Pantry Living Weeks 11 & 12

I DID IT!!!!!!!

Friday I went to Sam's an spent $100 and felt no remorse. Sigh. These last two weeks were rough. I did have to cheat a bit more than usual because we were legit out of quite a few things. Our bathrooms were literally on their last roll of toilet paper each!! Also my meals were a bit more unusual but extra tasty. My family totally loved them and we may add them to our routine.Here is the skinny:

Pantry after week 12

Unopened boxes of cereal after week 10: 19
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 12: 12
Jars/cans/bottles opened: italian dressing, mac and cheese, coconut, peanut butter, margarine, pasta, spaghetti sauce, alfredo sauce, green beans, corn, olives, green chilies, teriyaki sauce, flour, sugar, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate graham crackers, cake mixes, brownie mix, frosting, syrup, ziplock bags, trash bags, marshmallows, chocolate bars, crystal light raspberry lemonade mix, oreos, crackers, cookies
Items we ran out of: oatmeal, jam, canned peaches, margarine, rice a roni, pot stickers, frozen broccoli, frozen green beans, fruit snacks, granola bars, eggs, breakfast sausage, goldfish, nesquik, water bottles
Allowable credit cards purchases: toilet seat, carrots, bread, bananas, yogurt, string cheese, hot dog buns,
Cash purchases: Candy, pens, burger king breakfast, goldfish, powerade, lunch meat, cinnamon buns, bread, fall decor, carpet deodorizer, cloth for halloween costume, basket,
Cheats: small jar of nutella,  disposable aluminum pans, photo prints,hot dogs, frozen pizza, nutter butters(don't judge), Levi's bday meals which were breakfast sausage, oj, a bag of chicken nuggets,fruit snacks, stuffed unicorn head key chains for Katy's bday party which will be in Nov. I just couldn't resist the sale and didn't have enough cash.
Gifts: jam, paper towels, cereal (2boxes from mom and dad), juice,
Free: So ShopRite has a policy if they overcharge you their customer service will refund the full amount to you for the first item and then just return the overcharged difference for the 2nd item. Well they overcharged me $2 for a small bag of pecans and so I was refunded the full amount. That will make this pecan pie that much sweeter!
Will be reimbursed for by church: terra cotta clay for making old fashioned oil lamps
Garden: 5 tomatoes! I'm shocked. Our temperatures totally dropped and made life comfortable but not warm enough for the veggies. We had one or two days get above 80 and that was enough for my last tomatoes to ripen. I'll take that!

Update: Cereal count ended at 62 boxes in 12 weeks!

So Friday was payday for my darling hubby. YA HOO!!! Now I can't go crazy. I have to build up my pantry little by little. We started at Sam's and had a celebratory lunch of pizza and soda. We know how to party. We bought milk, eggs, toilet paper, paper towels, nesquik, nacho cheese sauce, cocoa puffs, pam spray,  lysol wipes, chocolate chips, and Kool-Aid bag drinks that we'll give out to the trick or treaters. Yes, I like to buy ahead. I won't be tempted to break into them after 10pm. And they are cute and called "Ghoul Aid Scary Berry". Not sure why I think that is so funny. But they were on sale and so that is that. Also I'm already planning to be a mummy for Halloween and started buying materials for that. Tomorrow I plan to hit up ShopRite for an epic shopping trip. Levi is excited for that. I'm not even joking. He begs to go there because they give him free cheese. What more could a little boy want?

In a week or two I write my Lessons Learned post and get all sappy about Pantry Living. Thank you for following my progress this year.

Happy Fall and Happy Shopping!

Pantry Living Weeks 9 & 10

Oh Summer, oh Summer, where art thou?
The weather has been in the low 70s these past two weeks. I haven't been to the beach since my last update and as much as I'm loving the reprieve from the heat I still want my summer!!!
The weather might have cooled off but my family's appetite seems to have grown. Our upright freezer full of frozen veggies, breakfast meat and all other meat is looking pretty sparse. We also have a chest freezer which I've somewhat ignored so far. I keep the prepared foods in it, ie chicken nuggets, french fries, perogies, popsicles, fish sticks, fish fillets, shrimp, tater tots etc. I used many of those items these last two weeks.

Unopened boxes of cereal after week 8: 23
Unopened boxes of cereal after week 10: 19 (* note my parents gave me another 5 boxes this week)
We have consumed 53 boxes of cereal in 10 weeks!
Jars/boxes opened: peanut butter, alfredo sauce, pasta, corn, green beans, taco sauce, cream of chicken soup, crackers, oreos, fruit snacks, pirate booty, pastry crisps, pot stickers, mac and cheese, rice a roni, tortillas, sour cream, ziplock bags, sugar, toilet cleaner spray
Items ran out of: nutella, chicken breasts, fish sticks, shrimp, fish fillets, brown and serve sausage, Dr. Pepper, goldfish
Cash purchase: bread, dehydrated apples and peaches, bins, dog food, Comet cleaner, donuts, juice
Yard sale finds: free bike for my Max, Phillies t-shirt for Lilia, Sweater for Levi, bag of clothes for Max for $5 including pants, shorts, shirts and a Columbia lightweight jacket 😁

Allowable credit card purchases: gas, oil change, tire repair, parking in Philly,
Church items that I will be reimbursed for: bulletin boards, ribbons, push pins
Cheats: Date lunch with the hubby to Allan's Clam Bar, lunch with the kids to Taco Bell, diapers(grr Levi still needs them at night), contact solution(ran out, drat!), box of oreos (screamin' deal)
Gifts: 5 boxes of cereal and a bottle fruit punch, 4 boxes of macaroni, eggs, ice cream, hamburgers, croutons, crackers
Garden: 3 tiny cucumbers and a bunch of tomatoes. I'm afraid this is the end. THe weather has been so cool the cucumber plant has retired itself and the tomatoes aren't turning red anymore. My poor green bean plants never produced more than a single handful all summer. The raised bed will need a big revamp with fresh soil and fertilizer before next year's planting.

Well, normally this would be the last of it. My hubby finished the school year 10 weeks ago and starts on Tuesday with the new year. He has asked if I could extend my pantry living as long as possible. He would love it if I could last 2 more weeks until his first pay check.......I shall try. My fear is lunch. This year I will pack 4 lunches 3 days a week, and 3 lunches the other two days a week. (Katy only goes to preschool 3 days.) That means all the snack food (granola bars, fruit snacks, pastry crisps, crackers, chips) , sandwiches or leftovers, fruit(fresh, dried, canned, pouch, applesauce...), desserts(cookies, animal crackers, candy) will rapidly diminish. When we sit around the house my kids get very little of those things. When I send them to school they tend to eat more of those. I can make this work, but it will be work.

Happy Summer! Happy first week of School for us!

Happy Pantry Living!