Saving money on food part 1

So after a review of our budget my husband and I discovered that the most out of control part of our budget is food. Whether it's buying too many groceries or eating out too ofte,n a ridiculously large portion of money is wasted on food. And I mean A LOT, like we could have a few more weekend getaways a year a lot. We've tried meal planning and pantry clean-out and freezer meals and prepping food on the weekend. But nothing has stuck. Well we do meal plan, but don't necessarily stick to the menu for the week. We're either too lazy or tired, or we forget or some sort of take-out sounds so much better.

We're slowly working on some steps and solutions that will help us tackle the budget issue, yet still be satisfied with our meals. As we work toward this process I will be sharing a weekly update about what has worked or not worked for us each week in an attempt to help others who struggle with this same issue.

This week and last week we implemented a cupboard challenge. Similar to cupboard clean-out, but with an element of competition added in. Each weekend my husband and I challenge each other to see who can come up with the most meals based on what we already have existing with some fresh purchases. Being a game it makes it more of an activity instead of a chore. And playing off of each others creativity makes for some more interesting and delicious creations.

The one thing to be careful of is to not deplete your stockpile. For instance if you have a lot of frozen chicken, don't make 5 chicken dishes. It's boring and you won't have ingredients on hand when you need to whip up something quick.