I can’t be the only one that has ever had that month or two, you know the one’s, holiday’s, birthdays, rising gas prices, rising feed costs, double dipping on a few things, like needed in to buy twice the normal bedding for piglets, needing to buy a new feed for the creep feeder, the extra fall vet costs, certainly needed (its that time of year for tags, and worming, and vit e shots for the expecting ewes) put aside a certain amount of coming butcher costs, hauling costs and throw in a few extra’s like xmas presents, fall tune up on the vehicle and a broken (yet again) washing machine, a full set indoor set up for a certain turtle and the bottom line is getting slimmer. It was time to declare a lock down, no more spending unless its on the list!
You know what helps in moments like these?
I walked into the kitchen this morning and when I went to do the dishes, I realized that I was on the last bit of dish soap, I had just used the last of the tin foil the day before when I had baked off some lovely corned lamb the day before, and I went to make up the morning mix to do some floor washing and general cleaning and used the last of the bleach in the bottle. The kettle boiled and I went to make a coffee to realize that I only have maybe a cup or two left in that jar, my nose is running something crazy, and I want to take some meds to help make the morning chores easier but I have been going though those in the general meds cupboard like crazy..
Did it make me feel all AHHH, I’m on a no spend freeze and look at everything around me that I suddenly need in that very first hour after saying, no more spending!
Nope.. and do you know why..
cuz, I openned up the pantry and went shopping, went to the cellar and went shopping, went to the medical box and went shopping and within five min, I had dish soap, bleach, tinfoil, got out extra hankies, got a new jar of my personal favorite brand of instant coffee, canned milk (all the milking critters are dry on the farm at the moment) and new cold/flu medications out.
A well-stocked pantry truly gives peace of mind.. and it gives you that flexablity to have and want not, when you need to put extra here or there without having to hit savings or credit, a true blessing!
When was the last time you felt blessed by having a well stocked pantry?
Just another Day on the Farm 
We have had a tough couple of months and have been living in a 5th wheel we were able to borrow and most of our things have been in storage. So as Monkey says “we’ve been shopping at the storage unit”. Our pantry is getting low but thank God we have had it or it would have been down to the food bank for us. We are moving next week, but I am grateful that I stocked when life had been more flush – my insurance policy has paid off!
I was reading your post and thinking – this is not like farmgal at all!!! Ha ha!! I feel blessed to have a pantry almost every day. I hardly ever buy anything unless it’s on sale because my pantry is my first stop shop. I am having a similar stretching month and we’ve decided to stop buying groceries this month and eat what we have – no problem and hardly a change in the menu. That is living!!!
I love having a well-stocked pantry and feel uncomfortable when my stores get low
A small,simple one here. Teenage step daughter decided to make apple crisp for dessert. I like to encourage any cooking whims that grip her. Due to lack of experience she made a start too close to dinner for us to have any hope of eating it anytime near the meal. To save time and to encourage success, I was able to grab a couple of jars of apple slices from the pantry to save her the prep time on the apples. I was particularly pleased, as I had only canned them a week or so ago to use them up! I quite often do small batches of canning, to use things up and prevent waste, also sometimes to just try something out. It’s working well for me, I am finding that just a couple of jars, but often, is mounting up to a lot of canned food on the shelves 🙂
I’m so jealous of you all with space for a pantry. Right now the freezer is rammed and there’s home canned stuff spilling out of every available space in the kitchen. I have a couple extra packages of pasta stashed in the linens shelf.There’s just no where to store extras of anything in this place!
All of my married life my darling girl, all of my life.mom
We were under mandatory evacuation for three weeks due to a forest fire. In Idaho they can’t physically remove you from your property, they wait for you to leave and then don’t allow you back. We usually have a 4 – 6 week period in the winter when we don’t go anywhere but this was different, it was like being under house arrest. We were not in need.
Lovely post. I find others my age have forgotten about this kind of security. They think I’m quaint that I kept a cold room in our house in the city – but the fact is – this summer when our financial pantry was raided by the down-payment on the farm, and business cash-flow dictated that we go without paycheques for a good long while, my pantry kept our heads above water.
With times so unpredictable, it’s good to know no drop in the world economy will affect the levels in your pantry.
Even when times aren’t tough, there’s something so satisfying and downright pleasurable about admiring a well-stocked larder.
I was confused, too, when I was reading that. I thought “No …. I think I have about 20 litres of dish soap stored, and at least 6 litres of bleach and no way will I allow less than six months worth of coffee in the pantry. Ummm … doesn’t FG have more than me? I thought her pantry was way bigger than mine.”
Winter is approaching, which means it’s time for us to cut spending down to bare necessities only – milk and eggs, mostly. So, yup, we go “shopping” in the pantry, too.