Frugal Friday: PFTPL Pantry Challenge

This week, for Project Simplify, we've been working on our fridge, pantry, and freezer.

By about Tuesday, though, I realized that what I needed was not a new organization ....

but TO EAT THE FOOD!

Do you know that we have 6 boxes of cereal in our pantry. Six!

Most of us Moms have noticed the price of groceries these days.

How much money is sitting in my pantry and fridge?

Paid for.

FREE FOOD!

So, in an effort to save money, AND clean out our stockpiles .... We're going to start living out of the pantry and fridge. Let's see how many days we can do it! We might be having cereal for dinner, but are we going hungry? NOPE!

If you dare .... join me ....

The 1st Annual PFTPL Pantry Challenge

The details:
** Leave a comment on this post letting me that you are participating
** Live on less than $20 in groceries per week (think milk, bread, etc)
** Use your $20 to buy staples and items that you might need to finish off another food
** If you do not spend all of your $20 each week, then you can roll the change to the following week.
** Fresh fruits and vegetables are excluded. Eat all of those you want!
** Check in on Fridays and comment on the post that I will make for those participating.

The prize:
** The person who can go the longest eating out of their pantry/fridge will get a $5 Starbuck's gift certificate sent/delivered to you.

Good luck!

Project Simplify: Pantry/Fridge

Now that we're back in town, I'm jumping back in to the Project Simplify for this week. After the first week of cleaning out our Master Closet, I'm thoroughly convinced. I still get this moment of joy just peeking in to our closet and seeing it organized.

So, this week's project is the pantry and fridge.

I'm thoroughly convinced that the best way to clean out the pantry is ..... just eat the food. Do you realize how much money is sitting in there? How much food just waits from week to week to be eaten?

So, I'm challenging you to join me in doing some .... EATING! and cleaning!

Click HERE for all the info from Simple Mom about the Project Simplify challenge.

Project Simplify Challenge #1: Master Closet

Well folks, I have to say that both hubby and I are both very pleased with the result of some work during the week and quite a bit of time today.

We decided to introduce a new way of organizing our clothes. Previously, we had stored clothes based on season. Since we both have gained baby weight, we realized that we have multiple kinds of clothes and multiple sizes. We decided to go ahead and group our clothes by size and not by season. So, I have a box of "Medium - size 8-10ish" clothes, "Large 12-16ish clothes" and then what is hanging in the closet right now is "XL size 18+". I have a separate box for maternity. I'm only allowing myself one extra bed box of each size. This will make it so much easier as I drop the pounds to pull out what fits and only keep in my closet those items.

So, *drum roll* here are the BEFORE pics for you ....

AFTER ....

room enough for the kids to play

Room enough for the dresser, too!

If you're interested in joining in this week on the next challenge,
click HERE for the Simple Mom website. The new challenge will be
introduced on Monday for another area of your house!

What am I working on?

Blogs are great for accountability. Though I know that I don't have a "following" per se, like some wonderful blogs, the fact that the words are out there is both frightening and thrilling.

If I say, I'm going to run 10 miles today (I'M NOT!), then I said it. I put it on the web. Anyone, Someone can read it. Someone at church might ask me about it. A friend might read it and email me about it. Certainly my husband will ask about it. Months from now, someone might be reading old posts and ask me about that little run.

I'm one of those people that needs accountability. Dare I even say it ..... craves accountability. I confess that I sneak Hershey kisses from the pantry (potty treats for Logan). There I put it out there. Mercy! What next?

This weekend, I'm going to start working on our first priority for this year ...

Decluttering

Cleaning out half of our house.

I'm working on removing everything that is not directly useful or truly beautiful. We are drowning in our stuff.

And what will be left?

What will this free us to do?

What will we find at the end of it?

My first step commitment: In the month of February, I will work on decluttering our upstairs.