Less...lesson 1 - FOOD

My first Lesson Plan for Living On Less is centered around food.

Tasty Snack- Labor Day Camping

I didn't realize how tough it would be to find pictures to go with this post!

When I became a (step)mom, something strange happened.  I became a food hoarder!  I don't really know how this happened, because it truly seemed to have just been a switch that was flipped. 

Just before I was married, I had been living on my own for TEN YEARS.  In that time, except that I kept a water filter pitcher in the refrigerator, I may not open my refrigerator for WEEKS at a time.  I was single, and life was simple.  I moved my foodstuffs over to our new home in two grocery bags.

Then, sometime during our first summer, I started NEEDING to buy more & more food.  My grandma's knack for a good deal started working for food and snacks instead of new shoes and handbags.  If I found a good deal on something my family would eat, I went crazy.  Is that Sweet Baby Ray's Barbeque Sauce on clearance two bottles for a $1?  I'll take twelve!  Sheesh - this liquid gold is usually $3-4 a bottle, so I just saved our future selves TONS of money!  Then, a week later, it's still on clearance?  I'll take 6 more!  I know we haven't cracked the seal on a single one yet, but we MIGHT SOON.  And, when that day comes, I'll be READY.

...yes, I'm serious...

Last winter, we decided to update our old ice cream freezer, and buy a real ice chest.  I moved (*gulp*) THIRTY packages of hot dogs from one freezer to the next.

In a YEAR, I haven't purchased any new - and we still have FOURTEEN packages, and that's after giving my sister a grocery bag full of her own.

But they were only 10 packs for $10...I bought them...constantly. 

I have learned that I can get them for this price about 4 times a year, so when I get in a pickle, if I'm only patient, they'll be cheap again.

But...wowzers.

When we were newlyweds, I had a small closet and our refrigerator for food.  Now, I have all of that, as well as a large deep freeze, and a massive shelving unit in the laundry room overflowing with food.

It's time to wrangle this in...the problem is that all of the food I've purchased is like the BBQ sauce - it's food fixin's to help MAKE other foods.  This is gonna be tough...

I've decided no "food makers" will be purchased until this is cleared by at least 50%.  That means LOTS of barbequed foods, and recipe searches that need black beans and beef broth - maybe not together. *wink*