How To Fill Your Pantry On A Budget – Quick Tips To Master
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Fill Your Pantry On A Budget? My family is always looking for ways to save money and one of the easiest ways is by stocking up on supplies. You may not realize it, but buying in bulk and using coupons can really increase your savings when you’re shopping at the grocery store. The following tips will help you stock a pantry without breaking the bank.
One of the easiest ways to save money is by stocking up on supplies. You may not realize it, but when you buy in bulk and use coupons at your local grocery store, you can really increase savings! Here are some tips for packing a pantry without breaking the bank:
How to Fill Your Pantry on A Budget
The history of the world has taught us that we need food, not just for today but also in tough times. Panic shoppers who clear out store shelves during a pandemic make it difficult for everyone to get what they need and want from their grocery stores.
If you don’t have any other worries (such as debt or another expense), stocking up on food is an easy way to guarantee your family will be able to eat if something goes wrong again with our economy or global systems like supply chains which deliver groceries all over the country.
Having a full pantry is an incredibly simple way to guarantee food security and help your family’s financial situation. This also helps you in the event of an emergency, as stores are often emptied out during disasters that require stockpiling.
First things first: Know your likes and dislikes
Stocking up on 20 cans of white chicken chili because you found them only for a dollar per can is no bargain if you hate the texture of beans.
The reality is that some people may not like the taste or consistency of certain canned foods, which means they are going to be stuck with the food they will never eat before it expires and goes bad. Making an honest list about your likes and dislikes would help in stocking up on items that match those tastes better – even though it might take more time than just running through the store grabbing anything cheap without thinking too hard about what’s really worth buying!
Work your store selling cycle
Saving at the grocery store is a game of patience. You have to be strategic about when you buy your groceries because they come with their own pricing cycle, which can make or break your budget if it isn’t taken into account. If you take two months worth of sales ads and work out what items are on sale during that time period then will know in advance how much to pay for any item based on its selling cost over time.
Some staples like pasta and cereal go on sale every six to eight weeks. If you watch for that lowest price before you add that item to your list, then the next time it is going on sale, if there isn’t a better deal at other stores in between those sales cycles
A great way of saving money when buying pantry items is by stocking up during their discounted pricing period with some simple math skills applied. For example:
10 boxes of spaghetti noodles will cost less than $5 each which saves ten dollars alone because normally they are two dollars per box! What about canned vegetables or macaroni and cheese? It seems obvious how this can pay off for anyone’s budget just by watching store selling cycle patterns.
This should be your go-to trick from pasta, grains, ready-to-eat cereal, crackers, cookies, and more.
Check the clearance aisle
When you’re looking for a bargain, do not forget about Scratch ‘n Dent. You can often find items that have been pulled off the shelves for small reasons like the company changed their packaging or they did store reset and decided to discontinue this item; it might be nearing its expiration date so if it’s something such as dried beans or rice keep in mind that pasta and rice were found in Egyptian pyramids which are still safe to eat today.
Some things like rice, sugar, salt, and honey are practically invincible if they are stored correctly.
I love the site Still Tasty – www.stilltasty.com for a good guideline of how safe something is if it is past its date.
Fill Your Pantry On A Budget: Clip Coupons
As time changes, so does the way we do things. Five years ago it was a much different story as everything had gone digital and there were plenty of opportunities to take advantage of these new technologies for our benefit. One such opportunity is getting your store loyalty card which can be utilized in many ways including receiving certain advertised specials that are only available to those who have one with them at the point of sale!
You don’t even need scissors anymore either because you may also want to check out their website if they offer electronic coupons that go hand in hand with this promotion; no pun intended but hey, I guess sometimes when something catches on fire you just gotta light another match under it before all hope is lost!
That being said, there are still paper coupons out there. Some are printed in your store’s ad circular and some are in your weekly free neighborhood papers that most people just throw out.
If you can stack a printed coupon with a digital coupon? What a way to save!
Jump at National Canned Food Month
February is a great month to stock up on canned food, which would make cooking in the event of an emergency much easier and more enjoyable. For example, you can find coupons for $0.50 off a jar of pickles or buy two cans of tuna fish get one free!
February offers amazing discounts from national stores like Kroger that offer everything your pantry needs – even shelf-stable milk! They run specials that make the rest of the year look like chump change so it pays to take advantage while supplies last as well as other deals such as 2-for-$1 beans/peas.
Who doesn’t love meat, beans, vegetables, vegetable juices, and fruit? For those looking for more variety in their diet or just looking for something easy to grab from the pantry when they’re feeling lazy.
If you missed canned food month? No worries, things like tuna and canned pasta meals are in that normal store selling cycle that we already mentioned.
If it isn’t February, look at buying dried beans and lentils instead of canned. The price is a lot better, and they will last longer. Once you cook them, they can be frozen for longer storage.
Fill Your Pantry On A Budget: Buy in bulk
Saving money on snacks is as easy as going to the store and buying your favorite, flavor-loving chips. While it may seem like a daunting task at first glance, you can save up for those big purchases by purchasing smaller versions of items that are usually sold in bulk packages such as Doritos or Goldfish crackers. Why not buy two packs instead of one? You’ll be able to get just enough so that they won’t go stale before being polished off from lack of use!
The convenience factor really adds up when we look at how much money per ounce is spent on preportioned goods versus regular bags based upon what size package you want to purchase – with this example let’s stick with an individual bag at roughly $2.50 vs three to four bags at $0.75 apiece when you get the single-serving packs. If you take that large bag and break it down into smaller bags, you will easily have six to eight bags of snacks instead of just three to four.
I am not saying you have to get the jumbo cans of baked beans, but all of those pudding cups, fruit cups, and 4 count cookie packs really charge you for that work of breaking them down.
Learn to can
There are many ways you can save money when starting your kitchen garden. First, look for free produce and plants in the neighborhood or on Facebook groups to be sure that they’re not diseased before planting them. If there is a lot of food already growing around where you live, consider gardening with what’s available instead of spending money on seeds and seedlings every year; this will help reduce costs immensely!
Don’t forget about using YouTube either: tutorials from experts who share their knowledge freely could teach beginners how to successfully plant perennials rather than annuals because it pays off later in life if taken care of properly.
Canning your own vegetables will only take some time. You’ll save money on the cost of supplies when getting started by looking at your local thrift stores and Facebook groups. Don’t be intimidated if you’re new to this concept: there’s literally anything you could learn online these days! Many of those that teach you to garden on Youtube can also teach you to can that bounty.
It really isn’t that hard to fill a pantry on a budget, and more importantly maintain it, once you have the tips and tricks down so you can do it.
Canning recipes we have shared:
- The Best Honeysuckle Jelly Recipe For Canning
- Canned Bean and Sausage Soup
- Canning Strawberry Pie Filling: a How-To
- Easy Instant Pot Blueberry Jam Recipe
- Instant Pot Spiced Honey Pecan Butter
- How to Make Chicken and Vegetable Canned Soup
- How To Make Pickled Beets
- How To Can Pears
Other money-saving posts you may find helpful:
- Bad Ways To Save Money Like Feeding a Family of 6 For a Buck
- The Crazy-Easy Guide To Pay Off Debt Fast
- How to Save Money Grocery Shopping
- How to Save Money on Electric Bill and Other Utilities
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- How to Save Money on Electric Bill and Other Utilities
- How to Save Money Camping
- 10 Ways to Save Money with Receipts
- The Best Ways to Save Money On Clothes
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- Don’t Let Delinquent Debt Ruin Your Finances – with free printable!
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