cdrumm4448 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 eaten out of your pantry without buying any food? We just got back from vacation and I am trying to clear stuff out before shopping. I think we can make it the rest of the week before needing to shop. DH just doesn't like having a lot of food around. I think it makes him nervous, like it's going to go to waste or something. How long have you gone eating out of your existing supply? I'm just curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Boy you are going to get a big range on this topic. I'm pretty sure some of the ladies do rotational stockpiling. For us, now that I've changed over the pantry (the size of a one door closet) we go about 2.5 weeks from dried bulk. It's been over a month now that I've kept the grocery budget down to about 170 per month for a family of 3. It's going okay so far. I only have five shelves to work with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewellsmommy Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) We have an extra freezer in the garage, so we have easily gone 2 weeks using up on hand supplies. We did buy milk, though. I will stock up at certain sales. Our store will often do the 2.5 lbs bags of frozen boneless, skinless, chicken breasts as buy 2 get 3 free. I can do chicken 100 different ways :D. ETA: I understood pantry to mean on hand food. IF you mean literal pantry, then a week. But, we could go longer in an emergency type situation, just not ideal meals. Edited July 3, 2012 by jewellsmommy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We have gone two weeks in the past, but now we buy mainly fresh foods, so I cannot usually get more than an extra day or two out of what we have on hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrothead Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 When I had a decent space to store food, I could go up to 2 months with our stores. Now I might make it 2 weeks. One of the things I"m looking forward to is decent storage space with out new accommodations. I think the root cellar will be the second thing we build. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdrumm4448 Posted July 3, 2012 Author Share Posted July 3, 2012 Boy you are going to get a big range on this topic. I'm pretty sure some of the ladies do rotational stockpiling. For us, now that I've changed over the pantry (the size of a one door closet) we go about 2.5 weeks from dried bulk. It's been over a month now that I've kept the grocery budget down to about 170 per month for a family of 3. It's going okay so far. I only have five shelves to work with. I really want to stockpile but 1) we only have a few cabinets and one extra refrigerator to work with and 2) I always give up on hunting down deals and pairing them with coupons. Any easy blogs that lay it all out for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bang!Zoom! Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We don't live close to the grocery store anymore. I used to go daily to work the coupon thing, it was only a few blocks away. It's a lot of effort, and some things are okay I think; but if you scratch cook, it all gets to be a bit silly. The site I used was http://www.afullcup.com/ The forums there are excellent, it's the highest quality site I know of. These are hardcore smart folks, they are NOT huge fans of extreme couponers - they are way more logical than that. For some of those girls there, it's a lifestyle and/or hobby. They have training areas, how to set up a binder, where to get advanced ads, all of it. It takes about a month or so to get the hang of it and build up your circulars. It does make a girl feel quite ridiculous to walk out of the store with a load of groceries and only pay 5 bucks for it. The part that really ticked me off were the shelf clearers at Walgreen/Rite Aid. I totally hate those people. GRR. They clear the shelves of all the deals, then sell them at garage sales or ebay. They have a veterans mobile unit that comes to Walgreens. I just used to keep a box of personal care stuff which was basically free but for my time and donate it to them or a local shelter. We are farther out now, it's not as convenient and I've pretty much dropped out of it though I retain the skills if I ever need them. It's a pretty deep learning curve, almost an art form. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Boy you are going to get a big range on this topic. I'm pretty sure some of the ladies do rotational stockpiling. This would be us. I prefer to keep my pantry stocked. I buy what is on sale each week. So we could live out of ours and the freezer for quite awhile if needed (a couple of weeks for sure..) but I don't want to. I want to buy what is on sale this week with my grocery budget, so that I don't pay full price for it next week. So this week I stocked up on sugar, pork loins, and a few other things like some canned things, etc. Last week it was chicken breasts. That way next week when I want chicken tacos I can pull them out of the freezer and make them with chicken that was .99c a lb (phenomenal Aldi's stock up 1 day only meat sale) instead of paying $1.99 or more per lb and with shells that I got for $1 a box and with shredded cheese that was on sale this week. I only have to shop for fresh fruit and veggies and milk, and even those could be supplemented with canned goods if I was unable to shop. I can't imagine not shopping this way if I could help it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I used to be able to do it for a month every year. Now....well we could make it a month, but it would be A LOT of rice. LOL I would say easily one week, maybe two from the pantry alone. Include the freezer and we have a month easily. This excludes fresh items like bread/fruit/veggies/milk. We have some frozen fruit/veggies but not bread or milk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melissad2 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Well I've been at it for almost a month and have only purchased milk and bread. The neighbors did bring us over some fresh green beans and tomatoes though. I don't get paid for another 9 days (but who's counting ;)) and we have been living on nothing almost through my maternity leave! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2_girls_mommy Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We don't live close to the grocery store anymore. I used to go daily to work the coupon thing, it was only a few blocks away. It's a lot of effort, and some things are okay I think; but if you scratch cook, it all gets to be a bit silly. Just wanted to add that I coupon and cook a lot from scratch. I do get some convenient items when I can get them super cheap, but I like cooking from scratch with oil, cheese, rice krispy (making krispy treats today..) cereal, and marshmallows that I got super cheap. My sugar was .49c for a 4 lb bag this week, so I bought 2 bags. That will keep me stocked until the next sale that matches a coupon hopefully. I just watch the ads for meat sales and there are even coupons for some. It takes about a month or so to get the hang of it and build up your circulars. It does make a girl feel quite ridiculous to walk out of the store with a load of groceries and only pay 5 bucks for it. The part that really ticked me off were the shelf clearers at Walgreen/Rite Aid. I totally hate those people. GRR. This is what I love CVS. You shop with your card, and you can only get 1 or 2 of each deal a week, plus they offer rainchecks that include the extra care bucks if the shelves are empty. I suggest them over the other drugstores if you have one nearby.. They clear the shelves of all the deals, then sell them at garage sales or ebay. . I haven't read all of the other posts, but I shop sales and use coupons and most people have this "extreme couponer" mentality when they hear it or see my organizer. But the people I know that are doing it are just trying to feed their families on one income and have found a way to do it less expensively. It works great for me and I was so thankful that I learned how to do it. This has gotten off topic, but relates to my other post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momteel Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I am wanting to pantry dive this month... there is stuff in there that just needs used up and I need to clean and organize my space. It is a large walk in closet so I can really make a big mess in there. In the garage, I store some larger amounts of canned beans and staples that would work if we ever have an earthquake here. We eat from them, and I re-buy by the case from a coop. I also try to keep extra peanut butter, rice, and things with good nutrition but shelf stable. I need to buy milk and I must have a lot of fresh produce in the house. It is a staple for me and the farms here can grow year-round so we have good stuff all the time at the farmer's market. Laura Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 A pretty fair amount of time. I did some calculator the other day and it said 265 days, although I think realistically we could do 6 months pretty easily. Although, I'd prefer to have a bit more variety and fresh than what I currently have available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kewb Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Just recently we went 2 weeks just using supplies on hand. Okay, I did pick up a couple of onions but other than that I used my bulk goods, what I had in the freezer, and my pantry. By the 2nd week pickings were a bit slim. I don't think my kids want waffles or eggs for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I've done it for a week or so when really necessary, but it's tough for us. I don't do a lot of couponing or stocking up on sale items, since the majority of the things we eat don't often go on sale. Thinking about what I have on hand right this minute, I could probably feed us boring but just-barely-nutritious meals for about a week, maybe. As someone else said, it would be a lot of rice. And I do have a few bags of dried beans in the pantry as well as several meals worth cooked and in the freezer. There would be next to no fresh fruits or veggies. (I think I have one bell pepper, a bag of carrots, a few pears and some potatoes and onions in the house at the moment.) I could bake enough bread to see us through a couple of weeks, but I'd be out of soymilk within three days. I'm actually running low on pasta at the moment, even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angela in ohio Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 My dh is the opposite; he was raised poor, fighting for food with three hungry brothers/step-brothers. He likes to see a full pantry. I used to have a lot more, but we eat less packaged stuff now. We do have an entire freezer full of beef, chicken, and fish, so we could eat that for months. The pantry is mostly baking supplies, nuts and dried fruits, and canned tomatoes. We could live for a month or two, but it wouldn't be fun. :001_smile: And we would have fresh eggs and veggies from the garden. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We keep ours stocked w/ bulk items, not convenience foods. I have a freezer full of meat- beef/pork/chicken and a pantry full of rice, brown rice pasta, various dried beans, canned tomato products, baking items etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 We keep ours stocked w/ bulk items, not convenience foods. I have a freezer full of meat- beef/pork/chicken and a pantry full of rice, brown rice pasta, various dried beans, canned tomato products, baking items etc. Same here. We could probably eat for a month on what we have on hand, but it would be a very boring menu. We eat a ton of fresh fruits and veggies, so going too far past planned shopping means totally changing how I structure our snacks and meals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MelAR05 Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 My dh is the opposite; he was raised poor, fighting for food with three hungry brothers/step-brothers. He likes to see a full pantry. :iagree:This is me. One of my biggest fears is that I would not have enough food to feed my children. We also eat alot of fresh fruit and veggies and still can't get away from buying milk, bread and eggs weekly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Strawberry Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 (edited) A month. There was no money for food. Regularly, I shop every 2 weeks and we could skip a shopping trip if we really had to. I only have 4 cupboards in my kitchen. One is for food. I don't coupon, but I do bargain shop. I don't cook much meat. We have a small fridge with a tiny freezer. I cook from scratch and buy bulk foods. We eat very well on approximately $60 a week. Edited July 4, 2012 by strawberrymama Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 Uh. I think I have enough chickpeas to prevent us starving until the end of the year, but I think my kids would go on a hunger strike once our fruit supply ran out. I'd think it justified enough that I'd go shopping. :p Chickpeas and parsley aren't anything approaching a balanced diet... Rosie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 That's a hard question.... Probably two weeks NOT counting fruit, vegies and dairy products. Fruit & vegies get picked up twice a week.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs.Gregg Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 That's a tough one. For somethings a year, other things, 6mos, most things 3mos. We keep to a pantry system, buy in bulk like rice, beans etc. I don't do the coupon thing. I do use coupons and *KNOW* how to do the coupon thing. I just don't have the desire too. I also cook from scratch alot and can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CalicoKat Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 eaten out of your pantry without buying any food? We just got back from vacation and I am trying to clear stuff out before shopping. I think we can make it the rest of the week before needing to shop. DH just doesn't like having a lot of food around. I think it makes him nervous, like it's going to go to waste or something. How long have you gone eating out of your existing supply? I'm just curious. 2.5 to 3 weeks is my tolerance. Then we start to run out of cheese & chocolate. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dory Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 That's a tough one. I can once a year so a large portion of our fruit and veggies are supplied for a year. Everything else is bought on a once a month basis. I have in a pinch gone without shopping for two months though, and on months where I'm not really pulled together we have bought groceries every week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted July 4, 2012 Share Posted July 4, 2012 A year. But I'm LDS, so I'm not sure if that counts. :lol: I'll skew your numbers. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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