Yesterday ended the Pantry Month challenge. I gave my family $100 to buy groceries for the entire month, supplementing with what we had on hand in our chest freezer and pantry. Here's the final report: Accounting

After week one, when I ended up having sinus surgery, we eliminated the idea of including restaurant food from the $100 total. We spent $25.95 on milk, kefir, and tea.

In week two, we bought $36.68 of yogurt, milk and produce.

By the January 19 report, we spent another $20.92 at the other whole foods on bananas, kale, cheese and milk.

In the final week of January, pantry month went to hell in a hand basket. I contracted tonsillitis and could barely eat which you would think might limit grocery purchases. Instead, Alex threw the budget aside and bought a selection of things I might be able to enjoy: ice cream, bananas, kefir, yogurt, and honey, that ancient throat healer. I was too ill to keep track of purchases.

Our Mint software shows an unaccounted for $143.06 spent at grocery stores in January. I'm not sure what of that qualifies for the pantry month count. I do know that beer and wine are restocked but unconsumed, which I suppose we could count as Alex's reward for taking care of me so well. I know he intentionally over-bought on his last grocery run because the ice storm was forecast and he was heading out of town.

Conclusions

I do think we could have managed to stay under the self-imposed $100 limit if I had not gotten ill. We are fortunate to have had the savings from the rest of the month to spend. I now feel more empathetic to families with a tighter budget who face health challenges.
$100 is not enough for our family. Snowville milk alone cost $26.32. We would need to drastically change our eating habits and values to regularly eat with $100/month.
We did not consume nearly the amount of odds and ends in the pantry that I had hoped. There are still many little jars of lentils and beans and quinoa. Some are at least two years old and perhaps I should just sprout them and feed them to the chickens.
We noticed how many 'treats' we buy at the store regularly, based on how many things we had to deny ourselves in January. We will try to curb these because they were not missed once we left of the store.
We didn't eat a great variety of vegetables and fruits. They are expensive, so I limited us to high nutritional value items like citrus, bananas, and kale. We did have some frozen vegetables in the freezer at the beginning of the month and used most of those. I found it boring to cook without fresh veggies.
This challenge would be easier in the summer when fresh produce and eggs are mere steps away. Perhaps I will try a pantry month again in August or September with a more realistic budget.

I know a few people commented that they were going to try a grocery challenge with their families. How was your January?

Bloggers Amanda from Homestead in My Heart and Sally from Real Mom Nutrition shared that they are taking up a pantry challenge for February. I look forward to reading about their experience.

Added to Hearth and Soul Volume 33.

When I gave our family the challenge of eating what we had in our pantry, freezer, and larder with only $100 for fresh groceries, I pulled that number out of a hat. A very shallow hat, it turns out.

I initially thought we might be able to count restaurant expenses from the benjamin, but in the wake of sinus surgery we relied on take out and busted the budget in two quick days. I'm changing the rules (they are my rules after all) and only counting grocery and beverage purchases for home consumption, also discounting purchases for cooking classes.

Current Report

In the first week, I spent $17.95 on milk and kefir and $8 on tea. We visited Whole Foods with me under the influence of pain pills and purchase $36.68 of yogurt, milk and produce. Yesterday, we spent $20.92 at the other whole foods on bananas, kale, cheese and milk. Grand total thus far: $83.55 Less than $20 for the next 12 days...

This is becoming a real challenge.

Going Without

There were pomellos at the grocery yesterday. Lil was very interested in them. Never having eaten one myself, I wanted so badly to buy the very large green skinned fruit and try it. But at $3.99 each, they were too expensive for our budget. In a normal month I would have bought one without a thought.

The rice Lil likes is almost gone as is our dry pasta. Lil is a carboholic and a picky one at that, so she may be sorely disappointed in the final week's menu.

I have no more red wine and am almost through the last bottle of white. I ordered more with a Groupon credit (I figure credits paid before January don't have to count towards the budget) which may or may not get here before the end of the month. The liquor cabinet remains well stocked to fulfill my drinking needs.

We have no more honey. I usually buy it in the lowest-cost-per-volume half gallon quantity but that would eat up nearly our entire remaining cash. I'm not sure yet whether we will continue to do without or buy a small bottle in the interim.

Can We Make It?

I remain confident that we will finish January spending no more than the remaining $16.45. I am also confident we will go to the grocery bright and early on February 1 and buy some outrageous interesting food. I am willing to wager that our receipt for that trip will be over $100...

Is anyone playing along? How's it going? If you are more experienced at budgeting, how much do you allow for groceries each month?