It is midway through January and I’m poking around in pantry which, in tiny house parlance, means the wire IKEA rack of pull out drawers, two apple crates turned on their sides, and a (mostly) hidden stack of costco-sized granola bar boxes behind the chair upon which I’m currently sitting. I wrote about how a big goal for this year is reigning in the finances and after looking over a few months worth of bank statements it was clear that food spending was one of our biggest hits. So I resolved to spend only about $400 for food for the three of us this month (that is down 2/3s of our normal) and that I would do a turnover of the pantry over the next two months.

The first couple days felt hopeful, the first couple weeks were normal with a side of novelty, and now that we’re in the second half of the month I’m starting to get a little more creative with what I’ve got going on in pantry-land. Black bean and kimchi tacos? Yum! Tasty Bite Indian curry pouch with an extra few sweet potatoes added. Sure! Matzoh balls with soup base my dad brought from Thailand? Erm, why not(?) We are experimenting with good food and using a lot of budget veggies and starches (cabbage, potatoes, rice, and oats) and so far, it feels good to eat this way again. We’re on track budget-wise for this month’s big goal and a bonus will be that emptying out the pantry will also clear up some space, something we’re always looking to do when living small.

Wish us luck for the second half of the month! I will be sure to take pictures of our more delicious and more outlandish creations. XOXO

Looking Ahead:

Moving! Lots of steps between now and moving the tiny house to our property this spring. This month will focus on sorting through our storage items and choosing what stays, what goes, and what moves into a storage unit. A big downsizing opportunity for sure! We will also need to make plans for site prep, even if it’s too wet to do much at this point in the winter.

Boat! We will be getting our boat set up for the spring as well, including a haul out to clean the bottom. We are also in the process of upgrading to a larger boat which means we’ll need to sell Selkie if that gets finalized and once she’s all spiffed up.