$500 to spend and want to stock the Pantry

**zakity** · 01-13-2012, 02:38 AM

Tortillas only take a while because I have to make 5 zillion of them to feed the guys. The recipe I have makes a huge amount and I double it. The doubled recipe calls for 15 cups of flour to give you an idea of how big of a batch that I have to make to feed my three bottomless pits that I call children.

Noodles only took a few minutes also. The "long" part of it was letting them sit so they could dry out. I rolled them out thin and then cut them to the size I wanted with a pizza cutter and then let them sit.

And, I have no patience. It wasn't a virture I got. I am also not talented. I am just frugal and it is so much cheaper to make them than to buy them. I am sort of lazy too. It is easier to make some of this stuff than to run to the store and purchase it. Going to the store requires effort and gumption.

**MakeADollarHollar** · 01-13-2012, 09:05 PM

I'm going to step outside the box and offer my suggestion. If you don't already have a deep freeze, find one. Even small ones are cheap brand new but you can find used ones through the newspaper, Craig's List, Ebay, etc. I have a small freezer that I bought new 10 years ago for $110.00 and it holds tons of food.

My vote is to stock up on meats. Buy them cheap and lay them deep as I say. There is nothing more comforting than knowing you have "X" amount of weeks, months or years of quality proteins set back. Meats are the biggest budget busters and if you can get ahead in that area you can always fill in pantry items by shopping seasonally or through sales and coupons if you use them.

My second vote would be to invest in a Pressure Canner and some jars but I realize not everyone has an inclination to do this. It's a shame because canning meat is even easier than canning jelly and it makes for super quick meals during the week. Also, owning a Pressure Canner also allows you to put up most any vegetable, either from your garden, farmer's market or from some super sale you come across.

**hmcart** · 01-13-2012, 11:34 PM

I bought my deep freezer from craigslist a couple of years ago. We were looking for a washing machine and the guy had both. We got them for $80 each! I would stock up on meat as well.

**greekislandgirl** · 01-14-2012, 04:45 AM

I stockpile the same way as you, Jolene, in that I start with a pile of cash that is dedicated to stockpile and is separate from my regular grocery budget. I have a few tips of my own:

- before you start making your own pasta (which I do sometimes and it does taste WAY better) double check that you can't get it cheaper at the store. I can get all purpose flour for €0.59/kg, and 500g pasta for €0.39/kg, so it sounds like a no-brainer to get the flour and make my own BUT eggs cost €1.29 for 10, so €0.13 each, and pasta takes an egg for every 100g of flour. To make 500g of pasta, I need 500g flour (€0.59/2) plus 5 eggs (€0.129 * 5) and the total comes to €0.94!!

Yes the result is FRESH PASTA which is far more tasty, but it does take time and effort, and I can only make a few shapes (my pasta maker does sheets (lasagne, canoli, ravioli), linguini, and spaghetti. Most of the pasta dishes I make actually go better with penne, shells, or rigatoni, all of which I stock up on when it goes on sale for €0.39/500g.

I'm not promising your situation will work out the same - it's just an example to illustrate that it's important to consider the cost of all ingredients used, not just the obvious one, when working out which is cheaper - scratch or prepared.

I stockpile pasta because we eat it many times/week. It's one of the most flexible things in my pantry and we LOVE it, plus it has a long shelf life and is cheap, and isn't even bad for you. And many, many pasta dishes are made with the cheapest of ingredients in addition to the pasta - sometimes I just do a simple garlic and olive oil. These are all great reasons to put pasta in my stockpile!

I stockpile the small annoying baking supplies that you might not think of like extracts, food coloring, sprinkles, choc. chips, TONS of spices, and so on. Those mainly for convenience - I can make anything at any time - and because while they very rarely go on sale, their price goes up over time (inflation)!! If you live in a part of the world where there is inflation, sometimes just buying things a year early can save you a fair amount. Here where we have high inflation (Greece), I save a lot just by buying things at regular price and using them 8-12 months later, rather than buying them as I need them!