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