Kitchen Staples: How to Stock Your Kitchen Without Breaking the Bank

If you read Monday’s blog post you know I’m no stranger to moving. In fact, I consider myself a bit of a moving professional at this point. That being said, there are some things that go overlooked when you are starting fresh in your new place. One of the biggest rooms that gets overlooked is the kitchen.

When you are getting ready to move most people focus on getting the place furnished. Not many people are concerned with their kitchen. Of course you can bring your old pots and pans, cooking utensils, etc. from the last place but you likely won’t be moving your food.

Repurchasing all of the food items that are normally in your kitchen can get costly though. So, I came up with a kitchen staples list and a few ideas on how to stock your pantry without breaking the bank.

Kitchen Staples

Kitchen staples is a term used for those items that are always in your pantry but you may take for granted at times. Think about that bag of flour that you know is in your kitchen right now or the spices you are certain are above your stove. All of those items are staples that normally stay behind when you move from one place to another. You don’t even realize how convenient having these kitchen staples is until you need them.

• Bread Crumbs 
• Broth
• Canned Tomatoes – Diced, crushed, tomato paste, etc. can come in handy with some recipes!
• Canned Beans
• Dressing/Sauce – You’ll need to buy ketchup, mustard, mayo, any other regular condiments as well as cooking sauces (like soy).
• Flour
• Frozen Goods – Frozen veggies and quick meals are great kitchen staples to have at your fingertips.
• Minced Garlic 
• Nuts – Read about why I always buy my nuts in bulk.
• Oils – Cooking oils (vegetable, peanut, etc)
• Pasta and Pasta Sauce
• Rice
• Salsa 
• Spices – Depending on how expansive your spice cabinet is you may want to consider moving this with you! Spices can be pretty expensive.
• Sweeteners 
• Wines – Cooking wines. Again, consider moving these with you (especially if they are unopened).

Your personal kitchen staples list may vary. For instance, if you have an allergy or dietary restrictions your list may have additional or removed items from the list. You may also consider some kitchen items to be “must haves” that others do not.

Stock Your Pantry For Less

Now that you have the preliminary list of kitchen staples you may be thinking, “there is no way I can afford to restock an entire kitchen.” Well, don’t worry! There is.

In my experience the best way to combat the cost of groceries and other kitchen items is to compare prices. It is likely that you’ll be able to find most of these items on sale in your area (and there may even be a coupon circulating). You can also try shopping at Aldi (something I recommend). By switching to shopping at Aldi many people have been able to cut their grocery bill down significantly so stocking your new kitchen with groceries from there should help cost as well.

If you have any items you think should be added to the kitchen staples list or how to stock up for less, please let us know! We’d love to hear from you. 

Photo: Vogue

Amanda Blankenship

Amanda Blankenship is the Director of Social Media for District Media. In addition to her duties handling everything social media, she frequently writes for a handful of blogs and loves to share her own personal finance story with others. When she isn’t typing away at her desk, she enjoys spending time with her daughter, husband, and dog. During her free time, you’re likely to find her with her nose in a book, hiking, or playing RPG video games.