The Great Pantry Challenge

My big goal these days is to cut my grocery bill.  In plotting out our budget I realized that our grocery bill was embarrassingly high.  There are a lot of lines in the budget that aren't negotiable but food costs seemed like a logical place to tackle.  If you have spent any time in my house you will know that my refrigerator and cupboards are full.  Like way too, jump out of the way when you open the door, full.  I have been working on becoming an extreme couponer to save money but the other angle I really need to address is why I want/need to have so much food in the house.  My justification has been that I don't have the kind of life where I can drop everything and run to the store if I am out of something, because Max and stores are not fun.  I also have a great fear of wanting to make something and not having an ingredient.  Why this is so important to me is a mystery.  I know that I like having choices and options.  When I go to a restaurant and they have some kind of sampler or combo meal I am all about that because I like options.  Maybe my food hoarding is like that.  I did not come from a home where we were underfed, we had plenty of food.  The only thing I can remotely link (read, blame) on my parents was that my Dad had a stockpile of food in the cellar.  It was stuff from Caswells (you know that liquidation center in Waterville with the questionable perishables and the cereal with foreign writing) like canned goods, staples etc.  I don't remember us eating much of it but we sure had a lot.

The problem with my largesse is the storage and the waste.  If you have so much food that you can't see what you have you end up buying multiples and food goes to waste if you exceed sell by dates or it gets gross before you uncover it.  So that is a long way of saying that I'm working on a "Pantry Challenge".  If I called it "Eat what you have on hand" I would not be into it but by calling it a "challenge" I can pretend it's a cool Food Network Show that I'm participating in.

Over the past few weeks as I've been extreme couponing (sort of) and doing the pantry challenge it has really changed the way I grocery shop.  In the past I paid no attention to what the total would be, I would see something and think, "oh I should get that because I might want to make ______ soon."  This is how I ended up with 7 cans of bread crumbs (seasoned, unseasoned and panko...you know, options).  So now I have a menu planned and I only buy things that are:

1. Needed for the menu THIS WEEK
2. A super good buy and/or something I have a coupon for that we regularly eat (cereal, yogurt etc)

It has been hard to go by things that I normally would throw in the cart and I find myself talking to myself (in my head, not out loud) and telling myself the "rules".  I do think I've spent less and there may actually be a few cupboards that aren't dangerous to open.  I think I need to do the pantry challenge for at least another month to see real progress.

Another thing that helped was that our refrigerator died and we lost a bunch of stuff and had to start over.  It's weird to only have one kind of mustard (which I don't even like), one of each thing, we had way too many condiments, sauces etc.but I'm learning to embrace it.

I'm proud of myself for paying attention to this and really think it will make a difference in both the organization of the kitchen, my ability to find things (and not buy duplicates) and save money.

Anyone who wants to join me on the Great Pantry Challenge come aboard!  Maybe you have hoarded something I can mix with all those bread crumbs.

Leave me a comment on your pantry issues or any tips that might help me.

What is my time worth?

Amidst the fun of trying to be an extreme couponer I have also increased my involvement in other online things such as bzzagent, survey sites and signing up for freebies.  Right now that is all fun and there is the thrill of the chase but I'm wondering in the long run if my time is worth the freebie I get in the mail or the points I earn on a site that will eventually be redeemable.  I'm still trying to weigh it all out.  One site I do enjoy is bzzagent.  You get products to try and review and you bzz about it to get others interested in the program or product.  I have four going right now, one for old cat catfood which my old cat seems to LOVE, one for monitoring your child's online activity (good idea), one for creating one site to manage all your social networking which would probably be very advantageous to someone doing self marketing rather than just being actively online.  The final one is for werthers caramels which have not arrived yet but I'm already excited about them!

I'd love to hear what other folks do to save or make money online that is LEGITIMATE and not a pain in the butt. 

Uh, hi again...

Well that was embarrassing.  I can't believe I last blogged in January.  I sure hope no one was holding their breath waiting for my next thoughts.  It's my hope that I'll start blogging again now that it's...drumroll please...

THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR, also known as BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

One of the challenges of having a child with autism is that he thrives on routine.  Summer, while delightfully hot and full of adventures and lazy days, is also unstructured and hell for my kid.  I LOVE back to school, I love the fresh start, the new pencils, the return to routine.  I just love it all.  The kids had an extra, unexpected week of summer vacation due to school construction issues.  This meant that instead of going back last Wednesday they won't go back until this coming Tuesday.  44 hours from now, give or take, not that I'm counting.  Oh hell, of course I'm counting.  I began counting last June when school let out.

My hope for this Fall is to continue with my organizing and purging but also I'm trying to become an extreme couponer.  I have only been trying it for about a week or so but I'm obsessed.  I don't want to be one of the really extreme people who spend hours on their plans and cutting coupons and buy 57 cans of spam, because really, no one likes spam even if it is free or only four cents.

So far I have cut a lot of coupons, tried to organize them and I have learned a few things. 

1. There is a time investment required, especially when you begin because you won't know what the heck you are doing.
2. It will take time to figure out an organization system that will work for you.
3. You will be thrilled when you get something free or save a bunch of money on it.
4.  You need to watch out that you don't become a hoarder instead of an extreme couponer.

I plan to blog about my couponing and my finds as well as my flylady efforts and other adventures I have.
I still think I need a reality show, people would really have enjoyed seeing the tomato guts all over Max's fortress of solitude and watching us not kill him.

New Years Resolution Time...

January 1st is a time for fresh starts, new beginnings, hope for a bigger or at least better year to come.  2010 was good to me in a lot of ways and hard in a lot of ways.  Max had heart surgery last January and his nose cauterized twice under anesthesia over the summer.  I lost 80 lbs and feel pretty good about where I am although there is always more to lose.  I could easily make resolutions about losing 20 lbs, getting organized or getting out of debt.  All things I need and want to do BUT everything I read talks about small, measurable goals and I have years and years of experience with starting big in January and fizzling out before mud season.  So my goals for 2011, which I'll chronicle in my blog, can be summed up in one word:

NEW!

I am going to try NEW things.  I want to eat new food, learn to cook new food, go new places, try new things I've never done or maybe never thought I wanted to do.  I want to do something even if it scares me.  I want to read books I'd never read before and think new thoughts.  I want to say yes to things I'd automatically say no to in the past, and say no to things that don't work for me anymore.  I want to be more mindful and be in the present rather than focused on my to do list or what is ahead or what has already happened.   In order not to get overwhelmed by all the NEW I am going to focus on a couple specific things for January and add to them as time allows.

For January I am going to:
1. Eat something new
2. Cook something new
3. Learn something new (hopefully everyday like the saying goes)
4. Read something new

And in the midst of all that I will be trying to lose 20 lbs, get out of debt, be more mindful and get organized.  Whee, here we go!!!

Happy New Year to me!  What are your New Years Resolutions?