RAIN IN THE SPENDING

There have been times when Old Mother Frugal had food in the cupboards but little money in the wallet for groceries. During these periods of reigning in the spending, one succumbs to the “pantry challenge”.

A “pantry challenge” is using whatever is in your cupboards and pantries to cleverly create and serve a meal to your family.

What better time than a rainy day to “reign” in the spending and take inventory of what is on hand in the pantry. Actually, it is during the rainy times that make for an opportune time to reorganize the pantry too.

This particular pantry challenge came about because the month had almost five full weeks and that particular fact went unnoticed until the last two weeks of the month. Spending as if there were only four weeks between grocery deposits of money into the bank account, quickly came the realization that there was going to have to be some concessions.

It may be time to use those 14.5 ounce cans of tomatoes in the cupboard instead of the more desired 28 ounce cans of tomatoes to make spaghetti sauce. Canned corn may have to substitute for ears of fresh corn on the cob; canned peaches and canned sliced apples in place of fresh. After all, one purpose of the stockpile is to use it during periods of the figuratively spoken of “rainy day”.

During a recent period of rainy days, two main objectives were accomplished.

First, menu planning from the cupboards and pantry; then reorganize the hall pantry.

The hall pantry was intended by the builder to be a coat closet. Old Mother Frugal had other plans for it. College dorm wire-rack cubes came home with one of the Little Mother’s Helpers and well, let’s just say they never returned to a college dorm room.

By the time the rainy days were over, there were cooked meals in the refrigerator and freezer where once there were only ingredients. And the coat closet? It looked every bit of an organized pantry that it was intended to be.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Find an ingredient and make it a theme. During this pantry challenge, ground beef was the ingredient and the theme was Italian and Mexican dinner meals. In about an hour, using many of the same ingredients and tweaking an occasional spice, a 6-serving tray of lasagna, stuffed shells for two adults and cheesy enchiladas were the main menu items for the week.

                                    STUFFED SHELLS AND LASAGNA

 

 

FILLING FOR CHEESY MEAT ENCHILADAS

 

 

                                                 THE HALL PANTRY

                                            

 

 

 

 

 

HERE KITTY KITTY

Old Mother Frugal is old. Just how old? A testament to old age maybe that you can remember a time before credit cards.

It was an era when one either paid in full by cash or by check at time of purchase. There were some retail establishments that had an in-house payment plan. The concept was called “lay-away”. It may have been the precursor to credit cards.

The buyer would make a deposit towards a large purchase, take it home and pay it off over a period of time, with interest as determined by the retail store. A monthly bill would arrive in the mail and payment was made to the store. This practice still exists today.

Old Grandmom Frugal was a bookkeeper and not a fan of the lay-away program. She and Old Granddad Frugal were children of The Great Depression. If they didn’t have the cash on hand to make a purchase, the purchase waited until there was money “in the envelope”. It was a time in history when "you just make do”.

Ah, the envelopes. They were yellow in color and were housed in a brown vinyl pouch. The hand-held device was aptly inscribed “Envelopes”.

Every yellow envelope was given a name and a dollar amount. It was their “kitty” or “petty cash” that contained the money for all things being purchased or utilities to be paid. Each month, the amount of cash grew in the envelope or was emptied when a bill was paid in full. To this day, Old Granddad Frugal still uses his yellow envelopes.

Old Mother Frugal used a jar system for her Mother’s Little Helpers. The concept was to save for an item that was “wanted”. There was a time in our family when cell phones were a “want”. Today, they appear to be a “need”. Establishing one’s needs from one’s wants was lesson number one.

A middle-aged Old Mother Frugal did not “want” to be chasing down teenagers for cash to pay their bills. They had to save in advance and then they could make their prideful purchase.

Lessons from The Great Depression have much to teach a new generation of learners. If you have the time or desire, you can read online stories from “The Greatest Generation”. There may be some tips and ideas from yesterday for handling your frugality today.

SOUND THE BUGLE! Today’s tip: Do you still occasionally get hardcopy bills with an envelope to return your payment? If you are paying online (tip: saving money on a stamp!) use the envelope and begin your own kitty system. Mark each envelope with a purpose (movies, gym, vacation, dry cleaners, fun, etc). After you have paid your mandatory monthly bills, deposit any remaining money as cash into your envelope/jar/Excel spreadsheet. The tech savvy readers may want to try YNAB at www.youneedabudget.com. Some months, there may be no money to deposit but the feeling of relief when you can pay in full will be priceless.