How To Seriously Reduce Your Grocery Budget – Shelftember Challenge

Shelftember is a shelf cooking challenge during the month of September that will blow your mind! It takes the term shelf cooking to a whole new level by using shelf cooking to reduce your grocery budget to twenty-five dollars (50 max) every week of the month.

For me, a shelf cooking challenge is a way to clear out my kitchen. It empties the cabinets, the freezers, and the fridge. I think of it as a kitchen reset. A chance to start fresh with new supplies. Out with the old, in with the new!

And hey, it’s much easier to clean the inside of the cabinets when they’re practically empty, right?

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In case you’re totally lost, click here to learn more about shelf cooking! It’s a total game changer for your grocery budget and meal planning strategy! For now, let’s look at what a real life Shelftember Challenge might look like for a family of 6.

How To Cut Your Grocery Bill

The thing about doing a shelf cooking challenge is that you’re kind of throwing yourself into the deep end. You don’t plan ahead to make the challenge a success. You simply drastically reduce your grocery budget each week and see how well you can still feed your family.

Some weeks may go better than others, but that’s what the challenge is all about. It’s throwing yourself into the deep end and learning how to reduce your grocery budget. It might seem impossible, but I promise, it’s really not that bad!

A look back at Shelftember 2019 for a family of 6!

The first week of September’s shelf cooking challenge was a success! I stayed within the $25 budget and fed my family well all week! My main goal for this Shelftember, is to clear out my freezers. We have so much stuff shoved in our freezers, I desperately need to clean them out and reset.

Here’s what our meal plan looked like for Shelftember Week One:

Monday – Sandwiches, broccoli, and yogurt
Tuesday – Tacos, apples and peanut butter
Wednesday – pasta with red sauce and salad
Thursday – Bacon ranch cauliflower casserole
Friday – smothered pork loin and broccoli
Saturday – brats, fries, and salad
Sunday – shredded BBQ pork loin and frozen veggie

Here’s what our grocery list looked like for Shelftember Week One:

I used Walmart Grocery Pickup, one of my secrets for staying on budget while grocery shopping! It’s so much easier to avoid unnecessary purchases when you’re not seeing all the extras in the store.

Related: How To Go Grocery Shopping Online and Save Money

Item	Price
Clementines 3 lb bag	$4.98
Broccoli Crowns 1.83 lb	$1.81
Great Value Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix, Ranch,	$0.77
International Delight Caramel Macchiato Coffee Creamer, Half Gallon	$4.98
Coffee	$6.98
Iceberg Lettuce, each	$1.28
Great Value Classic Dipped Ice Cream Cones, 8 Count, 36 oz	$4.98
Total	$25.78

Not too shabby. I was able to stay within budget because our freezers are full of meat and frozen vegetables. See, it is possible to reduce your grocery budget to $25 every week.

It’s important to mention, I don’t include consumables in the grocery budget for shelf cooking challenges. So, my grocery pickup order was actually a bit more than this. However, I still stayed under $100.00 with everything for my family of 6 for the entire week.

Related: How To Meal Plan on a Budget – The Beginner’s Guide

We still have some of the produce left for the start of week two, as well. I hope you are able to see just how possible it is to save money on groceries throughout the entire year!

Here’s what our meal plan looked like for Shelftember Week Two:

Monday – unexpected outing & stop at a restaurant
Tuesday – bacon wrapped sirloin & salad
Wednesday – creamy chicken rice & cauliflower
Thursday – fish sticks and mac n cheese
Friday – BLTs & yogurt
Saturday – GBR for GBS Night (supper out for a charity event)
Sunday – nachos

Here’s what our grocery list looked like for Shelftember Week Two:

Item	Price
36 count Mozzarella String Cheese	$7.74
3.2 lbs. sweet potatoes	$3.14
whole wheat bread	$0.88
3 lb. bag Gala apples	$3.94
16 oz. mushrooms	$3.74
24 oz. pasta sauce	$1.50
Great Value Chicken Dipping Sauce 12 oz	$1.92
Great Value Classic Ranch 36 oz	$1.98
Sam’s Choice Frozen Stuffed Crust Seven Cheese Pizza, 33.6 oz	$5.98
International Delight Caramel Macchiato Coffee Creamer, Half Gallon	$4.98
Great Value Classic Dipped Ice Cream Cones, 8 Count, 36 oz	$4.98
Asparagus 0.97 lb	$2.88
Total	$43.66

Ok, so week two was rough, to say the least. But, we were busy planning our first ever group B strep awareness event. My husband was still sick. I was nursing my kids back to health. All. The. Things.

Related: How To Save Money on Groceries Without Coupons

Unfortunately, I just did not put much effort into making shelf cooking a success this week. Better luck next time! This is real life, after all!

Here’s what our meal plan looked like for Shelftember Week Three:

Monday – broccoli bacon salad & fruit
Tuesday – Pasta & red sauce
Wednesday – sausage, taters, & gravy
Thursday – Sloppy Joes, french fries, & fruit
Friday – pancakes & bacon or sausage, eggs
Saturday – brisket & taters & salad
Sunday – BBQ beef sandwiches & veggie

Here’s what our grocery list looked like for Shelftember Week Three:

Item	Price
Great Value Finely Shredded Fiesta Blend Cheese, 5 lb	$13.97
3 cucumbers at $0.58/each	$1.74
Iceberg Lettuce	$1.28
Great Value Sweet Cream Unsalted Butter, 4 count, 16 oz	$2.98
Heinz Kansas City Style Sweet & Smoky BBQ Sauce, 20.2 oz Bottle	$1.97
International Delight Caramel Macchiato Coffee Creamer, Half Gallon	$4.98
Great Value All Natural Sour Cream, 16 oz	$1.74
Simply Perfect Russet Potatoes, 10 lb Bag	$3.44
Great Value Classic Dipped Ice Cream Cones, 8 Count, 36 oz	$4.98
Total	$37.08

Meh. Slightly better this week. At least it’s still less than the $50.00 max. I have included my coffee creamer in each week’s purchases. But really, buying coffee creamer each week is much cheaper than buying a coffee each week, so I’m not sure that should actually be included. We all know that it’s not safe for me to go without my coffee, so that’s really a safety net for those around me, right?

Saturday nights are my husband’s main night to cook. I’m not crazy enough to tell him what he can or cannot cook if he’s willing to cook.

So this week, he changed up the menu a bit. He usually tries to make something a little nicer or something the kids will really like. This often includes a separate trip to the store for him, as it did this week. Again, this is his night to spoil us. He does what he wants. And, he always spends much less spoiling us with his home cooking than if he were to take us all out to eat once a week. No complaints here, obviously!

Plus, we’re almost to the home stretch and this has been such a chaotic month, I’m kind of over Shelftember at this point. I’ve never done a shelf cooking challenge without having at least a few freezer meals stocked. To say that the challenge is harder without freezer meals, is a total understatement!

Finally, here’s what our meal plan looked like for Shelftember Week Four:

Monday – Ramen noodles, chicken nuggets & fruit
Tuesday – Nachos & baby carrots
Wednesday – fish sticks and mac n cheese
Thursday – Mac n cheese & creamy cucumbers
Friday – Pizza
Saturday – steak and mashed taters
Sunday – taco soup

By the beginning of week four, I was determined to finish the month of strong after losing track through the middle of the month. I was especially determined to show that it is actually possible to reduce your grocery budget to $25 every week while still feeding your family well.

After such a chaotic month, I was also determined to take a step back this week. Apparently, I did actually take a step back because I forgot, twice actually, to order groceries. Determined to not go over budget, I knew I couldn’t go into the store for groceries. So I didn’t buy any groceries this week at all.

Related: 10 Cheap and Easy Ways To Stretch a Meal

I will, however, do grocery pickup on Monday, September 30. But, I’m not including that in Shelftember since the groceries I purchase that day will be for the first week of October.

Shelftember Challenge Success?

Kinda. My September Grocery total for my family of 6 was $106.52! $106.52. That’s it. That’s all I spent on groceries for my family of six for the entire month of September. Of course, that’s a little over budget. But did you see the week where I didn’t even buy groceries?! With a little dedication and creativity, it is possible to reduce your grocery budget to $25 per week!

Related: How To Save Money on Groceries Without Coupons

Normally, I budget $150 per week. So, not only did I spend less in one month than I normally would for one week, my freezers are both almost empty. And my pantry cabinet is looking pretty bare, too. I’ll count that as a win! Take that, Shelftember 2019!

How Can I Spend Less on Groceries?

Get creative. You just saw a real life example of how it is possible to seriously reduce your grocery budget and still eat well. If $25 per week seems too drastic, start with $50 per week instead. The important part to take away from this is just start.

Make small changes to your grocery shopping and meal planning strategy to accommodate a smaller budget. Remember, every penny adds up, so the more small changes you can make, the bigger impact you’ll see over time. You can do this!

Have you ever done a shelf cooking challenge? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!

Until next time friend,
Stay Courageous!

*This post was updated August 2021.