In thinking about how I keep my pantry shelves stocked, I notice that I do a good bit of sale shopping (when not on the 6-month no grocery challenge, that is). I keep a price book, and have for years, so I know a good deal when I see one. If you don’t already keep a price book, I highly suggest you start. It’s an amazing frugality and pantry stocking tool. Because of my price book, I know to stock up on enchilada sauce, for example, when I can buy a can for less than $1.00. This kind of information allows me to make the most of those weekly store ads. These are items that I don’t use enough to warrant buying in bulk, but that I like to have on hand for occasional use.
Things I look for and stock up on when on sale:
- Condiments & Sauces - Things like ketchup, enchilada sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Braggs Liquid Aminos, peanut butter, honey, etc.
- Canned & Powdered Milk (Evaporated, Sweetened Condensed, Coconut, etc.) - I don’t use a ton of either of these products, but keeping a few on hand is a good idea for dinners and occasionally sweet treats.
- Cheese – I freeze things like mozzarella for pizza or medium cheddar for enchiladas, tacos, etc. I don’t freeze the good stuff like extra sharp cheddar and so I don’t buy it that often.
- Nuts – Nuts freeze well, so if I see a good deal on something, I buy up and freeze for future use.
- Pasta – I use sales to stock up on various shapes and sizes of pasta. We don’t eat a ton, but keeping some on hand is a good idea and makes for a quick meal.
- Canned Foods – We don’t use a ton of capers or canned clams, but a jar in the pantry is nice for the occasional meal. I really like pineapple and its obviously not at all local, but I buy a few cans of it a year, because good, fresh pineapple just isn’t something I can find here.
I also try to check out “Reduced for Quick Sale” Items in my local stores and buy accordingly:
- Produce: Several local stores, sell banded bananas. Basically bananas that are a day away from becoming totally black. I buy these at greatly reduced prices and freeze them for smoothies and/or banana bread. I’ll buy any produce at a reduced-rate if it’ll freeze, dehydrate, or can. One local fruit stand sells bruised items, super cheap and I never pass that stuff up.
- Meat: My local stores have a spot set aside in the meat section specifically for these items. If you’re on a tight budget, this is a section worth checking out. While its not likely to be local or free-range or organic, its a great way to buy meat and freeze for later use. I don’t do this much these days mainly because we’ve been buying beef & chicken in large quantities locally.
- Day-old bread – I do the majority of our bread-baking, but on occasion we buy the day-old (& older) stuff and freeze it for those times when life gets busy and I want to put bread baking off for a week or so.
I think that’s pretty much it, in a general nutshell. Obviously, you should adjust items and quantities for your family and their tastes. Any questions? I’ll cover how we use our pantry tomorrow.
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Just wanted to comment. I find organic free range whole chickens marked down every so often when I was going to a conventional store, as well as right after Thanksgiving and Christmas you can find one or two free range organic turkeys marked down because they didn’t sell in time. I have in the past purchased these and then simply dropped them in my freezer.
I do like to have some convenience foods available, so I look for deals on those things to stock up on. I was thrilled last week when the grocery had my favorite spaghetti sauce on a Buy One Get One Free sale. I stocked up, since we use it almost weekly, and if I don’t have time to make it, it’s great to go to the pantry. Another thing they had was canned black beans, same deal. I usually cook dried beans, but canned are sure convenient go-to’s when I get an urge for black bean soup in the middle of the week.
When I was feeding a family of seven which included four teenagers, I kept a price book and shopped all the sales. I still use many of those techniques of shopping savvy even though it’s just The Professor and me at the cottage these days. Well, at least, I remind him because he does most of the grocery shopping and a thrifty shopper he is, too!
Had never heard of a price book but sounds lie a great idea. I may have to look into that a bit closer
I know I need to get it into gear for the rest of the year, so when our busy season hits, it is a no brainer to have good food and not the processed, frozen, fast junk that I have been slipping into lately.
I like to make a double or triple batch of meatloaf, and then freeze little mini loaves I shape on a cookie sheet and freeze. Then I can take out however many we are going to eat, based on who is coming to the table, and bake little frozen ones in the time a fresh one takes, and perhaps throw a couple of baked potatoes in with it. So I will stock up on the ground beef and buy bigger batches and make my meatloaves and just bag some for browning in smaller bags.
Price book is a great idea!!! Sounds like it would really help save money and make you a more aware shopper!
A price book sounds like a great idea, I’ll have to start one!
Day-old bread is also wonderful for bread pudding.
I like to make pumpkin bread pudding with my homemade multi-grain bread, and then smile at my picky eater of a daughter inhaling it.