For years now I’ve been looking for ways to save money on groceries .  I look for ways to save money on everything,  but groceries especially .  The reason is they are a non-negotiable part of my life.  We have to eat,  we don’t have to have the newest toys or latest fashion trends.

Watching TLC’S Extreme Cheapskates one day I saw a great idea. … one of the people the show featured talked about a fiscal freeze.  Basically it was a period of time in which you decided to not spend any money unless you really needed to which forces you to get creative with what you have.  I grabbed my calendar and wrote in a fiscal freeze every 6 or so weeks.

Unfortunately I’m not so sure how well this worked. Not because it wasn’t a goof idea,  it was an amazing idea.  I just simply lacked the self control. I noticed a pattern .  The start of the freeze would be approaching ,  at first I’d be excited and ready to do it. Then the dread would set in.  It reminded me of how saying you’re on a diet makes you want to eat chocolate cake .  Just like dieters will have their one last fix,  I’d go on one more shopping trip before the freeze.  one it defeated the purpose, if I stock up on things I’m not going to be creative with what I have.  Two,  I spent more money then I probably would have had it not decided to go on a freeze.

I needed a better solution .  I love to read articles about saving money and I’ve slowly incorporated a lot of ideas into my daily life.  Cooking at home,  cooking from scratch. The problem is I still feel like I’m falling short on my personal goal.

Watching a vlog from The Encouraging Home School Mom gave me an idea.  She mentioned using up pantry supplies before a shopping trip.

The idea kept popping up in my head.  So I decided to look it up on Google. I looked up pantry challenge and found a great article

http://www.thekitchn.com/can-a-pantry-challenge-really-save-you-money-223065
I’m giving it a try.  While working on my own self control I’m not setting a date or period of time to do this for .  My goal is to simply use up as much of my pantry and freezer as I can until I feel like I’ve had enough.  I’m hoping that by making it a positive and not a depriving experience ,  it will reinforce it as a positive experience and I’ll look forward to the challenge and want to do it again.