It's time to kick things up a notch! The Shelftember challenge is one of our favorites, and it's about to become yours, too… Not to mention we've got a fun surprise in store for you at the end of this month!

Jordan pouring oil into a pan, from Shelf Cooking

It's that time again… September is here, and that means it's time for our Shelftember challenge! This will be our fourth year to host this challenge and we're so. stinkin'. excited! You know we love to make the most of our time in the kitchen without spending an arm and a leg. That's why make-ahead breakfasts and leftovers are our jam.

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For the month of September, we're going to focus hard on shopping our fridge, freezer and pantry FIRST! Time to clean out the very back of those shelves, get creative in the kitchen, and save our wallets BIG this month. PLUS, we're giving away a FREEZER at the end of this month… Wait, what?? Yes! Are you ready to rock this with us?!

HOW IS SHELFTEMBER DIFFERENT FROM WHAT I'M ALREADY DOING?

Hand writing on weekly meal planner printable, from Shelf Cooking

As seasoned shelf cookers, you should already be accustomed to meal planning around your kitchen inventory and merely supplementing with items from the store. You should be working off a grocery budget of $100/person/month, starting at $300/month. (Which, if you don't know, includes all consumables, not just food.) This really helps cut down on your grocery budget and drastically reduces the amount of food waste!

(Pssst… If you have no clue what we're talking about, read what shelf cooking is! This will start you off on the right foot. Then come back here and pick back up where you left off when you're done!)

This Shelftember challenge takes what you're already doing and pushes it one step further. It's all about resetting our habits! Your budget is going to get even tighter and you're really going to be able to save some money and your shelves are going to be a whole lot cleaner! This is a great way to use up some of that older stuff that gets pushed to the back so it doesn't go to waste. Ready for the deets?

ALL ABOUT THE SHELFTEMBER CHALLENGE

For the month of September, your grocery budget is $25/week for the whole family. Yes, that is probably much lower than you're used to, even if you're sticking to our recommended grocery budget. If we can do this with a family of 10, then so can you! If that's absolutely impossible for your family, then you can increase the budget by $5-10, but don't go over $50/week (otherwise it's not really a challenge). We highly recommend trying to keep it as low as possible!

Since it may be hard to stick to this Shelftember challenge budget, it may be a good idea for you to take $25 cash out before heading to the store! Leave your credit cards in the car so there's no temptation to go over the budget.

You can also do grocery pickup if that's up your alley! This makes hitting that $25/week budget simple since you can easily see how much your total will be as you're adding items to your cart.

Pro Tip: If your store has a higher limit than $25 for pickup, you can still use the app to keep your budget in check! Add everything to your cart that's on your grocery list before heading to the store to see if you'll be coming in under budget. If it's over, then you know to adjust until you get it to $25!

WHY SHOULD I DO THIS COOKING CHALLENGE?

Hands adding leftovers to a tortilla on a sheet pan, from Shelf Cooking

Alright, so you may be thinking that we're just plain CRAZY for even suggesting this! But stick with us for a minute… Here are just a few of our top reasons for doing the Shelftember challenge:

  • It's going to make you focus extremely hard on what you're buying at the store to supplement for the month! This isn't the month to stock up on kitchen staples. It's the month to really focus on what you already have.
  • It's going to save you some major money for the month! You'll be able to put the money you save toward paying off debt, your financial goals, the holidays, or placed in your slush fund account. It's totally worth it for this reason, alone!
  • It'll help you get really creative with your meals! Double and freeze for later in the month or repurpose those leftovers into a new meal for later in the week.
  • You'll be able to eat any foods in your kitchen inventory that are close to expiring. Focus on not having any food waste!
  • You'll have the support of over 33 THOUSAND members in the Shelf Cooking Community! They are a wealth of knowledge, and even we are always learning new things from our community.

Need a little more help? No worries we got you're back!

SHELFTEMBER PRINTABLE MEAL PLANNING SHEET

Inventory and grocery list printables on a counter, from Shelf Cooking

We created a special meal planning sheet just for YOU! We want to help you be successful this month as you join the #Shelftember challenge. After doing your initial kitchen inventory, use this printable to help you break down what you'll be using each week, plan your meals, and add any supplemental ingredients that you're missing to your shopping list.

Each week you should only need to grab basic groceries like bread, milk, eggs, maybe some fruits and veggies and the rare missing ingredient (up to $25, of course)! If you can't fit it in the budget, see if you can find something in your fridge or pantry to substitute.

Start Planning your Menu

Not too bad, right? You can do it! Let us know your wins in the comments below!

Jordan cooking peppers on the stove, from Shelf Cooking

Looking for more ideas to help you with the Shelftember challenge?

Good luck and happy shelf cooking!