Welcome to the Clean Out the Cupboards Challenge, co-hosted by Laura at Frugal Follies, Denise at Shopper Strategy, Robbie at Going Green Mama, Crystal (Me!) at Mrs. Happy Homemaker, & Rebecca Jean at Midnight Maniac.
This January, the four of us plan to challenge ourselves to eat from our pantries - to use up all that excess food sitting in the backs of the cupboards, from the refrigerator door, and from the freezer - and limit our shopping to as little as possible.
And we want you to join us, too!
The rules are very simple: Make up your own rules, based on what's best for your family. But here are a few basic guidelines.
And we want you to join us, too!
The rules are very simple: Make up your own rules, based on what's best for your family. But here are a few basic guidelines.
- Eat! This is not a eat as little as possible challenge. Prepare healthy foods for your family, even if it means doing more shopping than you expected.Don't load up this week with a month's worth of groceries. Go ahead and do your regular shopping, though.
- Don't not buy groceries, but then eat at restaurants all month long. Of course, feel free to eat at restaurants as you would normally do, if you wish.
- If you need to stop the challenge mid-month, based on the needs of your family, do so.
As for the details of the challenge, it's up to you!
- You might want to purchase dairy and produce throughout the month; others might try to stretch what they already have.
- You might want to limit your challenge to food items, or extend it to personal care items, paper goods, and cleaning supplies.
- You might want to allow yourself to purchase great deals; others won't.
Next week, we'll kick off the challenge by posting our goals. So figure out what your goals are. Is it to save money? To have more room in your pantry? To stop wasting food and therefor help the environment? Figure out why you want to participate in the challenge & I look forward to hearing what your goals are!
(Bloggers: if you wish to join us, we'll have a linky each week where you can link to your challenge posts. The linky will appear at the blogs of all four co-hosts!)
(Bloggers: if you wish to join us, we'll have a linky each week where you can link to your challenge posts. The linky will appear at the blogs of all four co-hosts!)
I will be using these great inventory sheets for the pantry, refrigerator, & freezer for keeping up with the contents of each & helping with the menu planning process. You can find a great menu planner printable here. Good luck!
