Buy Dry Staples in Bulk

This shopping habit has cut down on waste and pantry clutter as well as saving money. We make things from scratch and like to try new things, but we have limited space. I buy pasta, grains and dried beans in bulk, but I only buy one kind at a time, enough to fill up a half-gallon mason jar. I do keep several kinds of flour on hand, but they go into the freezer. When we get to the bottom of the jars, we refill with a different variety.

For instance, my kids like spaghetti and macaroni and cheese, but they don't care what the pasta shape is. It's the same with chili: they're good with black beans or kidney beans or "white lightning" with white beans. Some purchases do cause me to vary the recipes, but this helps me stay creative: I might have rice one week, quinoa the next and polenta the next, just not all at the same time. I vary the recipes around what's in the jar. I have been surprised at how much money this saves.