New Year Fridge and Pantry Cleanout, No Spend January

Posted on | December 31, 2009 | 15 Comments

       pantry_fridge                                                                             Happy New Year! For some reason, this New Years more than any other I feel like I have some real resolve to make some positive changes in the way our family spends money. Don’t get me wrong, we live pretty simply and there are really not a lot of extras around here. But I think the past several months I’ve taken that for granted, and thus been a bit lax about going beyond my budget for certain expenditures and justifying it one way or another.

Honestly, this year has been a bit tougher financially as I’ve cut back many of my tutoring hours since I’m going back to school, and that loss of income, though small, can be felt.  On the bright side, I’ve started up a little cottage industry selling Fermented Vegetables in my local co-op, and surprisingly that’s taken off to a good start. Hopefully that can bring in a bit of extra income.

I started to realize that I have complete control over what I spend. Thankfully, we are not in debt (except for our mortgage) and so therefore I really have the power to choose wisely when it comes to spending my husband’s hard-earned cash. 

We’ve stripped our life down to the bare essentials (in my opinon). We own a small, affordable condo.  We own one car. My husband has a great job, closeby, that provides for our needs and has amazing insurance coverage (thank God!).  We homeschool and utilize the local community center for a few affordable classes for the kids, we keep our driving down to a minimum, I stay the heck away from the mall.  We clothe our children with hand-me-downs or cheap finds at second hand stores.  I make most all of our meals. I try to make my husband’s lunch.  We don’t buy expensive conveniece foods.  We don’ have cable, home phones (only cells), dish network, magazine subscriptions, etc.  Our insurance is low and affordable.

So what is the problem?  Well, for some reason we’re still not able to save much money every month, and that really bothers me.  I know I go a little lavish on my food budget because I’m a food snob. I have a problem restraining myself from exotic ingredients.  Well, this year I’m challenging myself to do what this blog is all about: be truly Organic and Thrifty!

Here is my resolution for 2010:

Work to get our costs down to below my husband’s net income so we don’t have to rely on my odd jobs or pull from savings to balance the budget.

…. and ultimately save for my dream home: a yurt on 1/4 acre with southern exposure so I can have my suburban homestead! That might not be my husband’s exact dream…..we’ll see.

Action Steps:

  • Grow my hair long again. Save $40 every six weeks on a designer haircut and don’t worry about vanity so much!
  • Starting in January,  I’m giving myself a personal “fridge and pantry cleanout” challenge to use every last item in the fridge, freezer(s), pantry, and storage shed until I can see the back of them.  I’m going to blog regularly (hopefully daily) about what I’ve made with what I had on hand.  I am excited to see how long I can make the food last, and also will be eager to see how much we save in the process!
  • I’m declaring January a “No Spend Month” (as originally inspired by Shannon of Nourishing Days) other than absolute essentials (toilet paper, etc.). 
  • Learn the art of rationing: use bacon sparingly, make almond flour treats once a week only, plan a use for everything, but when it’s gone it’s gone. Learn to live in feast or famine. (No worries, I won’t let my kids starve).
  • Simplify menu planning further by creating a month-long menu plan all at once.  Or, just repeat the same theme week after week for a month, and then rotate. I think I’m going to try both ideas and see which one works best.
  • To optimize nutrition while saving on ingredients, I’m going to be making lots of soups with bone broth, veggies, and a small amount of meat.  These are real budget-savers, and a couple of soups a week can really make the budget stretch without sacrificing nutrition.
  • My new goal is to create as many nourishing, grain-free $5 meals as possible each night. I will post the meals that are worth sharing!
  • I’m going to begin making my own coconut milk using dried coconut and hot water. I mostly use coconut milk for soups anyway, so I’m hoping that this process will save a bit of money.
  • Ask every dollar “Who are you, and where do you think you’re going?” before spending it (thanks, Dave Ramsey!).

 I’m really excited about sharing my journey and getting back to blogging more about food budgeting while eating real food.  Like I said before, my major motivation right now is to really try to get into a saving pattern so that within the next year or two we really can upgrade and afford to significantly increase our mortgage and purchase a house on 1/4 -1/2 an acre so that I can really work towards more self-sustainability.  This has been a desire of my heart for a while now, but I know that God is teaching me some great lessons here on my little condo “farm”.  I’m excited to graduate to chickens and goats in the near future, and to possibly have more space in my kitchen for culturing more kombucha and such in order to expand my tiny little fermented veggie business.

As always, dear readers, thank you for reading this blog and for your continued support! 

Happy New Year!

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Comments

15 Responses to “New Year Fridge and Pantry Cleanout, No Spend January”

  1. Barb@My Daily Round
    December 31st, 2009 @ 6:07 am

    Money Saving Mom and Life as Mom have started a January pantry challenge, too. I joined in, but my own food goals are similar to your more detailed ones. I’d like to save up money over the year to buy part of a grass-fed cow in the fall.

    I hadn’t considered declaring a No-Spend month, but I love the idea. I’m feeling the need to detach myself from spending, but I do need to do some thrift store shopping for our needs like clothing. I’ve also been thinking about The Compact for the year with certain caveats.

    I can’t wait to hear about your progress!

  2. carrie
    December 31st, 2009 @ 6:14 am

    Barb,

    I hadn’t heard of the Money Saving Mom pantry challenge; I’ll have to check that out!

    Good luck to you in your saving goals for a cow. I’m excited to share about this journey!

    Just curious: What’s The Compact?

    Great to hear from you!

    Carrie

  3. aurelia
    December 31st, 2009 @ 7:27 am

    There are ways to save money with long hair besides simply giving up the haircut.

    Many long hairs can extend the wash. I recently cut my hair back from waist to arm-pit length to remove some layers, but I’m still able to maintain the same extended wash schedule of every three-to-five days.

    I also use inexpensive shampoo and conditioner. My usual shampoo is Queen Helene Mint Julep Shampoo. It’s a shampoo concentrate that is free of sulphate detergents, protein and silicone ingredients. I’ve been using the same bottle I bought for about $3 for more than a year.

    I use quite a bit more conditioner than shampoo. Still I rarely go through more than three bottles of $1 a bottle White Rain shampoo a year.

    I wear my hair down with its natural wave for the first day after a wash (I bathe at night), sometimes down or braided or half-up for the second day. Third day and beyond I generally wear it in a french twist or a bun, usually a braided bun.

    Come see us at the long hair community if you want to know more. You can look at the articles and the public areas of the forum without joining. It’s a heavily moderated board which makes it a very nice place with little drama.

  4. Leigh
    December 31st, 2009 @ 10:14 am

    Excellent goals Carrie. And an inspiration to the rest of us.

    I’m working on my New Year’s goal post too, though mine are more homestead related. It just seems as though this is a good time of year to evaluate and redirect as needed.

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  6. Jill
    December 31st, 2009 @ 11:25 am

    Whenever we are in fest or famine mode – whether voluntarily or involuntarily – I’m reminded of Elisha and the Widow. God always provides.

  7. Jill
    December 31st, 2009 @ 11:30 am

    Oops – Elijah! I’m not great with names!

  8. emily
    December 31st, 2009 @ 1:17 pm

    grain free and thrifty seems like a challenge to me but maybe it’s not really?

    my question for you, as i am new to grain-free eating (my husband and kids still eats grains,mostly non-gluten ones, me and baby dont), is how will you provide nutritious meals with not much meat? do you kids eat a lot of good fats like butter, bacon, ect.? or is your food mostly veg?

  9. Krys
    December 31st, 2009 @ 1:33 pm

    Great post! I too have decided that 2010 is the year to live more frugally. I love the idea of a no-spend January! I could very well do that considering I paid upfront for my CSA, and the freezer is pretty well stocked with grass-fed beef. Thanks for the inspiration!
    Happy New Year!
    Krys

  10. Laryssa @ Heaven In The Home
    December 31st, 2009 @ 1:42 pm

    Sounds great! I’m right there with you. :-)

  11. Iconographygirl
    December 31st, 2009 @ 1:43 pm

    Great post! We have similar aspirations but not as much fervor :) You are an inspiration. I love the “more soup” ideas and hope you’ll post some recipes along the way that work well for your family. My own goal for Great Lent (not so far away!) is to really keep it simple. I get so tired of coming up with gourmet vegan meals and keeping the letter but not the spirit of the fast. I want to attempt to have the same nutritious but simple meal plan for each week of the fast (Mondays=Split pea soup, Tuesdays=stuffed peppers, etc..)

  12. carrie
    December 31st, 2009 @ 4:30 pm

    @Emily,

    That is a great question. And yes, grain free and thrifty is certainly a challenge. I could spend a lot less if I did grains (even healthy ones) for sure, but since that way of eating doesn’t really work with my family, we have to splurge a bit and scrimp in other places.

    All that said: I try to use moderate protein, high fats, and lots of veggies. We bought 1/4 of a grassfed cow a while back (in early 2009) and I got the entire amount processed into hamburger (including the heart and liver added in!) and I feel like I have enough meet to last me well into early summer at the rate we eat it.

    Nora Gedgaudas, author of _Primal Body, Primal Mind_ and fellow low-carber, talks about how we only really need about 2-3 oz. worth of animal flesh with each meal, and to focus on getting high quality fats into the diet. I find when I follow these principles, I can be satiated on much less. I will be sharing these thrifty, filling recipes!

    I also must add that by eating low carb, I am not snacking throughout the day and I can often go some days simply eating two meals (breakfast and dinner) without being hungry. I try to remember to drink lots of water and to really pay attention to my hunger and not just eat to eat….so I think all of those things allow me to eat less, but much higher-quality food!

  13. carrie
    December 31st, 2009 @ 4:35 pm

    @ Iconography girl,

    Thanks for your sweet comment! Simplicity during Great Lent is such a wonderful, freeing concept. Not always so easy when you are cooking for children, however!!! But thankfully my clan loves lentils, and thank God for coconuts and avocados!!!

    But yes, I will certainly share my soups! I’m already excited to introduce white bean chili, cheeseburger soup, and beef and cabbage soup as part of my regular rotation. And since I can get beef bones for $0.50/lb through a farmer, I can make them with high quality broth for pennies practically!

    And if we could do gluten, I would totally make sourdough with one of Cultures for Health’s starters; that would be such a way to save on high quality bread!

  14. xenia katie
    January 1st, 2010 @ 12:57 am

    Great post, Carrie!

    I’m hoping to make more broth each week… I’d like to have a reliable supply on hand, and if I get into the habit of making whole chickens stretch as far week by week, I know that can happen.

    And although I love delicious, rich, fancy recipes, deep down I know that I can feed and satisfy my family on much more basic (yet delicious!) meals. Why trouble myself going to a million different stores for a million different fancy ingredients?

    I’m still keeping my hair long, after 2 years of purposefully growing it out. I’ve found that, like Aurelia above, I can now wash it every 3rd day and still have it look fine. Even if I take a shower on day 2, I don’t have to necessarily use shampoo/ conditioner. I find that it helps reduce dandruff dramatically too, especially in the winter when it seems to just erupt out of nowhere. Summer might require some more frequent washes, but for now I’m glad I can cut back with good results.

    I am sometimes tempted to cut my hair, but I will only allow myself to do that once I am capable (have the guts?) to cut it myself. Haha! So down, down it grows :)

    Yay for your yurt on some land! I am pulling for ya… I so want your dreams to come true!

    Here’s to a thrifty and God-pleasing 2010!

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