is to become organized. If your food storage area is not organized to easily see what you have, start with cupboard cleaning. This can be as simple as grouping similar items together or as complex as adding bleacher-style organizer shelves and using see-through containers to hold bulk items like cereals and flours.
IDENTIFY CORE ITEMS
Identify the items you use week in and week out or go through your weekday recipes and create meal plans. Core items will include things like tomato sauce; stewed and diced tomatoes; tomato paste; dried or canned beans; artichokes; capers and other pickled items; pastas like spaghetti, orzo, and macaroni; general purpose, whole wheat or bread flour; tuna fish, minced clams, anchovies or anchovy paste; peanut butter and jelly; different types of rice; breadcrumbs; beef, chicken and vegetable stock; mayonnaise; olive oil; coconut oil; turbinado and brown sugar, maple syrup; parmesan cheese; tortilla chips and salsa; time-saving items like spaghetti sauce and bruschetta spread.
COOK FROM SCRATCH
Give it a try cooking one or two meals a week. You will not only save money cooking from scratch, you may also eat a more healthy diet. Scratch cooking will most likely reduce the calories you’re consuming, as well as the additives and preservatives you’re feeding the family. You can use quick meal recipes or a slow cooker to reduce the time needed for meal preparation. From scratch meals do not need to take more than a half hour to prepare if you have the right recipes. I even have a five-minute sauce recipe for pasta, and it’s the water coming to a boil and the cooking of the pasta that are the longer activities. I have a dump Mexican pulled pork recipe for my slow cooker that makes a delicious taco or burrito stuffing and ensures leftovers for at least one more quick meal that week.
If cooking from scratch, be sure to add spices to your kitchen offerings. Consider including these basics: onion, garlic, chili and cumin powders, pepper, dry mustard, hot sauce, red wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, balsamic vinegar, and soy sauce.
To read more on cooking from scratch, click here.
CONSIDER MEAT-FREE MEALS
I know this may be heresy to some, but if you want to look at the big picture of saving your household some money, meatless meals typically cost less. To add to your savings, there is a health benefit, which ultimately will help reduce your direct and indirect healthcare expenses. Don’t just replace meat with cheese. Build your meals around vegetables, beans, and whole grains.
MAKE A LIST
Once you’ve identified your core items, put them in a list. Save your list. This list can be used for ongoing inventory assessment and replacement of items. The task of keeping your pantry stocked can be made easier by putting your list into a spreadsheet and including a column for desired quantities and current quantities, as well as when the item actually comes on sale in the stores you shop. You can make grocery lists from your inventory list. Being disciplined about stocking and turning the stock in your pantry is a must to save money.
A list helps you avoid a grocer’s marketing strategies, such as end cap teasers, the layout of aisles, and shelf placement.
Lastly in regards to inventory, don’t forget about the shelf life of items and their expiration dates. To read more about the shelf life of items, click here.
If you would like some additional ideas about items to stock, there are some good starter lists online, but don’t forget to only put items on your list that you and your family will eat.
CREATE A BUYING PLAN
Now that you have your list, do not make the mistake of rushing out to fill up your pantry with groceries. Instead, look at your list and determine the best months to most likely purchase certain stock.
The Sales Cycle
Grocery items have a sales cycle. To save the most money on food, you will want to buy non-perishables when they are at their lowest price. The general rule is that most items in a grocery store have a three-month sales cycle. Some sales cycles are shorter, like pastas and cereal. Some sales cycles are longer, table sauces like catsup, for instance. So when something is on sale that you use regularly and it’s in your budget and it’s a brand you like and it’s truly a good price and the expiration date is distant enough, plan on buying enough to get you to the next sales cycle. Again, for most items, that will be a three-month supply.
Coupons
If you are a couponer, rock on! This is not my thing. I am not organized in the small things enough to make this work. It stands to reason, though, to significantly improve your cost savings with the use of coupons, you would want to use your coupons when that item is on sale. The development of smartphone apps may eventually make couponing easy enough for people like me.
Click here for more information on coupon apps.
Store Brands
Store brands can be a big money saver, but you will want to try a store brand in small quantities before committing to switch from your name brand item. I like all of Publix’s diary items and a few of their cereals.
Warehouse Stores
Bulk buys can seem enticing, but you really need to know the unit price of items to understand whether you are saving money with your purchases. I use a warehouse store for bulk items like nuts, cereals, chips for a party, wine, paper products like toilet paper and paper towels, and plastic storage bags and freezer bags. I find that you have to really watch expiration dates of many items because they are simply too voluminous to be consumed before going bad. If you are considering buying from a warehouse store for your pantry, maybe enlist a friend with which to buy and split bulk items.
BE DISCIPLINED
If you are going to build your pantry over time, you will need to budget for pantry items on each of your shopping trips. To save money at the grocery store, you need to be very intentional in your buying, so make out your grocery list at home and include pantry items on that shopping list. You can use an inventory-based meal plan to create your weekly grocery shopping list if that fits your style. Remember to look at sizes. If you’re buying for a family, buy the family size if that’s the best priced option; but if you’re buying for yourself or two of you, buy the smaller size that won’t spoil. In all circumstances, only buy the size you can eat before its expiration date.
Grocers’ Sales Tactics
Avoid being pulled off your shopping list by marketing ploys.
Promotions at the front of the store and end caps are there to entice you. If it’s an item you planned on purchasing, wait until you go down the item’s regular aisle placement so you can price compare with other brands and sizes.
The most marketed items are typically on the middle shelves at eye level, and it’s not uncommon for a grocery store to actually sell middle shelf space to manufacturers to display their items. Be sure to look above and below those middle shelves to discover if there is a better priced item that’s acceptable to you.
For more information on grocery store psychology, click here.
Ask yourself, “Is the BOGO deal really a good cost savings?” If you don’t need two of something, will the store give you half off one item? The labeling on store shelves can sometimes help you determine the best value as far as a particular size by giving you a unit price, but make sure the label has been updated for the sale.
Compare prices for different sizes of the same product. Sometimes the prices will surprise you. An item in a smaller volume may be cheaper to buy in multiple packages versus a single larger volume package. Again, the shelf labels for items can assist you in this price comparison.
TURN YOUR PANTRY STOCK
Once your pantry is stocked, you will need to keep turning it. A monthly inventory can help if you are not keeping up with it another way. There are various pantry challenges that can help you turn foodstuffs before they expire if you happened to over-purchase a particular item.
I’m a visual person. So I keep things rotating by looking at what items are available in my pantry. I pick one or two and then add another item or two from the refrigerator. Then I go to my smart device and enter a search string into Google. It would look something like this: beans spaghetti canned tuna recipe. From there, I would look at the search results, recipe ratings, and comments. If I liked what I saw, I would make the recipe. Allrecipes, Epicurious, and Foodnetwork have good recipe databases and are frequently found in the top search results.
For more thoughts on meal planning and pantries, click here.
Occasionally I find that I have too many items of this or that. It’s usually a result of purchasing food without my list in hand. There is joy in giving, and here are a few ways I choose to “give” my extra items away. Make a meal or treat out of your surplus to encourage someone who is struggling or help out someone who is sick, invite friends over to enjoy a simple weekday meal, volunteer to make a slow cooker meal or dessert for your small group, or donate your surplus items to a local food pantry.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The best way I’ve found to save money on groceries is to go to the grocery store as little as possible. I supplement my pantry with fresh produce and dairy from farmers’ markets, farm stands, and CSA. When I do a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) share, I usually find a friend with whom I can split the deliveries. During the various harvest seasons, I buy fruit to put in my freezer (using the discounted freezer bags from a warehouse store). So all winter and early spring, we enjoy fruit in and on dishes at a fraction of the cost it would be to buy at the grocery store during off-season months. I will admit to a quick weekly or biweekly run through the left outer aisle of my favorite grocer to buy fresh items I didn’t secure through a local farm source.
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
PLUNGE 