This actually depends on how you are determining success or failure.<\/p>\n
The quickest way to look at pantry challenge is based on money.\u00a0 \u00a0I completely failed at this as we spent $771 on groceries in the month of January. But wait this is still almost $50 less than our budget of $820.\u00a0 But significantly more than my goal of $300.\u00a0 I actually spent some time researching and checking out numbers today.\u00a0 The only other time that I have spent over $500 during a pantry challenge was in 2019.\u00a0 \u00a0The year the world imploded so this does concern me a bit!<\/p>\n
I also did some checking into what the US government is using as a standard.\u00a0 Based on the numbers from December 2024 we should be spending $1309 on food. Or this is what food stamps would be based on for our family of five.$1309 is considered the “thrifty” amount so this is the lowest amount that the government thinks we could survive on.\u00a0 \u00a0Looking a bit deeper this amount indicates an increase from December 2023.\u00a0 Another interesting fact is that for the year 2020 to 2023 the amount stayed the same! I had thought and even mention increased the amount to $1200 for grocery spending for the first three months of the year.\u00a0 Now I am leaning toward using the $1309 amount.\u00a0 Can I feed our family of five for 3 months for the thrifty amount that the government has set? In reality between some stops\u00a0 at the grocery store already this month and our Amazon subscribe and save our current total for both January and February would be $984, leaving $325.\u00a0 \u00a0That may definitely work, I think I just talked myself into this amount.<\/p>\n
The other method I could look at the success of the pantry challenge would be to look at the goals I have set.<\/p>\n
1.Purchasing items that we are completely out of that are staples such as diary as well as buns or other items that will help use items we already have. Total spending for the three months of the 2025 will be less than $1309.<\/strong>\u00a0 Discussed above!<\/p>\n 2. Use at least one \u201cmeal\/meat portion of the meal\u201d from the stand-up freezer each week. (This is where most of the meals are) <\/strong>\u00a0have been consistently doing this and I can start to see a difference and the ability to re-organize this freezer prior to the summer stock up period. So based on goals I am successful with the pantry challenge to date!\u00a0 \u00a0I am going to continue with this challenge using the same guidelines except for increasing the spending for the month of February.\u00a0 I may need to re-evaluate at the end of February to determine if it is sustainable for the month of March?\u00a0 Only time will tell but I am at least seeing a benefit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This actually depends on how you are determining success or failure. The quickest way to look at pantry challenge is based on money.\u00a0 \u00a0I completely failed at this as we spent $771 on groceries in the month of January. But … Continue reading
\n3. Use at least 3 jars a week from the canning pantry.\u00a0<\/strong>I am beginning to see several lines of empty shelves and I am thinking about ways to use items. I currently have enough empty jars that I could use up pears that have been vacuumed sealed to make pearberry sauce and do a large batch of beef broth.\u00a0 Again this has been a success!
\n4. Use one item a week from the connivence freezer in my room.\u00a0<\/strong>This is also starting to show. My goal would be to completely empty this freezer prior to May in order to organize and use it more efficiently this summer.
\n5. Each Monday after menu planning provide a list of how I followed the guidelines for the week.\u00a0<\/strong> This also has been consistent.<\/p>\n