January 21, 2022 • 47 mins
One key way we can save money on food and see a reduction in our grocery bill (at least for a time!) is through a pantry challenge. Join us as we talk more about using up the food and ingredients we already have on hand to cut food costs and change the way we grocery shop long term.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Episode one, how to do a pantry Challenge. Welcome to
the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
embrace simplicity, and live with your life. Here your host
Jen and Jill O. Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast.
(00:27):
My name is Jill, Jill. Oh, my name is Jen.
My name is Jill. Whoops. Okay, well it's not a
Freudian slip. But we are the same person. We are. Yeah,
we are starting to become the same person. Uh and
after almost two hundred episodes, how could you not? So?
(00:51):
Here we find ourselves. Here, we find ourselves. But we
do have different ways that we cook and the different
ways we do meal planning, and so I'm excited for
those to kind of come into this episode about pantry
challenges or shelf cooking, or it's called several different things,
but it is a challenge that you can do for
(01:14):
yourself to save money on groceries, which is always the
number one thing people ask us about, and to minimize
the clutter in your kitchen, which is just a happy,
nice benefit of it. So that is I'm segue out
of that embarrassing Food is the number one area that
(01:35):
we can often struggle with. And it represents both something
that's necessary but where some of our discretionary income comes
into play as well. So it's one of the biggest
categories that we can also shift and save money, but
yet we still have to spend some money on it.
So this is one of those really useful, tangible tools
(01:59):
resources for helping us really hunker down or cut spending
in this particular area, at least for a time. So
if we find ourselves Okay, I really need to cut
the grocery budget, this is useful, or Okay, I really
need to jump start my meal planning, this is a
great place to start. Really, there's no bad time to
(02:20):
talk about doing a pantry challenge, but I'm so glad
we're doing it shortly into the new year, because I
think this is we We've got our sights on where
how can I cut how can I really implement major
shifts and changes in my spending that are gonna help
me for the rest of the year. So we hope
that this does that for you. Yeah, but first, let's
(02:41):
thank our sponsors for this episode. This episode is brought
to you by Fresh Starts, not any of those other
fresh companies. Fresh Starts it's that time of year where
we start some fresh sinking funds, some new savings goals.
And if you have new savings schools, we highly reckon
men starting a new high yould savings account to keep
(03:03):
your savings out of sight, out of mind. Short term
savings are definitely not savings. You want to invest so
high you'ld savings kind of that happy medium between making
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So right now, we love Access Bank because they have
no minimum, balanced fees or requirements. Uh and if you
(03:24):
sign up for an account at Frugal Friends podcast dot
com slash access a x o s, then you actually
support the show at no extra cost to you. Beautiful
also brought to us by illuminating the dark places, whether
you're flipping on the light and the creepiest part of
your basement, digging into the recesses and less beautiful parts
(03:46):
of your budget, or sorting through all the canned goods
and nonperishables in the secret spaces of your pantry you
never knew existed. We're here with you every step of
the way, illuminating the dark places. With fear and trembling,
we step into the unknown. This is you're I don't
know if I want you to do sponsors anything? You
(04:07):
real creepy? Can you tell? Do you do you see dirt,
a dirt path on the floor, Do you see dirt
going somewhere? Follow it? Because because somebody is covered in
dirt and you want to see who, it's probably one
of your kids. You're getting it's getting deep these days,
(04:28):
and it's reflective of probably something I'm going through. But
we're not going to look at that too much because
I figured that it's too much of a dark place. Yeah,
if you want to hear Jill at a happier time
in her life or maybe just a lighter time, I
don't know. Here are a few other episodes you can
queue up to play next. The first is episode one two,
(04:50):
where we talk about eating healthier and more affordably with
Cassie Joy Garcia of Fed and Fit. She's got this
great book that is well, I mean she's been doing
this like cook once, eat twice thing for a while,
but she's her her newest book. We talked about. It
has a lot of different like kind of meal plan
ish things that help you reduce leftovers um or use
(05:12):
them more creatively. So that's episode one two. We've also
got episode one forty nine on Frugal meal Planning with
Ashton Cope. She gives a lot of great ideas for
finding recipes for your meal plan, like search recommendations and stuff.
So those two are really good to queue up after
this because you're going to want some recipe ideas after
(05:37):
we talk about pantry challenges or shelf cooking beautiful. Yeah,
so let's get into our first article that we found
what the Internet has to say about pantry challenges, and
this one is from Cheapskate cook Um and it's how
a ten day pantry challenge will save you money. And
(05:59):
I liked this because when I think of a challenge,
I usually think of a thirty day challenge, either thirty
days or a week, like that's kind of where I sit.
So the fact that she's like very much about ten
days and she talks about it like why in this article,
and she doesn't like every three months or so, so
doing shorter challenges more often was highlight of this article
(06:24):
for me. What did you think of it, Jill, It's
a great perspective on not she does go through how
to We're not going to focus as much on that
in this article, but the next one. But I think
certainly why and specifically why at ten day challenge? And
I like some of the things that she highlights in here.
I just want to point out that she says, this
(06:45):
is not the time to like win some health foodie
award or be a gourmet chef. And I think that
that can be a barrier for me sometimes, like I mean,
I can clear out my pantry, but they're not going
to be the most healthy meals. And so she's saying,
like that's okay, this isn't We're not always and forever
(07:06):
doing a pantry challenge, but it can have benefits not
only for clearing out what's in our pantry, but also
saving us money. And so for those reasons, I like
this idea. And I like that she's advocating for something
slightly shorter so that you know, it's not too long,
it's not too short, it's just right. Yeah. So I
(07:28):
I like her first her three reasons, like why do
a pantry challenge? You can have several goals or reasons
for doing your pantry challenge. The first, you ran out
of grocery money and have to make do with what
you have, And I would say that's most people's reason.
Our number one we're running running out of grocery money
for the month. Number two is you're trying to save
(07:51):
money for another purchase or expense. Or three, your pantry
and fees are just out of control and it's time
to clean out and start fresh. And I love all
three of those reasons, and I think they can be
all three at the same There's a fourth reason for
me on here, and that may or may not be
laziness or lack of time to just go to the
(08:15):
grocery store. Sometimes it's not even I'm out of grocery money.
Sometimes it's I don't have time or energy or you
name it to just get myself to the store. So
I'm going to make do with what I have, I think,
and that I mean. But that's great because most people
when they would have that, like that situation, the mentality
(08:36):
would be to just get take out. But if you're
in this this kind of mode of thinking where you're
used to getting creative, especially trying to solve your problems
creatively without using money, then you get into a mindset
where your first notion isn't okay, door dash, but it's like, okay,
what can I get creative within my pantry that doesn't
(08:58):
take a lot of time, and so I think that's
a great All the things that we do are just
to create habits that train our brain to think differently.
And like maybe maybe sometimes it is door dash or
getting take out, but that doesn't have to be your
first go to. Your first can be like, Okay, let
me really think, not just look into my pantry and
(09:20):
see everything and say nope, ordering takeout, but actually trying
to get creative with Okay, I have this, this, and this,
I've made this before. I'm lazy enough that this will work. Yes,
and maybe even a fifth reason for me, I'm just
I'm adding to this list. Honestly, I think it. Sometimes
(09:40):
I will also just turn to my freezer and pantry
because I like the challenge of it. And it's talking
about a challenge, it's gamifying it, but I like the
creativity that it requires. Like sometimes it's sure I could
go to the store, I could buy things, but let
me see what I might be able to make out
(10:01):
of my pantry and freezer. And so sometimes these challenges
have led me to doing this not on a maybe
ten day thirty day basis, but it has led me
to be able to implement what I've learned from those
challenges on any given Tuesday, to do and have fun
with it and be creative. So there's definitely something fun here,
(10:22):
not just obligatory or here. Yeah, that kind of like
leads me into the reason she does a ten day
because the longer challenges can get, they can leave a
bad taste in your mouth by the end of it.
I know if I'm so adamant about finding fun things
to do on no spend challenges, and I also don't
(10:43):
advocate for not spending money on food during a no
spend challenge, But because if you do a thirty day
no spend challenging, you don't have any fun or make
any money or do like anything that where you have
this like really genuine sense of pride or enjoyment, it's
gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth. You're never
going to do another one, and that kind of and
(11:06):
that's what you're going to be focused on. You're not
going to be focused on finding the things you truly
missed or that you can truly live without, which is
the actual point of it. And so in order to
focus on those things in your kitchen like what you
truly love having in your pantry, what you can truly
stop buying and live without. You have to be able
(11:28):
to focus on that during the pantry challenge, and I
think having a shorter challenge in this case in particular,
it does help with that because you don't get the
agony of by day, you know, fifteen or twenty of
of just eating more rice and then you never do
it again. M hmm, Yeah, that's the she's saying. It's
(11:51):
it's long enough to get you acquainted with what is
in the deep recesses of your cupboards and freezers, but
they don't last so long that you or those in
your households start rebelling against the thing. That's another thing.
Your family, they often dictate what you do and do
not do, and so you have to keep them on board. Yes,
(12:12):
And then I like how she also highlights that with
the clear rules and a set end date, it can
help us to stay focused and not burn out with it.
And that's a real reality. And sometimes we can feel
a decrease in motivation or desire for these things if
we feel like we can't actually engage with it, like
if we make it too long. We can set ourselves
(12:34):
up for failure, and that's never the goal. We want
to see small winds and successes to be able to
keep us on this pathway. So, especially if you've never
done this before, we would also agree with this article
and advocate for attend day. It is that short enough
time frame where we believe that you would stick to
(12:55):
it for that that shorter amount of time, and then
that can build upon itself. You still learn some of
the tenants of this. There's still things that you can
carry with you out of doing a ten day challenge
and you're less likely to burn out with it. Hopefully,
it just still remains kind of fun and challenging and
you're able to do it and still see like money
(13:16):
saving benefits to absolutely yeah. And so another thing you
can do is so like we're in our Financial Freedom Mentorship,
we're doing and eat at Home challenge in February because
the shortest month. So that's why we're doing That's why
it's not all good looks with us. We were not done.
So instead of maybe doing ten days only pantry cooking
(13:38):
or shelf cooking, if you are choosing to do like
a longer eat at home challenge for like four weeks.
You can kind of incorporate the pantry challenge into the
entirety of the eating at home challenge, so that kind
of makes it a little easier. So instead of doing
thirty days of just shopping your pantry or ten days
of just shopping your pantry, you are making a land
(14:00):
a four week plan to shop your entire pantry. But
you're also adding things in each week and then still
having that challenge aspect of only eating at home. So
there's definitely different ways you can do it. Oh, so
much creativity can be involved here. But I love I
love that starting point of attendee challenge and then going
(14:22):
from there and figuring out what else can I do?
How can I incorporate some of this idea of utilizing
what I already have on hand? I think that is
where we can spend the most, lose the most, and then, uh,
the flip side of that is save the most when
we are able to realize, Okay, how can I utilize
what I have on hand, not purchase duplicates, not just
(14:46):
go the path of convenience, which is also more expensive,
So we can just keep building and building and building
upon this. Yeah, but let's talk about how to do it? Okay, definitely, Jill,
how how do you do it? Article is from our
Invented mom saying that right, it's a pantry challenge guide,
(15:11):
and so it's definitely a long A reinvented mom, Jill,
a reinvent like, where did you know? I'm like reading
it a reinvented mom. I'm reading it out in the
U r L. Wow. Happy it's not getting much better?
(15:32):
Sad to say, it's all right. A Reinvented Mom on
pantry Challenges one oh one The Ultimate Guide to shelf cooking.
Thank you, Jim. Continue. It is quite lengthy, gives a
whole long list and tips, so definitely check it out.
(15:54):
We're going to go through the highlights of what it
is how to do it? And so this article advocates
that we can use a pantry challenge to save money
and reduce waste by preparing things and food and meals
from the food that we already have in our pantry,
freezer or fridge. So we talk about pantry challenge, we're
(16:15):
not specifically only talking about canned goods. We're not only
talking about what's on your shelf, any of this pantry, freezer, fridge.
Going through it using it up. And so, like the
first article said, the point of it is not eating
the most healthy we've ever eaten or making the most
gourmet foods we've ever made. Like recognized what the goal
(16:39):
is here. It's cleaning out, being creative, saving money, uh,
using up what you've already had to save money in
the process. So I think that mindset is also helpful
to know what is the actual goal here, because that
we could get tripped up in that too, Like I've
got to have a green and a protein and uh side,
(17:02):
and my plate has to look beautiful and colorful. It
might not. There might be a meal that it doesn't
look like beautifully balanced like the rainbow. It might just
be I emptied out in my panther today today I'm
eating mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch, and like that's it.
And so this is this may be something that becomes
(17:23):
a way of life for you. Your standards just drop
so low that everything becomes okay, don't get scarvy. Like
we definitely should also have fruits and veggies. Thankfully, frozen
fruits and veggies still have the same nutrients that fresh
fruits and veggies have. And it's also again, why we're
gonna say, don't do this for forever. This is not
(17:45):
a lifestyle change. This is a learning process and emptying
out and the saving money that you can build upon. Okay,
so there's that. Well let's talk about how to pare prepare. Yes,
So the first thing you're gonna do is you're going
to take stock, take an actual inventory. Go through your pantry, freezer, fridge,
(18:07):
identify what is in there. Try to put it in
order of like when it expires. First, if you have
any expired or freezer burned foods, then get rid of those.
Get rid of anything that you are unsure of. It's safety. Um,
we're not here to tell you what's unsafe to eat,
(18:28):
but you need to live in your threshold for safety.
I know I've been known to eat some freezer burned foods,
so that's me. I Again, my standards are virtually underneath
the floor. So do what you need to do and
just make sure everything is written out and try maybe
if you could do amounts as well, so you know,
(18:50):
if you have a recipe that takes a certain amount,
you know what you can, Like maybe you have like
two thirds of a cup of something and your recipe
takes half a cup, go ahead and put the whole
two thirds of a cup in there, you know, like
just just go overboard, all right. Or maybe it takes
a maybe takes a whole cup and you only have
that two thirds short it a little bit, It's okay, um,
(19:13):
but just you know, make sure you're close. So writing
down amounts for some things can help. This inventory process
is so crucial, and this is part of it. Like
this is also an exercise and decluttering and minimizing, realizing
what you do and don't eat so you can inform
your future purchasing decisions. But I will advocate for throwing
(19:33):
out expired foods, and like like you said, Jen, everyone
has their own threshold and understanding. I mean, but don't
get sick on this pantry challenge. That's not what we're
advocating for. And then if I can also say, please
do not give your expired bad food to your local
(19:54):
food pantry for underserved populations to eat. If you're not
going to eat it, please don't give it to the
food pantry requesting things. Let's give them quality non expired foods.
So if it's expired and you're not going to eat it,
then just throw it out. It's okay, move past it,
(20:15):
allow that guilt to inform your next decision. But but
please don't give it to somebody else. Absolutely not. No.
If at the end of your challenge you have good
quality items that are still open and unused, then consider
giving those away. But we want them to be non
expired and things that would actually be useful and edible
(20:37):
for the place that you're giving them too. Yeah. Number three,
as far as preparation goes, is to set a weekly
grocery budget for the essentials. So with this article, they're
talking about a longer pantry challenge. This is no longer
just the ten day. With the ten day, they're saying,
you should really aim at not buying anything during that challenge.
(21:00):
But if you're going to go for a full month,
of course, we're going to need some fresh things during
that time, So think ahead of what are the essentials
of the fresh items that you're going to want to buy.
So this is gonna be produced milk, eggs, bread, that
kind of thing. The author of this article says that
they typically spend about thirty five to forty dollars a
(21:22):
week while doing a pantry challenge. Of course, this is
going to shift for however many people you have in
the household, how much you already have stocked in your
pantry or fridge or freezer. I mean, I personally have
gone two to three weeks without needing to shop fresh
just because of the amount of frozen fruits and veggies
(21:42):
that I've had. So also know that is possible to
go a decent amount of time. But if you're doing
a lengthy pantry challenge, consider what you want to spend
ahead of time, what you're going to spend it on,
and make sure that it falls under the category of essential.
That so we're still wanting to do bare bones with
the fresh ingredients that we're purchasing. Yes, and so this
(22:04):
is something where if you're weaving it into a eat
at home challenge, this becomes relevant. But if you're not,
if you're just doing a ten day then do all
meals for all ten days. So you have to figure
out how you want to run the challenge that's on
this list too, And then it says plan your first
week of meals. But I would say, even if you're
(22:25):
doing this longer, plan out all the weeks, every single
day of at least dinners, because that's going to help you.
If you have to buy a meat or something, then
you can buy it in in bulk for the month
if your meal plan is extensive. Obviously this isn't something
we practice all the time, but if you're doing a challenge,
(22:48):
then yet it makes sense to plan out the month
and kind of like stock up in that sense. Yeah,
determining how long you want to run your challenge, that's important,
Like don't just dive in and say I'm just gonna
I'm gonna do this until the ingredients run out or
I'm gonna do this. It is really helpful if we
(23:08):
actually set a time to it. And that's for all
goals that we want to set for ourselves. It does
need to be time specific, so say how long you
want to engage in it. We're not going to do
super well if it's open ended and Lucy goosey. And
then from there, I know, Jenn you talked about planning
(23:29):
out your you know, your month. They're advocating for at
least plan out your first week of meals. You can
go from there with whatever you're gonna do in the
subsequent weeks, but at least having an idea before you
start your pantry challenge. This is really going to set
yourself up for success if you at least plan out
the first week literally writing it down. We do best
(23:52):
if we have a visual, we have a plan in place.
It takes out some of that decision making fatigue when
we're in the midst of something that can be a
little bit difficult, daunting, draining. Absolutely, So let's roll down
to how to meal plan during a shelf cooking challenge.
This is really the important part because this is where
(24:13):
the kind of the difficulty comes in. So she says, first,
see if you have any obvious winners, such as like
fully frozen entrees, any low hanging fruit that's that's easy
to prepare, She says, gobble them up first. I would
maybe agree with that. If you're doing a ten day challenge.
I don't know. I kind of like to, if I
(24:35):
know the length of my challenge, kind of spread out
those low hanging fruit because it gets harder at the
end of the challenge. So in the first two days,
there's no problem. There's you know, everybody's fine the first
two days, So why don't you try some more difficult,
unique meals the first two days and then start to
incorporate those low hanging fruit meals. I agree. I always
(24:58):
like to save and hold onto my freezer, like my
already frozen prepared meals for the days that are really hectic.
So I would even advocate when you're making that meal
plan that happens in the preparation phase that you may
be considerable what does that week look like? Are there
any really hectic, chaotic, busy days, input that meal on
(25:22):
that day, Just really do yourself a favor. Yeah. So
then the next thing that you can do when you're
planning out these meals is to look at the proteins
in your freezer, start there, and then pair those proteins
with any bottled sauces that you might have or marinades
for a quick, easy meal. This could go hand in
(25:42):
hand with some food preparation if you want to prepare
ahead of time, or it could just be that that's
your plan for that day, however you want to approach that, Yeah,
And then the sides are pretty easy to kind of
implement there. And this of course depends on our standards.
There are days, especially when it's not around, when like
I might just do the protein and that's it, and
(26:04):
that's a meal for me. I am more concerned about
having a well balanced meal when I'm cooking for other people.
If I have gas or my husband's home, then it's like,
all right, let me see what kind of side I
can add to this. But yeah, those are typically easy
to consider. What fresh produce do you have? What frozen
produce do you have? Are there any canned goods, pasta's,
(26:26):
rice mixes, frozen side dishes? Throw that in with your protein. Yeah,
And she says, don't forget to look at items like
flour and sugar. So you may not want to bake
into oblivion, but you can easily fry up frozen chicken,
uh and stuff like that. I don't. I don't necessarily
(26:46):
look so much at those kind of staples. I'm more
when I'm doing a pantry challenge. I'm more looking at
unique things. So if there's something I know I'm going
to use, then I'm gonna definitely try it. And the
one caveat to this is that I do most of
my baking around the holidays, So if I have left
(27:09):
over a lot of leftover baking stuff, if I did
a pantry challenge in February, that's definitely the time I'd
use as much of that as possible, just because I
know I don't do I don't do any baking over
the summer. I don't turn my oven on over the summer.
But that's kind of the one caveat I would say
where I would use up some of those pantry staples
(27:32):
mm hmm. And keep in mind that rice and beans
and pastas can be the main dish. Again, we're not
going for health foodie award. Of course, you're going to
have to take in your own dietary restrictions. I mean,
I would imagine that if you're gluten for your vegan,
you're you're not even going to have some of these
(27:53):
things in the house to fall back on if it's
against what you can actually eat in the nutrition that
you're trying to put a new body. But also know
that we can go some meals without making it like
super heavy protein content. We do need to get proteins
like throughout the week, but I know that it's okay
(28:14):
to do a meal that is like rice with some
sauce on it. It's great. And when you're looking at
your sauces and your spices and you're trying those are
big things, like trying to get rid of the bottles
in the door of the fridge and the spices in
the back of the pantry. Don't try and do a
different spice every meal, or or a different sauce every meal.
(28:36):
Look at the bottles that have the least amount of
stuff in it, and look how and just use the
ones that you think you can use up in the
ten days or the month. And so maybe reusing some
spices and marinades several times during the challenge, because the
goal is to hopefully clear out some extra stuff, and
(28:58):
so we want to be able to use everything. So
don't feel pressured. You've got ten dinners to do, use
ten different sauces and spices. Maybe you're using three so
that you can get rid of those bottles. Yeah, thankfully
those don't like sauces. If you don't use it all
up in a pantry challenge, that's okay too, Like you
(29:18):
could still utilize them later on, and they don't expire quickly,
they don't go bad fast. So don't worry about getting
rid of every single single thing that you have. Absolutely so.
She then goes on to talking about tips for a
successful pantry challenge, some really interesting ones. Here. She advocates
(29:42):
for keeping it a secret for as long as possible,
and so I think this is an especially I know
it's an especially useful tip if you have kids. Um
it can keep them from grumbling at least for the
initial phase is and actively resisting the food that you're
(30:02):
putting in front of them, like you're you've turned into
a weirdo or you're trying some new diet thing which
is comfortable. What they don't know can't hurt them. And
then at the end you can tell them, you can
tell them how much money you saved, and then teachable moment.
We love those teachable moments. So also you want to
(30:24):
stick to your budget. You want to set that budget
depending on you know how much you spend on perishables,
like based on your history with grocery shopping in the
prices in your area. So calculate that up and make
the budget and stick to it and try to try
to get some fresh ingredients and highlight those fresh ingredients
(30:48):
so you can spice up older frozen vegetables and meats
with things like fresh bread, which is not hard to
make either. If you spend a Sunday just making fresh
bread for the week, like that's a huge you know,
gourmet addition to uh, you know, an old freezer meal,
some roasted veggies and stuff like that. There are inexpensive
(31:11):
ways to spruce up these things. M Yeah, I mean
speaking of sticking to it. This goes with our list
that we've made, whether it's our grocery list or our
meal plan list. Once we've made it, sticking to it,
not going off script, not adding too much more to it.
(31:33):
That's going to help with that money saving component. And
like you said, you know, highlighting the fresh ingredients, pairing
it with other things like sprucing up frozen entrees with
bread and maybe even getting into making our own breads
to use up some of that flour and baking staples
(31:55):
that we might have on hand. So even trying like
a new new skill set there could be fun as well. Yeah,
all right, So after the pantry challenge comes returning to normal,
which can actually be a little difficult. So shopping and
re stalking after a pantry challenge, and she says, now
(32:17):
that you've dwindled your kitchen inventory, it's time to stock
your pantry. Right, think again, the last thing you want
to do after you've put a lot of time and
effort into saving money is to immediately spend it. That's
what I have to say about that. I think it's
an important thing to look at what do we do afterwards?
What what comes next? Like now we've done this thing,
(32:39):
we're proud of ourselves, but what what does it afford us?
And recognizing that there will be an after we're not
going to keep like staying in this place of how
do I make like the weirdest possible foods? But then
I think an important part, just like with any challenges,
looking back at what did I learn from the us?
(33:00):
How much did I save? What do I want to
do with those savings? Is there anything that I want
to implement on a regular basis because of this? Did
I learn? If there's anything that like, I don't like
and I need to stop buying all of these things.
With any challenge, it's important to then reflect upon what
did it show us? Did it provide to us? You
may also want to take a permanent marker and make
(33:23):
some marks on some of the bottles or spices that
you have um or maybe put like a little sticker,
like a star or dot sticker, so in three months
you can revisit and if you're like I've had this
in my fridge for a while, but I don't want
to get rid of it. Didn't use it up in
the pantry challenge. And if you look back in three
(33:44):
months and and those things are still there, then it's
either time to use them or lose them to hopefully
use them, those become the most important things you should
do use on your next pantry challenge. But it's important
to be realistic and sometimes we I think all the times,
actually we don't have a good grasp of when we
(34:04):
bought something, how long it's been in our fridge, unless
you like put a date on something, which is nice,
but like I never have time to write on my
groceries before I, you know, start using them and stuff.
So yeah, that would be at the end of a
pantry challenge, something to do to mark off these things
that you either you need to prioritize use of over
(34:29):
the next few months so that that you don't still
have them, uh in your next pantry challenge. Speaking of
using and not losing something, I mark but I always
use every single week the week that's right, it's time
(35:03):
for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a
baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you've
paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're
happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's
bills Bufalo bills, Bill Clint, this is the bill of
the week. Hey guys, My bill of the week is
(35:24):
a haircut. So I go to the local beauty school
to get my hair cut because I am, of course frugal.
Um normally sixteen dollars, but today I got it four
six dollars. A haircut for six dollars. Anyway, thanks guys,
love the podcast. That's awesome. Jill and I were actually
(35:48):
just talking about how we can't neither of us can
remember the last time we had a haircut. Well, it's
not that I can't remember, it's that I like have
never been to a salon to get my hair cut.
So my mother in law actually has her cosmetology license,
and the last time she came to visit, she did
(36:09):
cut my hair. So that was November. I got my
haircut in early November. But that's about it. It's based
around maybe like when she comes to visit. But this
is amazing and I think such a lesser known tip
that if you have a beauty school in your area,
cosmetology school that they usually do have days, it's usually
(36:33):
specific days. And of course your standards need to maybe
be a little bit diminished because these individuals are practicing
and learning, but they do have to have a certain
amount of schooling and practice under their belt before they're
going to cut a real human's hair. So you know,
if you're not risk averse when it comes to your locks,
this is awesome. And then to have those extra discounted
(36:56):
days where normally get an haircut for sixteen dollars and
now it's six well done. Yeah, Travis, We've said it
on here before, but he goes to the barber school
and gets his hair and beard trimmed. It used to
be three dollars, but hashtag inflation, now it's five. But
it's I mean, still a great deal and for as
(37:19):
often as he goes, and it's supervised by the T
shirt so when the student is done, the teacher comes
over and you know, fixes anything, you just have to
be you just have to know you're going to be
there for a little longer than you would if you
were at a regular salon. I think that's kind of
the most important thing. It's he spent a little extra
(37:39):
time there. I do this for teeth cleaning. I went
to the dental high the local dental hygiene school, and
it did end up being a total of six hours.
But hey, it had been a while since I've been
to the dentist, so that's that's maybe my vault. I'm
a little scared to try it because I don't have
(38:01):
six hours, but I didn't either. I didn't know I
was signing on for six hours. But once you in
the chair, it's not like that usually, Like I got
a massage at the massage school and it was just
a normal in and out time, so it's not always like, yeah,
but I would be on the massage table for six hours,
(38:24):
that's fine. I have six hours for that for sure. Yeah. Well,
if you have a bill for us, if you went
to a school and got a discount service and we're
pleased with it, then let us know. Frugal Friends podcast
dot com slash bill and leave us your bill. And
(38:44):
now it's time for round. So we are going to
share our most recent ancient pantry item that we have
cleared out and how we did it. So mine it
is not actually ancient, but I did have this salsa
(39:04):
that was just like this. It wasn't my favorite salsa,
so I kind of just let the bottom part of
it kind of just sit in there for a long time.
And finally it was, you know, during the COVID time
that I didn't I had a a door dash like
credit and it's one of those things where it's like
(39:25):
so little that it's hard to use, and so I
was avoiding using the door dash credit and I was like,
you know what I'm gonna make. I'm gonna I'm gonna
use that salsa. And so what I did was bean
and rice some ground beef and mix that salsa into it.
It was totally fine. It just tastes like, you know,
(39:45):
tomatoes at that point. So it was the salsa I
didn't really love, and such a great now that I
used the salsa than I was allowed to get more
salsa in the self imposed restrictions. I play us on myself.
And I did find a salsa I like, I found yeah,
and it ended up being the Walmart brand, the cantina style.
(40:09):
Man I was. I was looking at these fancy salsas
trying to find one, and it ended up the Walmart
Cantina salsa. So happy ending, and I did use that salsa.
I usually don't like the fancy salsas, like they try
and be too unusual, and I just want classic spicy salsa.
(40:35):
I don't need you to put pineapple and mango in
it if you're not going to do it well. And
that's where I came to, like, I just make my
nose run, like that's all I want. I want to
like just have a physical reaction. And yeah, so that
was that was my recent experience. How about awesome jen.
(40:58):
So one of the things that I've learned in this process,
I would say, well, it's not a hardcore pantry challenge.
Many days feel like this for me, between how much
we travel or I just don't feel like going to
the store. I am often my food like what do
(41:19):
I have on hand? And how can I pare it
into something that looks like it resembles a meal? So
this is this is like a regular thing for me.
But also I don't have a ton of space, so
I am constantly like getting myself to pretty bare bones
and then finally I have to go to the store
because I literally have nothing left. But recently one of
(41:40):
the things that I've done is make um with my
canned goods, like a tap an node out of art
like canned artichoke, canned roasted red peppers, capers. I keep
a lot of my shredded cheese and the freezer, so
that just helps it last longer. So I had some
parmesan cheese I could throw in there with some olive oil,
(42:03):
and it just came a really good top a nod
that I then served to you, Jen when you came over.
That delicious. I don't know if you ate it, but
I'm sure it was delicious swearing out the pantry and
I loved it. Buffalo chicken dip is a classic one
for me. I will also freeze cream cheese. What I've
(42:23):
realized is I wouldn't be like, oh, defrost the cream
cheese and then spread it fresh on a bagel, but
I can then utilize previously frozen cream cheese in a dish,
so like buffalo chicken dip. And so I happen to
have a can of canned chicken and then just you know,
left over hot sauce and salad dressings, so you just
(42:48):
throw it all in there and that's a fun little
game day surprise. I also ate your buffalo chicken dip
and it was good. So I had just I just
of appetizers. But through this process, I have also recognized
that I am I can be so less concerned with
(43:11):
getting all of the ingredients right for a recipe. I
have given like I think where I previously would have
been like, well, i don't have this one thing, so
either I'm not going to make it at all, or
I've got to get out to the store. I have
learned to do without, either with substitutions or just not
putting that ingredient in the thing, and it usually turns
(43:31):
out just fine. Like I might make buffalo chicken dip
even if I don't have ranch dressing, or I don't
have blue cheese, or I'll make the artichoke red pepper
tapping on even if I don't have the capers on hand,
or the cheese on hand, or fresh herbs on hand.
So I think that too, is something worth trying when
we endeavor on this pantry challenge of still try and
(43:54):
make a dish even if you don't have all the ingredients,
or look up substitutions for that, or try a unique
way of making it. Usually it turns out just fine. Well,
we hope that you try your own pantry Challenge, or
maybe you'll do with us in the Financial Freedom Mentorship
(44:15):
next month when we do the Eat at Home Challenge.
So thank you for listening and for leaving your kind
reviews as well. We value your feedback when it is
positive and constructive, and your reviews help people find the
show so they can get more of this information. So
(44:35):
this one just happens to be five stars. It's from
Allison with the little emoji with the glasses, and she
says frugal friends are my fave and alliterations are my fave.
So I have listened to every episode and Jen and
Jill consistently deliver quality ideas, inspiration and motivation. They have
(44:56):
great chemistry and offer real life suggestions and share their
off fentic experiences without shame or judgment. This podcast help
me pay off thousands in credit card debt, reframe my
money mindset, and set me on a path of mindful
frugality and financial security. I look forward to listening to
new episodes every Friday. These are the frugal friends you
(45:18):
need in your life. Doe. Wow, Alison, I am most
excited about you having paid off thousands of dollars in
credit card debt that is worth celebrating, and we're so
glad we could be a small part of that journey
for you. Absolutely so proud of you. We also want
(45:40):
to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media,
So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're
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For every five tags and reviews we get each month,
we're giving away fifty dollars five zero real money for
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(46:01):
not checked out the Frugal Friends shop, please do all
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See you next week. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirian.
(46:38):
I'm hungry. I am hungry to my stomach has been
growling this whole recording. You might have heard it in
the episode what are you going to make? Jen? What's
for lunch? Just straight up mashed potatoes and gravy. It
is leftovers for you. Yeah, I mean like a squasi
beef bergean young. I don't know how you say that
(47:01):
vergion on that thing, you know, the French thing um.
And so we ate all the meat. So now we
have the gravy and mashed potatoes left, and that is
the lunch. Oh how about you, Jill. I'm gonna make
a smoothie and from there, I'm not certain it might
(47:21):
end up being cheese and crackers. I think I have
some more cheese and crackers and an apple. I might
have some more and salsa, cheese and crackers. Ya, let's
say I came Otherwise, we we using what's in the
freezer this week. A enjoy your potato and gravy, enjoy
(47:45):
all of your freezer food. Maybe
Episode one, how to do a pantry Challenge. Welcome to
the Frugal Friends podcast, where you'll learn to save money,
embrace simplicity, and live with your life. Here your host
Jen and Jill O. Welcome to the Frugal Friends Podcast.
(00:27):
My name is Jill, Jill. Oh, my name is Jen.
My name is Jill. Whoops. Okay, well it's not a
Freudian slip. But we are the same person. We are. Yeah,
we are starting to become the same person. Uh and
after almost two hundred episodes, how could you not? So?
(00:51):
Here we find ourselves. Here, we find ourselves. But we
do have different ways that we cook and the different
ways we do meal planning, and so I'm excited for
those to kind of come into this episode about pantry
challenges or shelf cooking, or it's called several different things,
but it is a challenge that you can do for
(01:14):
yourself to save money on groceries, which is always the
number one thing people ask us about, and to minimize
the clutter in your kitchen, which is just a happy,
nice benefit of it. So that is I'm segue out
of that embarrassing Food is the number one area that
(01:35):
we can often struggle with. And it represents both something
that's necessary but where some of our discretionary income comes
into play as well. So it's one of the biggest
categories that we can also shift and save money, but
yet we still have to spend some money on it.
So this is one of those really useful, tangible tools
(01:59):
resources for helping us really hunker down or cut spending
in this particular area, at least for a time. So
if we find ourselves Okay, I really need to cut
the grocery budget, this is useful, or Okay, I really
need to jump start my meal planning, this is a
great place to start. Really, there's no bad time to
(02:20):
talk about doing a pantry challenge, but I'm so glad
we're doing it shortly into the new year, because I
think this is we We've got our sights on where
how can I cut how can I really implement major
shifts and changes in my spending that are gonna help
me for the rest of the year. So we hope
that this does that for you. Yeah, but first, let's
(02:41):
thank our sponsors for this episode. This episode is brought
to you by Fresh Starts, not any of those other
fresh companies. Fresh Starts it's that time of year where
we start some fresh sinking funds, some new savings goals.
And if you have new savings schools, we highly reckon
men starting a new high yould savings account to keep
(03:03):
your savings out of sight, out of mind. Short term
savings are definitely not savings. You want to invest so
high you'ld savings kind of that happy medium between making
nothing on your money or possibly losing something on it.
So right now, we love Access Bank because they have
no minimum, balanced fees or requirements. Uh and if you
(03:24):
sign up for an account at Frugal Friends podcast dot
com slash access a x o s, then you actually
support the show at no extra cost to you. Beautiful
also brought to us by illuminating the dark places, whether
you're flipping on the light and the creepiest part of
your basement, digging into the recesses and less beautiful parts
(03:46):
of your budget, or sorting through all the canned goods
and nonperishables in the secret spaces of your pantry you
never knew existed. We're here with you every step of
the way, illuminating the dark places. With fear and trembling,
we step into the unknown. This is you're I don't
know if I want you to do sponsors anything? You
(04:07):
real creepy? Can you tell? Do you do you see dirt,
a dirt path on the floor, Do you see dirt
going somewhere? Follow it? Because because somebody is covered in
dirt and you want to see who, it's probably one
of your kids. You're getting it's getting deep these days,
(04:28):
and it's reflective of probably something I'm going through. But
we're not going to look at that too much because
I figured that it's too much of a dark place. Yeah,
if you want to hear Jill at a happier time
in her life or maybe just a lighter time, I
don't know. Here are a few other episodes you can
queue up to play next. The first is episode one two,
(04:50):
where we talk about eating healthier and more affordably with
Cassie Joy Garcia of Fed and Fit. She's got this
great book that is well, I mean she's been doing
this like cook once, eat twice thing for a while,
but she's her her newest book. We talked about. It
has a lot of different like kind of meal plan
ish things that help you reduce leftovers um or use
(05:12):
them more creatively. So that's episode one two. We've also
got episode one forty nine on Frugal meal Planning with
Ashton Cope. She gives a lot of great ideas for
finding recipes for your meal plan, like search recommendations and stuff.
So those two are really good to queue up after
this because you're going to want some recipe ideas after
(05:37):
we talk about pantry challenges or shelf cooking beautiful. Yeah,
so let's get into our first article that we found
what the Internet has to say about pantry challenges, and
this one is from Cheapskate cook Um and it's how
a ten day pantry challenge will save you money. And
(05:59):
I liked this because when I think of a challenge,
I usually think of a thirty day challenge, either thirty
days or a week, like that's kind of where I sit.
So the fact that she's like very much about ten
days and she talks about it like why in this article,
and she doesn't like every three months or so, so
doing shorter challenges more often was highlight of this article
(06:24):
for me. What did you think of it, Jill, It's
a great perspective on not she does go through how
to We're not going to focus as much on that
in this article, but the next one. But I think
certainly why and specifically why at ten day challenge? And
I like some of the things that she highlights in here.
I just want to point out that she says, this
(06:45):
is not the time to like win some health foodie
award or be a gourmet chef. And I think that
that can be a barrier for me sometimes, like I mean,
I can clear out my pantry, but they're not going
to be the most healthy meals. And so she's saying,
like that's okay, this isn't We're not always and forever
(07:06):
doing a pantry challenge, but it can have benefits not
only for clearing out what's in our pantry, but also
saving us money. And so for those reasons, I like
this idea. And I like that she's advocating for something
slightly shorter so that you know, it's not too long,
it's not too short, it's just right. Yeah. So I
(07:28):
I like her first her three reasons, like why do
a pantry challenge? You can have several goals or reasons
for doing your pantry challenge. The first, you ran out
of grocery money and have to make do with what
you have, And I would say that's most people's reason.
Our number one we're running running out of grocery money
for the month. Number two is you're trying to save
(07:51):
money for another purchase or expense. Or three, your pantry
and fees are just out of control and it's time
to clean out and start fresh. And I love all
three of those reasons, and I think they can be
all three at the same There's a fourth reason for
me on here, and that may or may not be
laziness or lack of time to just go to the
(08:15):
grocery store. Sometimes it's not even I'm out of grocery money.
Sometimes it's I don't have time or energy or you
name it to just get myself to the store. So
I'm going to make do with what I have, I think,
and that I mean. But that's great because most people
when they would have that, like that situation, the mentality
(08:36):
would be to just get take out. But if you're
in this this kind of mode of thinking where you're
used to getting creative, especially trying to solve your problems
creatively without using money, then you get into a mindset
where your first notion isn't okay, door dash, but it's like, okay,
what can I get creative within my pantry that doesn't
(08:58):
take a lot of time, and so I think that's
a great All the things that we do are just
to create habits that train our brain to think differently.
And like maybe maybe sometimes it is door dash or
getting take out, but that doesn't have to be your
first go to. Your first can be like, Okay, let
me really think, not just look into my pantry and
(09:20):
see everything and say nope, ordering takeout, but actually trying
to get creative with Okay, I have this, this, and this,
I've made this before. I'm lazy enough that this will work. Yes,
and maybe even a fifth reason for me, I'm just
I'm adding to this list. Honestly, I think it. Sometimes
(09:40):
I will also just turn to my freezer and pantry
because I like the challenge of it. And it's talking
about a challenge, it's gamifying it, but I like the
creativity that it requires. Like sometimes it's sure I could
go to the store, I could buy things, but let
me see what I might be able to make out
(10:01):
of my pantry and freezer. And so sometimes these challenges
have led me to doing this not on a maybe
ten day thirty day basis, but it has led me
to be able to implement what I've learned from those
challenges on any given Tuesday, to do and have fun
with it and be creative. So there's definitely something fun here,
(10:22):
not just obligatory or here. Yeah, that kind of like
leads me into the reason she does a ten day
because the longer challenges can get, they can leave a
bad taste in your mouth by the end of it.
I know if I'm so adamant about finding fun things
to do on no spend challenges, and I also don't
(10:43):
advocate for not spending money on food during a no
spend challenge, But because if you do a thirty day
no spend challenging, you don't have any fun or make
any money or do like anything that where you have
this like really genuine sense of pride or enjoyment, it's
gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth. You're never
going to do another one, and that kind of and
(11:06):
that's what you're going to be focused on. You're not
going to be focused on finding the things you truly
missed or that you can truly live without, which is
the actual point of it. And so in order to
focus on those things in your kitchen like what you
truly love having in your pantry, what you can truly
stop buying and live without. You have to be able
(11:28):
to focus on that during the pantry challenge, and I
think having a shorter challenge in this case in particular,
it does help with that because you don't get the
agony of by day, you know, fifteen or twenty of
of just eating more rice and then you never do
it again. M hmm, Yeah, that's the she's saying. It's
(11:51):
it's long enough to get you acquainted with what is
in the deep recesses of your cupboards and freezers, but
they don't last so long that you or those in
your households start rebelling against the thing. That's another thing.
Your family, they often dictate what you do and do
not do, and so you have to keep them on board. Yes,
(12:12):
And then I like how she also highlights that with
the clear rules and a set end date, it can
help us to stay focused and not burn out with it.
And that's a real reality. And sometimes we can feel
a decrease in motivation or desire for these things if
we feel like we can't actually engage with it, like
if we make it too long. We can set ourselves
(12:34):
up for failure, and that's never the goal. We want
to see small winds and successes to be able to
keep us on this pathway. So, especially if you've never
done this before, we would also agree with this article
and advocate for attend day. It is that short enough
time frame where we believe that you would stick to
(12:55):
it for that that shorter amount of time, and then
that can build upon itself. You still learn some of
the tenants of this. There's still things that you can
carry with you out of doing a ten day challenge
and you're less likely to burn out with it. Hopefully,
it just still remains kind of fun and challenging and
you're able to do it and still see like money
(13:16):
saving benefits to absolutely yeah. And so another thing you
can do is so like we're in our Financial Freedom Mentorship,
we're doing and eat at Home challenge in February because
the shortest month. So that's why we're doing That's why
it's not all good looks with us. We were not done.
So instead of maybe doing ten days only pantry cooking
(13:38):
or shelf cooking, if you are choosing to do like
a longer eat at home challenge for like four weeks.
You can kind of incorporate the pantry challenge into the
entirety of the eating at home challenge, so that kind
of makes it a little easier. So instead of doing
thirty days of just shopping your pantry or ten days
of just shopping your pantry, you are making a land
(14:00):
a four week plan to shop your entire pantry. But
you're also adding things in each week and then still
having that challenge aspect of only eating at home. So
there's definitely different ways you can do it. Oh, so
much creativity can be involved here. But I love I
love that starting point of attendee challenge and then going
(14:22):
from there and figuring out what else can I do?
How can I incorporate some of this idea of utilizing
what I already have on hand? I think that is
where we can spend the most, lose the most, and then, uh,
the flip side of that is save the most when
we are able to realize, Okay, how can I utilize
what I have on hand, not purchase duplicates, not just
(14:46):
go the path of convenience, which is also more expensive,
So we can just keep building and building and building
upon this. Yeah, but let's talk about how to do it? Okay, definitely, Jill,
how how do you do it? Article is from our
Invented mom saying that right, it's a pantry challenge guide,
(15:11):
and so it's definitely a long A reinvented mom, Jill,
a reinvent like, where did you know? I'm like reading
it a reinvented mom. I'm reading it out in the
U r L. Wow. Happy it's not getting much better?
(15:32):
Sad to say, it's all right. A Reinvented Mom on
pantry Challenges one oh one The Ultimate Guide to shelf cooking.
Thank you, Jim. Continue. It is quite lengthy, gives a
whole long list and tips, so definitely check it out.
(15:54):
We're going to go through the highlights of what it
is how to do it? And so this article advocates
that we can use a pantry challenge to save money
and reduce waste by preparing things and food and meals
from the food that we already have in our pantry,
freezer or fridge. So we talk about pantry challenge, we're
(16:15):
not specifically only talking about canned goods. We're not only
talking about what's on your shelf, any of this pantry, freezer, fridge.
Going through it using it up. And so, like the
first article said, the point of it is not eating
the most healthy we've ever eaten or making the most
gourmet foods we've ever made. Like recognized what the goal
(16:39):
is here. It's cleaning out, being creative, saving money, uh,
using up what you've already had to save money in
the process. So I think that mindset is also helpful
to know what is the actual goal here, because that
we could get tripped up in that too, Like I've
got to have a green and a protein and uh side,
(17:02):
and my plate has to look beautiful and colorful. It
might not. There might be a meal that it doesn't
look like beautifully balanced like the rainbow. It might just
be I emptied out in my panther today today I'm
eating mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch, and like that's it.
And so this is this may be something that becomes
(17:23):
a way of life for you. Your standards just drop
so low that everything becomes okay, don't get scarvy. Like
we definitely should also have fruits and veggies. Thankfully, frozen
fruits and veggies still have the same nutrients that fresh
fruits and veggies have. And it's also again, why we're
gonna say, don't do this for forever. This is not
(17:45):
a lifestyle change. This is a learning process and emptying
out and the saving money that you can build upon. Okay,
so there's that. Well let's talk about how to pare prepare. Yes,
So the first thing you're gonna do is you're going
to take stock, take an actual inventory. Go through your pantry, freezer, fridge,
(18:07):
identify what is in there. Try to put it in
order of like when it expires. First, if you have
any expired or freezer burned foods, then get rid of those.
Get rid of anything that you are unsure of. It's safety. Um,
we're not here to tell you what's unsafe to eat,
(18:28):
but you need to live in your threshold for safety.
I know I've been known to eat some freezer burned foods,
so that's me. I Again, my standards are virtually underneath
the floor. So do what you need to do and
just make sure everything is written out and try maybe
if you could do amounts as well, so you know,
(18:50):
if you have a recipe that takes a certain amount,
you know what you can, Like maybe you have like
two thirds of a cup of something and your recipe
takes half a cup, go ahead and put the whole
two thirds of a cup in there, you know, like
just just go overboard, all right. Or maybe it takes
a maybe takes a whole cup and you only have
that two thirds short it a little bit, It's okay, um,
(19:13):
but just you know, make sure you're close. So writing
down amounts for some things can help. This inventory process
is so crucial, and this is part of it. Like
this is also an exercise and decluttering and minimizing, realizing
what you do and don't eat so you can inform
your future purchasing decisions. But I will advocate for throwing
(19:33):
out expired foods, and like like you said, Jen, everyone
has their own threshold and understanding. I mean, but don't
get sick on this pantry challenge. That's not what we're
advocating for. And then if I can also say, please
do not give your expired bad food to your local
(19:54):
food pantry for underserved populations to eat. If you're not
going to eat it, please don't give it to the
food pantry requesting things. Let's give them quality non expired foods.
So if it's expired and you're not going to eat it,
then just throw it out. It's okay, move past it,
(20:15):
allow that guilt to inform your next decision. But but
please don't give it to somebody else. Absolutely not. No.
If at the end of your challenge you have good
quality items that are still open and unused, then consider
giving those away. But we want them to be non
expired and things that would actually be useful and edible
(20:37):
for the place that you're giving them too. Yeah. Number three,
as far as preparation goes, is to set a weekly
grocery budget for the essentials. So with this article, they're
talking about a longer pantry challenge. This is no longer
just the ten day. With the ten day, they're saying,
you should really aim at not buying anything during that challenge.
(21:00):
But if you're going to go for a full month,
of course, we're going to need some fresh things during
that time, So think ahead of what are the essentials
of the fresh items that you're going to want to buy.
So this is gonna be produced milk, eggs, bread, that
kind of thing. The author of this article says that
they typically spend about thirty five to forty dollars a
(21:22):
week while doing a pantry challenge. Of course, this is
going to shift for however many people you have in
the household, how much you already have stocked in your
pantry or fridge or freezer. I mean, I personally have
gone two to three weeks without needing to shop fresh
just because of the amount of frozen fruits and veggies
(21:42):
that I've had. So also know that is possible to
go a decent amount of time. But if you're doing
a lengthy pantry challenge, consider what you want to spend
ahead of time, what you're going to spend it on,
and make sure that it falls under the category of essential.
That so we're still wanting to do bare bones with
the fresh ingredients that we're purchasing. Yes, and so this
(22:04):
is something where if you're weaving it into a eat
at home challenge, this becomes relevant. But if you're not,
if you're just doing a ten day then do all
meals for all ten days. So you have to figure
out how you want to run the challenge that's on
this list too, And then it says plan your first
week of meals. But I would say, even if you're
(22:25):
doing this longer, plan out all the weeks, every single
day of at least dinners, because that's going to help you.
If you have to buy a meat or something, then
you can buy it in in bulk for the month
if your meal plan is extensive. Obviously this isn't something
we practice all the time, but if you're doing a challenge,
(22:48):
then yet it makes sense to plan out the month
and kind of like stock up in that sense. Yeah,
determining how long you want to run your challenge, that's important,
Like don't just dive in and say I'm just gonna
I'm gonna do this until the ingredients run out or
I'm gonna do this. It is really helpful if we
(23:08):
actually set a time to it. And that's for all
goals that we want to set for ourselves. It does
need to be time specific, so say how long you
want to engage in it. We're not going to do
super well if it's open ended and Lucy goosey. And
then from there, I know, Jenn you talked about planning
(23:29):
out your you know, your month. They're advocating for at
least plan out your first week of meals. You can
go from there with whatever you're gonna do in the
subsequent weeks, but at least having an idea before you
start your pantry challenge. This is really going to set
yourself up for success if you at least plan out
the first week literally writing it down. We do best
(23:52):
if we have a visual, we have a plan in place.
It takes out some of that decision making fatigue when
we're in the midst of something that can be a
little bit difficult, daunting, draining. Absolutely, So let's roll down
to how to meal plan during a shelf cooking challenge.
This is really the important part because this is where
(24:13):
the kind of the difficulty comes in. So she says, first,
see if you have any obvious winners, such as like
fully frozen entrees, any low hanging fruit that's that's easy
to prepare, She says, gobble them up first. I would
maybe agree with that. If you're doing a ten day challenge.
I don't know. I kind of like to, if I
(24:35):
know the length of my challenge, kind of spread out
those low hanging fruit because it gets harder at the
end of the challenge. So in the first two days,
there's no problem. There's you know, everybody's fine the first
two days, So why don't you try some more difficult,
unique meals the first two days and then start to
incorporate those low hanging fruit meals. I agree. I always
(24:58):
like to save and hold onto my freezer, like my
already frozen prepared meals for the days that are really hectic.
So I would even advocate when you're making that meal
plan that happens in the preparation phase that you may
be considerable what does that week look like? Are there
any really hectic, chaotic, busy days, input that meal on
(25:22):
that day, Just really do yourself a favor. Yeah. So
then the next thing that you can do when you're
planning out these meals is to look at the proteins
in your freezer, start there, and then pair those proteins
with any bottled sauces that you might have or marinades
for a quick, easy meal. This could go hand in
(25:42):
hand with some food preparation if you want to prepare
ahead of time, or it could just be that that's
your plan for that day, however you want to approach that, Yeah,
And then the sides are pretty easy to kind of
implement there. And this of course depends on our standards.
There are days, especially when it's not around, when like
I might just do the protein and that's it, and
(26:04):
that's a meal for me. I am more concerned about
having a well balanced meal when I'm cooking for other people.
If I have gas or my husband's home, then it's like,
all right, let me see what kind of side I
can add to this. But yeah, those are typically easy
to consider. What fresh produce do you have? What frozen
produce do you have? Are there any canned goods, pasta's,
(26:26):
rice mixes, frozen side dishes? Throw that in with your protein. Yeah,
And she says, don't forget to look at items like
flour and sugar. So you may not want to bake
into oblivion, but you can easily fry up frozen chicken,
uh and stuff like that. I don't. I don't necessarily
(26:46):
look so much at those kind of staples. I'm more
when I'm doing a pantry challenge. I'm more looking at
unique things. So if there's something I know I'm going
to use, then I'm gonna definitely try it. And the
one caveat to this is that I do most of
my baking around the holidays, So if I have left
(27:09):
over a lot of leftover baking stuff, if I did
a pantry challenge in February, that's definitely the time I'd
use as much of that as possible, just because I
know I don't do I don't do any baking over
the summer. I don't turn my oven on over the summer.
But that's kind of the one caveat I would say
where I would use up some of those pantry staples
(27:32):
mm hmm. And keep in mind that rice and beans
and pastas can be the main dish. Again, we're not
going for health foodie award. Of course, you're going to
have to take in your own dietary restrictions. I mean,
I would imagine that if you're gluten for your vegan,
you're you're not even going to have some of these
(27:53):
things in the house to fall back on if it's
against what you can actually eat in the nutrition that
you're trying to put a new body. But also know
that we can go some meals without making it like
super heavy protein content. We do need to get proteins
like throughout the week, but I know that it's okay
(28:14):
to do a meal that is like rice with some
sauce on it. It's great. And when you're looking at
your sauces and your spices and you're trying those are
big things, like trying to get rid of the bottles
in the door of the fridge and the spices in
the back of the pantry. Don't try and do a
different spice every meal, or or a different sauce every meal.
(28:36):
Look at the bottles that have the least amount of
stuff in it, and look how and just use the
ones that you think you can use up in the
ten days or the month. And so maybe reusing some
spices and marinades several times during the challenge, because the
goal is to hopefully clear out some extra stuff, and
(28:58):
so we want to be able to use everything. So
don't feel pressured. You've got ten dinners to do, use
ten different sauces and spices. Maybe you're using three so
that you can get rid of those bottles. Yeah, thankfully
those don't like sauces. If you don't use it all
up in a pantry challenge, that's okay too, Like you
(29:18):
could still utilize them later on, and they don't expire quickly,
they don't go bad fast. So don't worry about getting
rid of every single single thing that you have. Absolutely so.
She then goes on to talking about tips for a
successful pantry challenge, some really interesting ones. Here. She advocates
(29:42):
for keeping it a secret for as long as possible,
and so I think this is an especially I know
it's an especially useful tip if you have kids. Um
it can keep them from grumbling at least for the
initial phase is and actively resisting the food that you're
(30:02):
putting in front of them, like you're you've turned into
a weirdo or you're trying some new diet thing which
is comfortable. What they don't know can't hurt them. And
then at the end you can tell them, you can
tell them how much money you saved, and then teachable moment.
We love those teachable moments. So also you want to
(30:24):
stick to your budget. You want to set that budget
depending on you know how much you spend on perishables,
like based on your history with grocery shopping in the
prices in your area. So calculate that up and make
the budget and stick to it and try to try
to get some fresh ingredients and highlight those fresh ingredients
(30:48):
so you can spice up older frozen vegetables and meats
with things like fresh bread, which is not hard to
make either. If you spend a Sunday just making fresh
bread for the week, like that's a huge you know,
gourmet addition to uh, you know, an old freezer meal,
some roasted veggies and stuff like that. There are inexpensive
(31:11):
ways to spruce up these things. M Yeah, I mean
speaking of sticking to it. This goes with our list
that we've made, whether it's our grocery list or our
meal plan list. Once we've made it, sticking to it,
not going off script, not adding too much more to it.
(31:33):
That's going to help with that money saving component. And
like you said, you know, highlighting the fresh ingredients, pairing
it with other things like sprucing up frozen entrees with
bread and maybe even getting into making our own breads
to use up some of that flour and baking staples
(31:55):
that we might have on hand. So even trying like
a new new skill set there could be fun as well. Yeah,
all right, So after the pantry challenge comes returning to normal,
which can actually be a little difficult. So shopping and
re stalking after a pantry challenge, and she says, now
(32:17):
that you've dwindled your kitchen inventory, it's time to stock
your pantry. Right, think again, the last thing you want
to do after you've put a lot of time and
effort into saving money is to immediately spend it. That's
what I have to say about that. I think it's
an important thing to look at what do we do afterwards?
What what comes next? Like now we've done this thing,
(32:39):
we're proud of ourselves, but what what does it afford us?
And recognizing that there will be an after we're not
going to keep like staying in this place of how
do I make like the weirdest possible foods? But then
I think an important part, just like with any challenges,
looking back at what did I learn from the us?
(33:00):
How much did I save? What do I want to
do with those savings? Is there anything that I want
to implement on a regular basis because of this? Did
I learn? If there's anything that like, I don't like
and I need to stop buying all of these things.
With any challenge, it's important to then reflect upon what
did it show us? Did it provide to us? You
may also want to take a permanent marker and make
(33:23):
some marks on some of the bottles or spices that
you have um or maybe put like a little sticker,
like a star or dot sticker, so in three months
you can revisit and if you're like I've had this
in my fridge for a while, but I don't want
to get rid of it. Didn't use it up in
the pantry challenge. And if you look back in three
(33:44):
months and and those things are still there, then it's
either time to use them or lose them to hopefully
use them, those become the most important things you should
do use on your next pantry challenge. But it's important
to be realistic and sometimes we I think all the times,
actually we don't have a good grasp of when we
(34:04):
bought something, how long it's been in our fridge, unless
you like put a date on something, which is nice,
but like I never have time to write on my
groceries before I, you know, start using them and stuff.
So yeah, that would be at the end of a
pantry challenge, something to do to mark off these things
that you either you need to prioritize use of over
(34:29):
the next few months so that that you don't still
have them, uh in your next pantry challenge. Speaking of
using and not losing something, I mark but I always
use every single week the week that's right, it's time
(35:03):
for the best minute of your entire week. Maybe a
baby was born and his name is William. Maybe you've
paid off your mortgage, maybe your car died, and you're
happy to not have to pay that bill anymore. That's
bills Bufalo bills, Bill Clint, this is the bill of
the week. Hey guys, My bill of the week is
(35:24):
a haircut. So I go to the local beauty school
to get my hair cut because I am, of course frugal.
Um normally sixteen dollars, but today I got it four
six dollars. A haircut for six dollars. Anyway, thanks guys,
love the podcast. That's awesome. Jill and I were actually
(35:48):
just talking about how we can't neither of us can
remember the last time we had a haircut. Well, it's
not that I can't remember, it's that I like have
never been to a salon to get my hair cut.
So my mother in law actually has her cosmetology license,
and the last time she came to visit, she did
(36:09):
cut my hair. So that was November. I got my
haircut in early November. But that's about it. It's based
around maybe like when she comes to visit. But this
is amazing and I think such a lesser known tip
that if you have a beauty school in your area,
cosmetology school that they usually do have days, it's usually
(36:33):
specific days. And of course your standards need to maybe
be a little bit diminished because these individuals are practicing
and learning, but they do have to have a certain
amount of schooling and practice under their belt before they're
going to cut a real human's hair. So you know,
if you're not risk averse when it comes to your locks,
this is awesome. And then to have those extra discounted
(36:56):
days where normally get an haircut for sixteen dollars and
now it's six well done. Yeah, Travis, We've said it
on here before, but he goes to the barber school
and gets his hair and beard trimmed. It used to
be three dollars, but hashtag inflation, now it's five. But
it's I mean, still a great deal and for as
(37:19):
often as he goes, and it's supervised by the T
shirt so when the student is done, the teacher comes
over and you know, fixes anything, you just have to
be you just have to know you're going to be
there for a little longer than you would if you
were at a regular salon. I think that's kind of
the most important thing. It's he spent a little extra
(37:39):
time there. I do this for teeth cleaning. I went
to the dental high the local dental hygiene school, and
it did end up being a total of six hours.
But hey, it had been a while since I've been
to the dentist, so that's that's maybe my vault. I'm
a little scared to try it because I don't have
(38:01):
six hours, but I didn't either. I didn't know I
was signing on for six hours. But once you in
the chair, it's not like that usually, Like I got
a massage at the massage school and it was just
a normal in and out time, so it's not always like, yeah,
but I would be on the massage table for six hours,
(38:24):
that's fine. I have six hours for that for sure. Yeah. Well,
if you have a bill for us, if you went
to a school and got a discount service and we're
pleased with it, then let us know. Frugal Friends podcast
dot com slash bill and leave us your bill. And
(38:44):
now it's time for round. So we are going to
share our most recent ancient pantry item that we have
cleared out and how we did it. So mine it
is not actually ancient, but I did have this salsa
(39:04):
that was just like this. It wasn't my favorite salsa,
so I kind of just let the bottom part of
it kind of just sit in there for a long time.
And finally it was, you know, during the COVID time
that I didn't I had a a door dash like
credit and it's one of those things where it's like
(39:25):
so little that it's hard to use, and so I
was avoiding using the door dash credit and I was like,
you know what I'm gonna make. I'm gonna I'm gonna
use that salsa. And so what I did was bean
and rice some ground beef and mix that salsa into it.
It was totally fine. It just tastes like, you know,
(39:45):
tomatoes at that point. So it was the salsa I
didn't really love, and such a great now that I
used the salsa than I was allowed to get more
salsa in the self imposed restrictions. I play us on myself.
And I did find a salsa I like, I found yeah,
and it ended up being the Walmart brand, the cantina style.
(40:09):
Man I was. I was looking at these fancy salsas
trying to find one, and it ended up the Walmart
Cantina salsa. So happy ending, and I did use that salsa.
I usually don't like the fancy salsas, like they try
and be too unusual, and I just want classic spicy salsa.
(40:35):
I don't need you to put pineapple and mango in
it if you're not going to do it well. And
that's where I came to, like, I just make my
nose run, like that's all I want. I want to
like just have a physical reaction. And yeah, so that
was that was my recent experience. How about awesome jen.
(40:58):
So one of the things that I've learned in this process,
I would say, well, it's not a hardcore pantry challenge.
Many days feel like this for me, between how much
we travel or I just don't feel like going to
the store. I am often my food like what do
(41:19):
I have on hand? And how can I pare it
into something that looks like it resembles a meal? So
this is this is like a regular thing for me.
But also I don't have a ton of space, so
I am constantly like getting myself to pretty bare bones
and then finally I have to go to the store
because I literally have nothing left. But recently one of
(41:40):
the things that I've done is make um with my
canned goods, like a tap an node out of art
like canned artichoke, canned roasted red peppers, capers. I keep
a lot of my shredded cheese and the freezer, so
that just helps it last longer. So I had some
parmesan cheese I could throw in there with some olive oil,
(42:03):
and it just came a really good top a nod
that I then served to you, Jen when you came over.
That delicious. I don't know if you ate it, but
I'm sure it was delicious swearing out the pantry and
I loved it. Buffalo chicken dip is a classic one
for me. I will also freeze cream cheese. What I've
(42:23):
realized is I wouldn't be like, oh, defrost the cream
cheese and then spread it fresh on a bagel, but
I can then utilize previously frozen cream cheese in a dish,
so like buffalo chicken dip. And so I happen to
have a can of canned chicken and then just you know,
left over hot sauce and salad dressings, so you just
(42:48):
throw it all in there and that's a fun little
game day surprise. I also ate your buffalo chicken dip
and it was good. So I had just I just
of appetizers. But through this process, I have also recognized
that I am I can be so less concerned with
(43:11):
getting all of the ingredients right for a recipe. I
have given like I think where I previously would have
been like, well, i don't have this one thing, so
either I'm not going to make it at all, or
I've got to get out to the store. I have
learned to do without, either with substitutions or just not
putting that ingredient in the thing, and it usually turns
(43:31):
out just fine. Like I might make buffalo chicken dip
even if I don't have ranch dressing, or I don't
have blue cheese, or I'll make the artichoke red pepper
tapping on even if I don't have the capers on hand,
or the cheese on hand, or fresh herbs on hand.
So I think that too, is something worth trying when
we endeavor on this pantry challenge of still try and
(43:54):
make a dish even if you don't have all the ingredients,
or look up substitutions for that, or try a unique
way of making it. Usually it turns out just fine. Well,
we hope that you try your own pantry Challenge, or
maybe you'll do with us in the Financial Freedom Mentorship
(44:15):
next month when we do the Eat at Home Challenge.
So thank you for listening and for leaving your kind
reviews as well. We value your feedback when it is
positive and constructive, and your reviews help people find the
show so they can get more of this information. So
(44:35):
this one just happens to be five stars. It's from
Allison with the little emoji with the glasses, and she
says frugal friends are my fave and alliterations are my fave.
So I have listened to every episode and Jen and
Jill consistently deliver quality ideas, inspiration and motivation. They have
(44:56):
great chemistry and offer real life suggestions and share their
off fentic experiences without shame or judgment. This podcast help
me pay off thousands in credit card debt, reframe my
money mindset, and set me on a path of mindful
frugality and financial security. I look forward to listening to
new episodes every Friday. These are the frugal friends you
(45:18):
need in your life. Doe. Wow, Alison, I am most
excited about you having paid off thousands of dollars in
credit card debt that is worth celebrating, and we're so
glad we could be a small part of that journey
for you. Absolutely so proud of you. We also want
(45:40):
to thank our friends who share these episodes on social media,
So when you share the latest episode on Instagram, we're
adding you to our monthly drawing. Here's what it is.
For every five tags and reviews we get each month,
we're giving away fifty dollars five zero real money for
you to spend in the Frugal Friends shop. If you've
(46:01):
not checked out the Frugal Friends shop, please do all
kinds of goodies there. Frugal Friends dot shop pretty easy,
so keep leaving us reviews wherever you listen to podcasts
and sending the screenshot to reviews at Frugal Friends podcast
dot com, and don't forget to tag us on social
See you next week. Frugal Friends is produced by Eric Sirian.
(46:38):
I'm hungry. I am hungry to my stomach has been
growling this whole recording. You might have heard it in
the episode what are you going to make? Jen? What's
for lunch? Just straight up mashed potatoes and gravy. It
is leftovers for you. Yeah, I mean like a squasi
beef bergean young. I don't know how you say that
(47:01):
vergion on that thing, you know, the French thing um.
And so we ate all the meat. So now we
have the gravy and mashed potatoes left, and that is
the lunch. Oh how about you, Jill. I'm gonna make
a smoothie and from there, I'm not certain it might
(47:21):
end up being cheese and crackers. I think I have
some more cheese and crackers and an apple. I might
have some more and salsa, cheese and crackers. Ya, let's
say I came Otherwise, we we using what's in the
freezer this week. A enjoy your potato and gravy, enjoy
(47:45):
all of your freezer food. Maybe
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