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!
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.
*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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?
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?
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
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.
Oh, by the way, did we mention that there’s a…
SHELFTEMBER CHALLENGE GIVEAWAY
Yep, you read that right! At the end of this month, we’re giving away a deep freezer! Plus, some lucky winners will win free groceries—all on us! Be sure to enter for your chance to win, plus play along with us this month on Facebook and Instagram during our shelf cooking challenge to make the most of #Shelftember.
a Rafflecopter giveawayImagine chilling with a new appliance (literally)! We’re pretty stoked! So what are you waiting for? Enter today and get your #Shelftember on!
Looking for more ideas to help you with the Shelftember challenge?
- Use our list of dinner ideas to help you come up with new ideas!
- Be sure to modify your recipes and use substitutions when you don’t have something a recipe calls for!
- Use your leftovers to reduce as much food waste as possible!
Good luck and happy shelf cooking!
Excited to try this out!!
You’ll do great!
Looking forward to using up what I have and updating my pantry and freezer inventory sheets!
You’re going to love it!
Definitely worth a try! I inventoried the freezer & ready to start.
So happy I have this community to help me get through this challenge!
These printables are just what I need to plan. Planning has been my issue, so thank you.
I have 3 freezers
Love!!! <3
I look forward to using up what I have in my pantry/fridge!
SHELFTEMBER couldn’t have come at a better time for us! 🥳
So sad is only for U.S.A. :c
Us too! 🙁
This is just what I needed, I’ve been saying for a few weeks not that, I need to stop buying food and start using what I have. I actually started earlier this week, I didn’t buy cookies because I have everything to make cookies in my pantry. Although I like to be prepared I also have thing in my pantry, frig and freezer, that need to be used up. For instance, I had some cheese ravioli, bacon mushroom & Swiss sausage and half a container of Spinach Artichoke Dip from Costco in my freezer, as well as a bit of leftover pasta cream type sauce that had mushrooms, garlic and Parmesan cheese in it. I loosely followed a Spinach Artichoke Ravioli Bake recipe from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjZCfPCWLCM . In my opinion it was wonderful but I forgot my sweet hubby is not an Alfredo sauce fan, but he did eat half of it. I felt so accomplished because I didn’t have to purchase anything and used up things I had, even the garlic bread was half a french bread loaf I have had in my frig for a couple week and made my own garlic Parmesan butter spread, a recipe I made up years ago. Although I won’t be making this recipe for dinner for my hubby again, all the leftovers are just for me, lol
Way to go! This is what shelf cooking is all about! Enjoy those leftovers 😉
Cant wait to shelftrmber!!!
I’m excited! I have two fridges but in desperate need of a freezer!
Love all your tips. Wish we could participate in the giveaway without social media!
You can still enter in the giveaway at the bottom of the post with your email if you don’t have social media! 🙂
Oh, wow, thanks!
Wow, I spend more than $25/week just on produce! I don’t know how to do this. Maybe I’ll just say I can buy milk and produce and that’s it? I have lots of frozen broccoli but my family won’t eat it. I don’t have any other frozen veggies. We eat lots of salads and fresh fruits.
Make it work for your family! The point of this is to use what you have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry. But if you eat a lot of fresh produce and don’t have canned or frozen that your family will touch, then it’s okay to buy that at the store. Does your family eat casseroles or creamy pasta or soups? You could always try steaming that frozen broccoli and throwing it in something that will mask the texture of it if that’s what they don’t like. Good luck! 🙂
Interesting site. Will definitely be back.
CAN’T WIN IF YOU DON’T ENTER!
Thank you!! I need it!