Eating What We Have On Hand This Past Month

With the exception of dairy products we have been eating what we already have in our pantry, cupboards, freezer and refrigerator over this past month.  I haven't done much shopping since the beginning of January.  I recently quit 1 of my 4 part time jobs so my income has decreased so I'm looking for additional ways to save money. I consider myself a extremely thrifty person but figure I can always learn new ways to save. 

I'm the type of person that likes to make as much of my food from scratch whenever possible and none of our food goes to waste.  What we don't eat goes to our chickens & ducks.  Over this past month we have ate a few of the same meals that hubby & I both like.  I feel that if I would have started at the beginning of the month by looking in all cabinets and the freezer I could have came up a monthly meal plan instead of just winging it like I did.  Some days I opened the pantry and just stood there looking and thinking what am I going to make for dinner.  That's hard sometimes when nothing in there sounds appealing.  I ended up making several soups, scalloped potatoes & ham, chili, spaghetti, other hearty and filling meals.  Having salad or vegetables and bread helps to round out most meals.  Luckily I had canned potatoes, beans and some meats that I home canned and used to make a quick meal on days I worked.  

My biggest take away from eating this way is that I need to plan and prepare ahead of time.  You can eat healthy, hearty food and save money doing it.  Now I need to replenish my pantry and freezer but that will take some time but hopefully I be able to find some good sales.  Would I do this again?  Absolutely!!