On pgs474-476 of TWG (complete version, book II) Amy talks about "The Pantry Principle". It's where you buy loss leaders and sales to stock your pantry. Then make meals based on what's in your pantry. Does anyone else grocery shop this way?

I realized while reading that this is the way I've been shopping for the past year. My grocery buget when it was just DH and I three years ago was $250/month. Now with a 2 year old it's $100/month. I used to make my menu based on what we wanted for the next week. Now I just buy the loss leaders we use and stockpile them. I go through the pantry every weekend and make a menu based on what I've stockpiled.

I just finished reading this myself. I usually do this too. The only time we plan a meal as to what we "want" is about once a month...we will splurge for steak & shrimp to grill, and its usually enough to last for the whole weekend.

I stockpile but I don't make a menu based on what's in the pantry. Maybe I need to start doing this and save money in the process.

I have been doing this for years. I do plan meals sometimes around that week's sales, not just what is in the pantry. I never just decide to make something like a pot roast, unless it is on sale that week, or there is one in the freezer that was purchased when it was on sale. Sometimes it is fun to read the weekly grocery ads to "find out" what we will be having for meals that week. If there are no good sales, we rely solely on the stockpile.

I stopped buying loss leaders (unless it's a REALLY good deal and we need the item) because I was spending money I didn't really have just to save money in the short term. It wasn't saving me money in the long run because I was going over budget when buying more than I needed.

I do still try to plan my meals around my pantry and sale items though! :)

Also watch dates when you stockpile.Anything thrown out is totally wasted money. cau:cool:

This is exactly what I do.

I think it is really great that you are able to feed your family on $100/month. How do you do it? You must havea reat stockpile!!:) I need a better stockpile. My goa; right now is $200 for 2 people.
Amy

that is how I do it too. I call it "shopping my pantry". Basically I try to look for something on a good sale when I break into the last case. I don't sweat it if I don't get the sale of the century, and if I run out of a pantry item before a good sale I will buy a small one of whatever it is, while I wait for a good sale. When I see the good sale I stock up and

I consider my freezer part of the pantry so I do the same with meat, produce etc.

Means I live at a cost of living from a few years back.

Originally posted by canadian gardener
that is how I do it too. I call it "shopping my pantry". Basically I try to look for something on a good sale when I break into the last case. I don't sweat it if I don't get the sale of the century, and if I run out of a pantry item before a good sale I will buy a small one of whatever it is, while I wait for a good sale. When I see the good sale I stock up and

I consider my freezer part of the pantry so I do the same with meat, produce etc.

Means I live at a cost of living from a few years back.

Me too!! I love my stockpile (although its pretty low right now). I've saved hundreds of dollars eating this way.

I don't really do much stockpiling right now, because I don't have a lot of room. When we move, we will have more. The problem is that we're kind of fickle, and will not always use what we stockpile, and I hate to waste food. I have started trying to do this more, and I always buy what's on sale, and if it's something I need that isn't on sale, I buy the cheapest brand (within nutritional or useful reason). I do pretty good on my budget this way, and with eating lots of leftovers, and finding ways to stretch what I have. Not as good as $100/month, though! Wish I could get it down to that. If I could just figure out how to get my 5 year old to eat something other than chicken, cheese sandwiches, and apples, I'd be doing better. I just started being able to get him to eat pasta, and it still takes a lot of convincing!

This is an area I really need to work on. I've got tons of excuses but really, I just need to do it! We spend way more than we should on groceries, even though to most people it's not much money it's one of the areas we actually could reduce.

We normally buy a whole side of beef or pork and have a friend who does meatcutting butcher it for us so I dont shop for meat in the grocery store that often. Also buy chicken from him the same way. But I do stockpile everything else when it is on sale. So I basically shop the sales for perishables and items on sale to add to the stockpile. Also my DH is a manager at a Save A Lot store so I do alot of shopping there also. It really is cheaper than the chain stores. The downside of this is that I tend to waste too much by cooking too much at one time and having too many leftovers. My goal is to use up all the food that gets cooked, cook smaller amounts at one time and rotate the pantry!

We definitely stockpile, mainly because I DON'T menu-plan, and I like to have enerything I might need for any meal I might want to make. (Not always possible, since produce doesn't last very long, but I can usually have most ingredients I need ready to go.)


My most recent stockpiling effort was salsa. They had 32 oz bonus-size jars for the price of 24 oz jars ($3) then they marked them down to $1 because the store will not be carrying that variety anymore. So I bought all 4 they had left, since I've yet to find a good salsa recipe. Did I need 4 large jars of sals right now? Nope. But DH loves the stuff and it is ood with chipc and as a topping, and also even as an ingredient in some soups.

I am also going to pick up some extra ice cream this week- it is on sale and I have some coupons. We still have some left, but I know DH/DD will go through it quickly and since I have an extra freezer, I am going to put it to use.

This is what we do too. It helps that I'm not much for planning a whole week at a time, so just buying loss leaders, stocking and using as we want keeps it rotating and I always know that there is a few weeks worth of meals in the house. I also will plan around loss leaders-case in point, eggs were 3 doz for $1 (medium) last week, expiration date is August 18, I bought 6 dozen and will be doing lots of omlettes, french toast and homemade pancakes etc to use them. At that price they will not be going bad!;)

I have been doing this for years. I do plan meals sometimes around that week's sales, not just what is in the pantry. I never just decide to make something like a pot roast, unless it is on sale that week, or there is one in the freezer that was purchased when it was on sale. Sometimes it is fun to read the weekly grocery ads to "find out" what we will be having for meals that week. If there are no good sales, we rely solely on the stockpile.

Me too Deb!

This is how I plan as well. I have my "regular supply" of items that always house extras and my "stockpile" which is my six month supply, which is what I dwindled down over the Winter, Spring and Summer on purpose. I will have to rebuild the stockpile when we either decide to stay in this apartment for the Winter or move into a house/trailor/another apartment,etc.

Until then I usually keep three of everything in my kitchen cabinets for food. Ie. three boxes of pasta, three cans of black beans, etc. Also enough essentials (flour, rice,baking powder, butter, shortening, sugar to last one month usually.) I keep replacing as I go, so if a storm hits or something unexpected arises we will have a bit of food in the cupboards to tide us over for about three weeks.

I am a four type of person I buy 4 of a good buy, unless it's a non peishable I may buy more depending how good the price is. I will not stock up on too much meat for the freezer for I have thrown away grey looking pork roasts and freezer burnt chicken. It just makes me sick when I do. I have learned to "eat out" the freezer twice a year usually before Christmas and a month before our big vacation. This cleans the freezer out and gives me extra cash in those months. The people here have taken stockpiling to a new dimention and I know my mil could live for 6 months in the case of an atomic war. But all in all it does save a ton of money in the long run. I just would rather out live my stockpile then to have it out live me. My mother didn't what we threw away when died was sickening old food that she never ate. Canned goods that were years old buggy cake and browine mixes that was bought with coupons. Yuck! You couldn't pay me to eat some of her stuff. So just make sure you do rotate and never buy anything your never going to eat.

Something useful Strawberry taught me, you let your pantry sort of run down a bit by late summer, into fall.

Then stock up big on the flour and sugar and heavy or bulky items BEFORE the snow flies.

Once the snow comes it's not fun to try and drive a grocery cart across the ice or slip slide over to the car hanging onto a 25 lb sack of flour or a bulky case of toilet paper.

Good point! Rotation of items is the key to avoiding the waste. I am stockpiling non perishables when on sale but need to empty out some of the mixes and boxed items in the pantry before I buy anymore! It might be a good idea to get in the habit of organizing the stockpile and putting new purchases in the back so you use the oldest first.

I've always shopped this way to a limited extent - stocking up on things when they're on sale. But I've put more effort into it recently. I think I've managed to stockpile enough to last from sale to sale.

I'm not comfortable going as far as making meals around the pantry, though. I prefer to think of the fresh foods (whatever's available, in season, and/or on sale that week) as being more important.

I'm one of those "health nuts", though. :)

i pretty much shop and meal plan this way, but i have picky eaters (mainly dh) and we only eat about 10 different meals anywayso i just keep on hand those items i need to make those meals. when i can get a good sale, i'll buy a bit extra, otherwise i buy store brand when possible.

:weeping: we don't get loss leader sales where we live. We get some sales which make the prices much like regular on the mainland and then we get the gouging.:weeping: I miss loss leader sales!

babs

Hi...What a thrifty group! I buy whatever is on sale that we eat, and do stockpile it some. I am not good at planning menus, and usually just look at what I have and then decide. When my daughter was still home....we had several nights that were standard. Wednesday night - spaghetti, Thursday night - breakfast night, Friday night - grilled sandwiches and soup, and Sunday dinner was always - chicken, roast or meatloaf. But now that is just 2 of us....I am not as good at making a menu and sticking to it. I think it is cheaper when you have a menu.

we spend from $69 to $100 a month for two people. We definitely don't starve and that includes plastic wrap, dish liquid, laundry soap ect. Occassionally, we buy something during the month but usually we don't. That does not count buying pig bread at $10 a month of which we used just a little.

We produce our own eggs. I can my own baked beans. We buy one box of frozen hamburger patties a month and use the patties for all of our burger recipes.

We buy one box of bacon wrapped steaks every other month.

When bacon is on sale for $1 we buy as many as we can stick in the freezer, same with chicken, ham, turkeys.

Frozen veggies go on sale at really deep discounts a couple of times a year and we stock up on what we don't have available canned or fresh.

Instant mashed potatoes are cheaper than fresh and don't go bad so we stay stocked up on those. Frozen french fries make good hash browns or substitute when we run out of fresh, they even go good in soup and are halfway cut up. Those we can get some deals on.

BUT we very rarely buy loss leaders just to be buying them. If they aren't in our regular meal planning we usually don't purchase them.

This is how we keep our pantry stocked as well. We don't buy items just b/c they are on sale naturally, only the things that we use/eat. It really burns me up to have to pay full price for a can of pork n beans....:lol:

For the most part we just eat from what's in the pantry and what I've bought fresh or has come off the garden for the week. I don't plan menus either but know I could save myself some headaches if I would.

I have made an excel spread sheet that I am quite happy with. I used some easy menus of my own that I make most often 4 weeks worth with grocery list for each, then I added a page with menus from here on the village with recipe links embedded. Then I added The freezer, Fridge, and Pantry list from here with hints and tips. This little spreadsheet has Helped me plan my meals and grocery very much. If it is possible to upload a excel spread sheet and you would like it I am more than happy to share with you all:)

Lisa
AKA Honeydoya

Wow! I'm impressed! I just started living out of my pantry, so to speak. I have a one month supply of non-perishables in the house. Not much, but a start. I've tried grocery exiles before, to use up weird stuff in my pantry about to go out of date. But about mid-August I decided to go on a grocery exile and stay on it. What I'm doing, however, would more accurately be called the pantry principle.

I make a menu based on my pantry. I am very careful to include fresh produce in all my menus, preferably stuff on sale. I shop for perishables once a week. While at the store I check out sale and clearance items. I buy only what we'll eat.

If I find perishables on sale, I consider if I can process them in some way for later consumption. This time of year is great for that. I picked up a case of pears the other day and have 10 pts. of canned pears on my counter. I bought a case of tomatoes and froze them in 2 lb. weights. I also bought green peppers on sale and chopped and sliced them for the freezer. Sliced and froze/canned two boxes of peaches.

I still don't know how everyone gets by on so little though. My grocery bill is still $250-300cdn. for 3 adults. That's $213-255US.