An essential ingredient to cooking frugally is keeping a well stocked pantry. The concept of a pantry is more than storage. Your pantry should be a place where you always have a good supply of basic ingredients and a few less expensive convenience foods. When you have the opportunity to buy something that you use frequently at a great price, buy a lot of extra and keep it in the pantry until the next time you can get such a good price. This allows you to opt not to buy an item except when the price is very low, "flexing" your pantry. Here is a list of items that we keep stocked in our pantry virtually all the time. I plan meals around what I have in the pantry and I buy what is on sale to keep my pantry well stocked.
Baking Supplies baking powder baking soda yeast cocoa salt cornstarch vinegar food coloring coconut eggs	Beverages tea
	Breads wheat bread white bread saltines graham crackers croutons (we make our own)
Cheese Cheddar mozzarella American parmesan cream cheese (occasionally) Cereal Only when I can find them for less than $1.50 a box.	Condiments jelly catsup mayonnaise mustard salsa pickles I make most of my salad dressing, BBQ sauce, and jelly when I can find a free source of fruit.
	Fats vegetable oil olive oil shortening margarine cooking spray Fruits Canned peaches pears pineapple Fresh apples oranges grapefruits raisins
anything else when it's on sale or free (strawberries, kiwi, pears, etc.)
Grains white flour wheat flour oatmeal cornmeal white rice popcorn grits cream of wheat	Juices orange lemon
Meats chicken (whole or parts, hardly ever boneless chicken breast) (.49 or less per pound) ground beef ground turkey pork chops ground pork ham bacon round steak (As a general rule, I try not to pay more than $1.99 per pound for meat.)	Milk dry milk whole milk evaporated milk evaporated milk (occasionally)
	Pasta pre-packaged macaroni and cheese spaghetti macaroni
Seasonings and Flavorings maple extract peppermint extract vanilla (I make my own with vanilla beans and vodka) bouillon Worcestershire sauce spices and herbs	Sugar white sugar brown sugar powdered sugar honey corn syrup
Vegetables onions potatoes instant mashed potatoes carrots frozen broccoli canned green beans canned and frozen corn green pepper mushrooms ( purchased on sale)	Miscellaneous Canned Goods spaghetti sauce whole tomatoes diced tomatoes olives tomato soup cream of mushroom soup cream of chicken soup ramen noodles pork and beans pumpkin Tabasco sauce peanut butter dried beans (hubby likes beans)