Years ago I stopped bulk buying, buying "sale" items, or buying anything I wouldn't use in a week .
I've saved thousands (truly thousands) of dollars this way.
For most of my life I lived in apartments that were so small my home couldn't be a warehouse.
Once I had a little more room, I seized on "buy one get one" type deals but soon found myself with too many items I wasn't using. This lead to a cluttered pantry that represented money I had spent but was getting no benefit from and caused even more accidental duplicate purchases because I didn't see I already had Dijon mustard in the pantry.
Now my approach is to meal plan and only buy what I'll use this week.
By the end of the week my fridge and pantry are BARE and it's a beautiful thing.
Week 3's challenge: Clear expired pantry items
I knew I wouldn't find anything expired in my pantry (and I didn't!!)
So I pivoted and looked through my freezer to see what might be languishing there.
I found a bag of wild blueberries that I bought... last spring?? and decided to make a compote out of it.
Cooked quinoa, almond milk, and the blueberry compote - YUM!
To make a compote: Boil frozen blueberries on the stove with 2 tbsp or so of water until the berries pop. You can add some chia seeds if you like. Then let it cool and it thickens right up!
Delicious on pancakes, waffles, oatmeal, overnight oats, or on a spoon.
My favorite way to 'dispose' of items (yes, even food!)
Posting them in my local "buy nothing" group. I bet your area has one, they're usually on Facebook.
I've seen people offload leftover birthday cake and all kinds of boxed food (e.g. cereal, coffee, creamer, snack foods) they realized after a serving they didn't like.
If you have a meal mentor membership, there is a special "Pantry Meal Plan" in the app, which I used to clear out my pantry back to zero.
Here is a list of 97 pantry meals in the app.
Use up the ingredients you already have and skip a week of grocery buying!
Start your free 7-day trial right here .
Here are 10 free blog recipes that use up pantry staples.
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MINIMALIST MONDAYS 2026 INFO
Each week in 2026, we focus on minimizing one small thing.
No extreme decluttering. No aesthetic pressure.
Just small, thoughtful ways to clear space—for your time, energy, and peace of mind.
Tiny actions add up to big relief.
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BTW if you missed the last two weeks that is OK! Start with week 3.
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