Full Pantry & Fridge = Full Heart

There is something undeniably comforting about having a full fridge and pantry.  It might have something to do with the fact that I grew up with 2 fridges and a chest freezer, even though we were a family of 5, and there was very little cooking going on in the home.  I like knowing that we have food around whether or not we have any intention of eating it.  But, it's there if we need it, and in the case that we have unexpected guests, suffer a major earthquake/tsunami/storm/power outage here in Southern California, or are held hostage in our home, we will be darn prepared for it!  Yes, I will be the safe haven of food in our neighborhood in the event that something ridonkulously major happens here.  Psychotic, much?  Am I the only one?

credit:  daddyo.com

Well, now that we are deducting another $250 a month from our budget to send our youngest to preschool I've had to re-evaluate my spending.  The line item that is second only to our mortgage is not our car payments or insurance.... but our food budget.  Is that normal?  This is combined groceries plus eating out expenses.  Let me be clear on this topic.  We like food.  We like good food.  We also like a lot of variety in our food.  And most importantly, we like to eat A LOT of food.  We also eat a ton of protein, and tofu and ground anything don't count. This is clearly not our fridge, as we don't eat nearly as many veggies, ha!

It is  my first month of biting my fingers and practicing the habit of purchasing only what we plan to eat during the week rather than what we might possibly eat because it's on sale. Rice, carrots, potatoes, and onions don't count by the way, since we by those in 5 lb. packages at a time.  This has been challenging on many different levels.  Mostly, my urge to purchase snacks, beverages, and even meats for which I am not sure where they will be used or ever eaten has to be squashed every time I'm at the store.  But I also hate planning. Yes, my fridge is only half full and I am nervous each day.  Yet, we are eating well, and with some variety. Even though not everything I'm buying is on sale, as I would have done before, we are saving a lot of money.  It has forced me to be creative with meals, and I am trying to limit unplanned visits to the grocery store for only one or 2 things if needed.  My husband remarked at the now (half) clean (ed out) fridge, and my pantry has lost half a shelf space in the past month.  He has commented on the fact that we have spent significantly less this month than previous months.  Now before I go shouting my own praises on the rooftops, I have to say there was a lot to work with when I started this month from whatever was stockpiled.  But, I hope that next month will still reflect the downward pattern in grocery spending.

similar to how i do it, by meals not set days

If you are already doing this, I applaud you!  For those of us that like an always full fridge or have a hard time planning out meals, it requires us to make some big changes in our behavior and the way we think about groceries.  If you haven't done it, I encourage you to do it with me so we can support each other along the way!


One of the biggest challenges about change in this area was getting my husband on board .After seeing that we've saved so much money, husband is now willing to eat at home more instead of insisting on sushi or barbecue on nights that he would normally want it.  He is sacrificing some of his wants because he sees the gains.  I don't think it could have worked until he saw the results of my extra effort this month.  It took me doing it instead of just talking about it to get him to make some changes in his behavior too.