$5 Pantry Challenge: Spent $4.98

For those of you who want to stock up your pantry, but don't have a lot of extra money to do so, this post is for you.  I just want to show that you can make progress by just spending a small amount.  I typically do not shop like this because we eat a lot of fresh food, but my point is to show that it can be done.  Don't get discouraged, but be persistent, and you will have a nice panty full of food in no time.  All of the coupons were printed from the internet yesterday before shopping.  I don't have a stash of coupons and you don't have to either. 

Doritos - Free at Smith's last night between 4 and 8

.03  Beech-nut Toddler juice (bought two for a total of 6 cents)  They were 1.03 and I had two 1.00 coupons.

2 Free Red Velvet cake mixes

2 Brownie mixes for 14 cents each

2 Rice packages for 49 cents each

2 Hormel complete meals (It is good to have a few of these things on hand in case of an emergency.  We don't eat this type of food, but having a few ready to eat things is wise)

2 Frosting creations - 14 cents money maker for each.  I bought these to donate and used the extra savings towards the other things I was buying.

Baking for 68 cents  (I had originally intended to get a lot more food, but the stores didn't have some of the things I wanted so I bought this to finish my trip and be done)

2 Salsas for 20 cents each

Pasta for 50 cents

Grand total:  $4.98

Set a limit of how much money you want to spend on stocking your pantry.  Subtract this money from your regular grocery bill.  Spend 15 minutes looking on 1 or 2 websites to find deals.  Figure out what things you can get that you will regularly use.  Print coupons and go.  For me, the 5 dollars was a good amount.  It isn't a lot of money and won't take a lot of time to prepare a list and print some coupons.  It also isn't a big amount of money to have to take out of my regular grocery money.  

Some of these things can also be taken on vacation to save money on food.  They aren't as healthy as fresh food, but probably better for you and your pocket book than restaurant food.