Thrifty Thursday- I Got a Challenge

     

     Sunday I spent part of the day getting out to shop and look around with my daughter. I didn't really do a stock up shop, but got a few fillers at Walmart, a few case purchases at Sam's Club that will last a while, and a "for fun" Trader Joe shop. Technically, all that was January. Not really what people would consider a true pantry restock, but not insignificant. With these, January spending was at  $424.28, and that includes dog food, and a few household and personal items. My budget target last year was to average $400 food, and $75 in  HH/H&B, I was aiming to shave 10-15% off both for 2022 (decided before  food prices started soaring), so a total range of $405-$427, so I did land on budget, but more than I had planned to spend. But I've given myself a challenge- how long can we go with no grocery shopping, without relying on eating out or take out? I'm aiming for two weeks, through 2/14 but would love to stretch farther. I might cut myself slack on milk, because there's shelf life issues and DH likes his hot chocolate, but nothing else. My daughters oral surgery has been moved up and I'll make exceptions if need be to make her food she can eat while on a totally soft diet for a few weeks. She plans ahead though, but mom's still like to make sure their kids are eating healthy even when they are adults, particuallry while healing. I'm excited to see how creative I can be as things get used up.

     I started by doing an inventory of protein sources on Tuesday night. From there, I determined with leftover nights, there was ample meal bases. I have, but don't use a second refrigerator freezer in the garage with it just being the two of us now, so this is all in the kitchen. Protein options are

• 1.7 pounds chicken breast 
• 1 pound hamburger 
• 1 pound ground sausage
• 1 pound bacon
• Two 1/3 pound hamburger patties
• Ham bones with lots of meat 
• Package of ham slices
• Dozen eggs 
• 4 pounds assorted cheeses 
• Two cans tuna 
• Dry chick peas

      Besides leftovers for lunches, I've got frozen items like soup and burritos I made from fixings the other night. There's convenience items like frozen pizza, canned soup, and Indian side dishes. We have frozen, fresh, and canned fruits and veg and more than ample pantry basics like pasta, flour, oatmeal, and rice. There's easily 15 meals with the food above, not even counting leftovers. I know people might scoff at a total use it up plan; that I'm not preparing for shortages, or items being out of stock. No doubt DH will still do a store wander, and if he thinks we should do a major shop due to empty shelves, I'll change course. I just want to tighten up spending this month, make sure I avoid waste, and when I do shop, it'll be items we really do need. 

     

     So beyond challenge declared, there's been some frugal activity as well. No gold mines found, but pennies saved that will turn to dollars.

• Received $2 in the mail for an opinion poll
• Used the Ibotta app for the Red Baron pizza deal plus a couple others. It'll be a while before I reach $20 if I'm not shopping though.
• Returned a too small gift sweater and got a cash refund to apply to a future need item.
• Found a few funny birthday cards at Dollar Tree, still 2 for $1.00
• Happy Hour had 1/2 price taps, and one appetizer shared was 1/2 price
• Daughter and I had coffee at home rather than stopping for one out
• Chobani Greek yogurt had a $2 off promo at Sam's Club, making it cheaper than Aldi Greek yogurt per container
• I clicked the donate button on my TMobile Tuesday app and had $1 donated to the Thurgood Marshall scholarship program

     The meal plan will shift with my challenge. I'm going to try and stretch ingredients from earlier in the week into different meals.  I'll need to look up the plan anyway, but likely I'll change to accommodate lingering items. What about you? How did January's budget fair? Are you done with a low spend month, or looking to continue stretching the time between shops?