November is Stock Up Month

By this time most years I have stocked my pantry with enough baking supplies for an entire year.  This year has been pretty much the same except that I have had to be really savvy when it came to sales.  Over the past few years, beginning at the end of October and through the second week in December, we were flooded with all sorts of sales on chocolate chips and other types of baking chips.  This year there were two weeks of sales on these items and that was it.  I'm glad I went ahead and  bought plenty during that time frame.  

Not only have baking items been on sale but there have been the sales on canned and frozen vegetables, canned fruits, canned broths, soups and of course turkey.  I have also been fortunate to snag some good deals on beef roasts and hamburger.  My freezer is stocked, my pantry is stocked and I have plenty of paper products too.  I have enough laundry products to last a year.  I even have two hams in the freezer for Christmas.  

So what's the big deal?  In three weeks we will be "empty nesters."  In other words, it will be just me and my husband.  My goal is to buy very few groceries over the next 3 months.  The only groceries I will be purchasing will be perishables.  The rest I have on hand and will make meals from these ingredients.

I need to do a complete inventory of what is in my freezer and pantry and I will post that inventory.  Then I will post what we are eating and what groceries I purchase.  I'm excited about doing this because I have saved money on buying items on sale and stocking up, and I will be saving time by not having to buy a lot of groceries each week.  Planning and actually buying groceries can take up some time if you are using coupons, searching the ads and then planning a trip.  I'm also looking forward to the convenience of having the majority of what I need right here in my own home.