I think this week’s $20/$20 Challenge submission is from our largest family yet. Melissa has eight kids and not only an incredible pantry setup, but a pretty stellar system for feeding her family a mostly whole foods diet! Here’s her story:
Mavis,
My name is Melissa. I live in Washington State with my husband and our eight children, whom we home school. Since most of us are home most of the time, we go through a lot of food. Over the years I’ve learned how to stretch our grocery dollars while still feeding our family a mostly whole foods diet.
The biggest money saving tactic I’ve ever implemented was when I started to menu plan. Writing down what our family will be eating for dinner each week has been a huge money saver, not to mention a sanity saver. I make notations on my menu plan to remind me when to transfer meat from the deep freeze to the refrigerator so that it will be thawed in time for its designated dinner. I also make notes to soak beans overnight, make rolls early in the day, etc. We waste very few leftovers, which is also a money saver.
Since the days of extreme couponing are over, I’ve had to retool my money saving strategies at the grocery store. I do nearly all of my grocery shopping at three stores–Costco, Walmart and Fred Meyer. I also frequent the bread outlet to take advantage of their $1 marked down bread. I love Walmart’s price matching policy, especially for produce and dairy deals. I never leave Fred Meyer without cruising through the store looking for yellow mark down tags. I do occasionally stop by the Winco bulk section as well. I still use coupons, just not to the degree that I used to.My biggest grocery expenditure months are November, December and August. I stock up on baking supplies around the holidays, as well as rock bottom priced turkeys and post holiday mark down hams.
August is our big canning month. We are blessed to live in a great agricultural area where produce is plentiful. Our peach trees finally produced enough of a harvest last summer to provide for some of our canning needs. I still picked peaches at a local orchard where I’ve picked for years, but I hope to be phasing out of this in the next few years as our own trees mature. I also buy local pears and apples for canning. We freeze local corn, berries, cherries and peaches as well. Nearly every year, someone gifts us with some fresh asparagus and green beans (yeah for free produce!), which I love to pickle.
Our oldest daughter has a small raised bed garden which provides us with some of our fresh produce needs in the summer. We supplement with produce from local farm stands. I picked a bunch of spaghetti and butternut squash for 29 cents per pound at a local farm last fall to supply our needs for the winter.
Our oldest son keeps chickens which provide enough eggs for our family and a few customers. Since it’s winter, the girls aren’t laying very well and I’ve had to resort to buying eggs at the store. When eggs go on sale for $1.25 per dozen, I buy ten dozen to tide us over until the next sale.
My uncle is a farmer and he provides us with wheat that my oldest daughter grinds and makes into fabulous bread and rolls. We buy a grass fed cow every year from a farmer friend of ours. I buy brown and white rice, flour, sugar, oats and pinto beans in 25 pound bags and store them in buckets which I’ve picked up for free from bakeries and restaurants.
~Melissa
Are you getting your pantries camera ready? You can participate in the $20/$20 Challenge by simply sending in pictures of your pantry. Find out more about the $20/$20 Challenge: Show Your Pantry – Fill a Pantry!
mrs spock says
I’d love to know where Melissa gets her bulk pintos and oats. I found good bulk prices for flour and rice at Sam’s, but can’t find online dried beans and oats that are less per pound than my local grocery store.
martha says
Mrs. Spock…look for the business Cash and Carry in the Northwest, or any other business that supplies restaurants. Also, many grocery stores with bulk food bins will order you #25 or #50 bags, and mine even gives me a 15%discount!
mrs spock says
Thank you!!
Heidi P says
I’m highly impressed! Thanks for sharing.
suzanne says
Love it! So tidy and organized. I’m kind of glad the extreme coupon days are over. We eat much better these days.
karen says
Totally AMAZING!
In the days of extreme couponing, I really focused on free toiletries and would then do a garage sale with things marked for a dollar. It was like free money! Coupons today just aren’t as great.
stephanie Hughes says
Hello Mavis,
I love your site. I have commented under my old name (remarried 32015). We have 10 boys combined 8 that still live at home with us. I love money saving ideas.
Cheryl says
This was beautiful! Agree about the coupons I only use them to buy things I already buy.
Beth C says
I like to know more about the shelving in the first picture. It looks as though the shelves are slanted. Did you make these and if so, did you use a certain plan?
Felicia Callahan says
Similar storage can be found at a site I follow called Food Storage Made Easy. They can also be found at other “prep” sites
Melissa says
I got the shelf off of Craigslist a number of years ago. Yes, it’s slanted, so that newer canned goods are always in the front.. I love it! You might be able to find some plans for something similar online.
Rachel B says
I love the idea to get buckets for free from restaurants and bakeries!
Lisa Millar says
So beautiful!!! I woke this morning to read this and see the photos of such organisation and immediately figured I should be reorganising my pantry!!
I love the way the oldest kids are contributing to the food on the table! (Would have loved to have seen a photo of the whole family!!)
So impressive!
Thanks for sharing!
(Also adore that can rack!!)
janet says
Melissa, everything is so tidy!! And your canned fruit is beautiful. That many peaches you must be in eastern Wa. Thanks for sharing.
Louiesa says
Hi Mavis I love everyone’s tips
I have a question and hope you all can help me get started I live in canada and am wondering if your tips and tricks can help me on a budget aswell
Thank you so much for any help everyone can offer
Warm regards
Louiesa
Lisa Millar says
Browsing through Mavis’s incredible blog will help you pick up great savings ideas (I am in Australia but still find a lot of her information relevant and useful!)
One small thing I started doing three years ago was making my own laundry liquid – I am sure Mavis has a recipe somewhere on here, but let me know if you want me to write it down for you.
A litre of the good laundry liquid here costs around $10. I can make 10 litres for under $2. Takes about 30 minutes out of your life to put together and I know there are so many other things I would rather be spending that surplus $98 on!!
Mavis says
DIY laundry detergent is totally the way to go! Here is the recipe I use and love: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/diy-how-to-make-your-own-laundry-detergent/
Mavis says
So many of my tips are used by readers in other countries, so they could absolutely help you! This post might be a great place to start: http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/how-to-cut-your-grocery-bill-in-half/. Hope that helps! My biggest suggestion if you are struggling is to take baby steps! Every little bit will add up!
Gwen in L.A. says
My favorite pantry post so far. Very close to what we eat, including fresh food from our garden (Square Foot style garden) and fruit trees. We’re in the suburbs of Los Angeles, less people ( 3 adults) in the household but I can really relate to this.
For Lisa Miller…I make my own laundry soap too, but prefer the dry recipe. Less chance of spilling in a quake (Seriously! That happened in ’94, along with a gallon of soy sauce in a tin bursting.)
All good wishes!
Mavis says
I know earthquakes are not a laughing matter, but that visual just made me giggle!!
Lisa Millar says
My sister prefers the powder too – takes up less space
Not sure why but I am a sucker for the liquid – but I haven’t had to think about earthquakes!!
That must have been a horrible mess!! Suds and sticky!!!
Julie L says
Great posting, Melissa! I was surprised to read that you purchase so many eggs when they’re on sale. I’m curious to know how you store them. I would love to buy more when they go on sale, too, but I’m afraid they’ll go bad before we get to them. I’d love to hear your advice.
Thanks!!
Carmen says
Fascinating.
Mavis – would you consider a post about canning please? I don’t understand the appeal, but know it’s quite popular in the US. I am very curious, living across the pond in the UK. I don’t know anyone who cans anything.
Besides mayonnaise, we simply don’t eat most of the things that I see canned. We do go through about 2 jars/year of jam, chutney and maybe sundried tomatoes, but I have no idea how people are consuming pickles, lots of jars of fruit (for what: pies?) and other things I see, so I’d love to know!
Ginger says
Carmen- we eat canned fruit as side item at a meal or snack. Some people eat canned fruit all the time. You can buy it at the grocery store. The people i know who can eat it when it is the off season like winter. I personally don’t can because it is not a cost effective for me. In my part of the country not lots of fruit trees. Local farms charge more than the grocery store even the pick yourself places.