Eating from the Pantry Challenge: When to Call It Quits

While I think it is noble to see how long one can go without going to the grocery store, sometimes it is just as noble to call it quits.

This week, as my husband was eating toast for lunch because he didn't find my from-the-pantry creation all that appealing (pasta salad with whole wheat noodles, Italian dresing, pepperoni, red and green peppers and mozzarella cheese--just for the record), I knew it was time to break down and go to the store.  As wives, our number one priority after serving the Lord is loving and honoring our husband. When he is no longer on board, it is time to jump ship and head for the nearest grocer.

As you break the fast, so to speak, a word of warning--you will be tempted to go overboard and overbuy at the store. "Food! Food!" you be your cry. It will all look so wonderful and yummy and tantalizing. You will be tempted to buy things you normally wouldn't, just because you got down to bare bones from eating from your pantry for too long, and you'll feel like a kid in a candy store. I, in fact, bought a gallon of Hi-C, which I don't think I ever have before--just because it looked so good, high fructose corn syrup and all!

And you know what? If you overbuy a little and treat yourself to some things you normally wouldn't...why, I think that's ok. Stretching your family's food dollars by eating from the pantry for awhile is admirable. You save money in the process and develop creativity in the kitchen as you think up things you can cook and bake from what you already have on hand. It is a good exercise to do now and then. And when you go to the store again, if you want to buy yourself a cookie as a reward, I say go ahead. You earned it. :)

(linked to Money Saving Mom.)