Shelftember

I can't believe it's September! Bring on the pumpkin spice EVERYTHING, colorful leaves, hay rides, and cooler weather! I'm so ready for it, aren't you?

This year, I discovered "Shelftember" and I'm prepared to give it a shot. With prices still SO high, we need to do whatever possible to save money and feed our families.

What is Shelftember?

If you don't know, Shelftember is a challenge in which you use what you have on hand, even more than you usually do. This challenge is for those of us with somewhat-to-fully stocked pantries. If you don't have anything on your shelves to begin with, it's not going to be easy to eat from them. If that's the case, I highly recommend stocking up on the basics: pasta, rice, soups, canned vegetables, fruits, beans and meats and the like. You can get these fairly inexpensively at stores like Walmart and Aldi, and you can look at your weekly grocery store ads for even better deals. *More on that later.

Everyone does Shelftember a little differently. Some people do a full No-Spend Month, committing to only eating what they have in the cupboards, fridge and freezer for the entire month. Other people set a weekly or monthly budget to stay under. I am not sticking to a hard and fast number, but instead making a serious commitment to frugality and eating what we already have. I will, however, be budgeting and tracking my spending extra closely this September. I have a few reasons for doing it this way. 1) I know my family will need perishable basics like milk, eggs, and some fresh fruits and veggies. 2) I don't know exactly what will go on sale during this month. If there are fantastic sales, I am not going to limit myself to a certain budget if it doesn't make sense for my family.  3) I don't know how much to set my budget to... yet. With the way prices have been changing over the past few years, it's hard to set a perfect budget, especially for a low-spend challenge like this one. However, I am committing to tracking prices, sales, my budget and more regularly so that I can better forecast my budget in the future. For now, I'm aiming for about $25-50 to a week, for a total September food budget of around no more than $200.

Taking Inventory

I've been stocking up on great back-to-school deals all throughout August, and we're starting the month with a full fridge, freezer, chest freezer and pantry. They're so packed, in fact, that I need to start off with an inventory. I'm creating a full food inventory sheet* currently so I can keep track of what we've got. It's easy for things to slide to the back of the cabinets or freezer and get forgotten. Now is the time to go through every single little food item and write it down (or in my case, type it up and check it off.)

During my food inventory, I will check dates carefully and be sure to bring anything that is past or approaching the "Best By" date to the front. Please remember that Best By dates are just that -- a date set as the date that the food will be best at. You can safely consume most food after this date, but it will slowly decrease in flavor and nutrients. Use up the oldest products first and be sure to carefully inspect all food before consuming it. Use your eyes, ears, nose and mouth to determine whether anything is wrong with the food. If it smells, tastes, or looks off or weird, throw it out!

Meal Planning

After I get done with inventory, I'll know exactly what I have on hand and can create a plan for our meals. I'll do a monthly plan for this challenge. Usually, I do a rotating weekly plan*. This month I plan to loosely follow my weekly meal plan, incorporating what I've got on my shelves and making changes as needed. 

For my meal plan, I'll use up the oldest food in the pantry first. I'll still prioritize healthy, balanced meals with a mixture of protein, starches, vegetables and small amounts of fat. For example, spaghetti with meatballs and broccoli. I'll stick to many old standbys, but I'll have to get creative in using up things that I've overlooked.

Not Just Dinner

I'll also plan out breakfasts, lunches, snacks and desserts*. Often, a box of brownie mix will get overlooked and with the weather finally cooling off a bit, it'll be nice to get a chance to make up some yummy treats again! I love to enlist my daughter's help in making baked goods and she's quickly becoming a pro at packing her lunch for school. For some reason it's just so much more fun and exciting for kids when they know they helped create the for they're consuming.

Not Just Food?

Typically it only refers to food, but I think there are ways to extend the Shelftember mindset into other aspects of life as well. Arts and crafts, for example, is an area where you can commit to using up what you've already got. Look around any room in your house and think about what you're saving for another day and choose to do one of two things: use it or lose it. If you've got something you haven't used in a while whether it's a sewing machine, scrapbook, treadmill or popsicle molds, now's the time to give it a whirl! If you can't get yourself to use it or you try it and it's just not for you, get rid of it! Sell it or donate it. Who knows? You could even find yourself with extra cash by October, just in time to get ready the holidays!