Dear After 50 Finances,
I am a 78-year male and now live alone.

We raised a family of four children and I did most of the cooking. Now, with everyone gone, including my wife, I find it very difficult to cook for a party of one. I just purchased a 2-quart (small) crockpot to help downsize.

I have a very well-stocked pantry and freezer. I find when I use a pantry item, I replace the item and never really downsize my pantry or freezer. I am having a heck of a time not replacing items I use. Any thoughts?
Thank you,
Bill

Pantry and Freezer Downsizing Tips for an Empty Nester

Our readers had plenty of advice for downsizing a pantry and cooking for one. Read on if you could use some tips for adjusting from cooking for a crowd to cooking for one or a few.

Clean Out, Replenish and Rotate

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Unless the food is going bad, getting freezer burn or is otherwise being wasted, don’t worry about restocking what you took out and ate. I would only be concerned about over-buying and stuff going to waste.

Just remember to rotate your food. Put the older cans and dry items close to the front (I date mine with the month, day and year) and put the older things in the front/top of the freezer.

Also, I do a kitchen clean out twice a year during which I don’t shop for 2-3 weeks to make sure everything gets eaten and used up. This usually happens just before I go on vacation. After I do that big before-vacation cleanout, I replenish gradually.
Hazel in Texas

Find Other Ways To Cook for a Crowd

Dear Friend. Old habits die hard. I can understand that you are accustomed to feeding six. Now you are cooking for one. I suggest you visit a few online sites (or get cookbooks from the library) on cooking for a single person. We singles don’t usually cook up stews or soups in large quantities. Or, if you still want to make stews and casseroles, freeze single portions.

I think you might enjoy the outings to the supermarket. Just don’t replenish your pantry for a while and purchase produce to be used up that week.

I’m close to your age, and I find that I enjoy grocery shopping less and less with the increased cost of everything. It’s constant sticker shock, so I go to the gym or library instead.

Cooking for your family is a joy and perhaps you miss that. You could volunteer your services and I can guarantee there are many locations that could use them.

I hope a few of these thoughts will be useful.
Fritzi

Trade Meals With Another Solo Cook

This can be a challenge for sure. A smaller crockpot is a great idea, so you’re already on the right track. Here are some other ideas:

1. Sometimes it’s cost-prohibitive to buy things in smaller portions. For example, if you’re baking, it’s more expensive to buy small bags of flour than the normal 5 lbs of flour. Therefore, keeping the 5 lbs in the freezer and only using what you need when you need it will help keep it fresh and save money!
2. The above also works when cooking meals. If you still find you’re cooking too much for one person, take the extra portion and freeze it for a future date. Maybe in a few days if you don’t feel like cooking, or maybe when you’re sick and don’t want to do much, or maybe in a week or two (for meal planning and keeping costs down).
3. Another idea is to trade with a neighbor – your leftovers for theirs. It’s possible someone else is in a similar situation and cooking for one. This way, you both benefit by saving time, money, and ingredients without having to figure out how to cook for one.
4. He mentioned having a hard time not replacing items. If he’s purposely not replacing the items he’s using, he will eventually downsize naturally. But if he needs that “something” later, it may be pricey to stock up again. If he DOES want to replace those items but is struggling to do so, he can use what we use – the “backup system.” We have one of everything we use plus one backup. When the backup gets opened, it must go on the grocery list immediately. Then you’ll never run out of anything and you won’t make multiple trips to the store for one more thing! And not making so many trips saves money!
5. Another thought is to join a church or senior center. This will give him events to go to, socialization with those in his age group, and potentially the opportunity to share his food portions. Or, an opportunity to share his cooking skills with others!

Hope this helps,
Heather

Several Strategies for Stockpiling for One

Cooking for one can be a challenge, but it’s great that you’ve purchased a small crockpot to help with downsizing your meals. To manage your well-stocked pantry and freezer, consider these strategies:

• Meal Planning: Plan your meals for the week, taking into account what you have in your pantry and freezer. This will help you use up existing ingredients without the need to constantly restock.
• Batch Cooking: Prepare larger quantities of meals and freeze individual portions. This way, you can cook less frequently and still have a variety of meals readily available.
• Use Up What You Have: Challenge yourself to create recipes based on what’s already in your pantry and freezer. Websites and apps can help you find recipes using specific ingredients.
• Inventory Tracking: Create a detailed inventory of your pantry and freezer. When you use an item, mark it off the list. This will give you a clear visual of what you have, preventing over-purchasing.
• Set Limits: If you find it hard not to replace items, set a rule for yourself. For example, only restock an item if you’ve used up two or more of the same kind. This will help reduce redundancy in your pantry.
• Donate or Share: Consider donating non-perishable items you won’t use or sharing them with friends or family. This reduces waste and helps others.
• Buy Smaller Portions: When shopping, opt for smaller-sized items if possible. This way, you’ll naturally downsize your pantry as you consume them.
• Repurpose Leftovers: Get creative with repurposing leftovers into new meals. For example, yesterday’s roasted chicken can become today’s chicken salad.
• Regularly Declutter: Set aside a specific time each month to assess your pantry and freezer. Remove items that are nearing expiration or that you know you won’t use.
• Mindful Shopping: Before purchasing an item, ask yourself if it’s something you’ll use soon or if it’s a long-term staple. This can help curb impulse buying.

By implementing these strategies, you can effectively downsize your pantry and freezer while enjoying well-planned, varied meals for one.
Davina

Donate Meals or Feed Friends

I was a single mom raising three sons and used lots of frugal tips to keep them all fed. As they flew the nest, the adjustment was challenging, especially regarding food prep and pantry/larder management. I hate waste!

I am 67 now and have picked up the following tips, but I am still refining the “systems.” These tips are roughly in order of gentle transitions over years.

1. Used to making four servings? Freeze 2-3 of them and skip cooking a couple times a week. This is liberating, giving me more time for gardening, reading, and passions I promised would expand when I had “more time.” This has the added benefit of more satisfying freezer management – not unlike pantry management.
2. Donate meals or trade meals with friends. Keeps variety in gustatory life, and active social connections.
3. Keep list of pantry “requirements.” If you manage your pantry with an inventory list, it is somehow easier to change from a list that keeps “12 cans tomatoes paste in stock” to a list that keeps “6 cans…” then gradually “3 cans…” With so few things we can control in life, this is oddly comforting.
4. Now that Covid isolation has abated, and many friends are also adjusting to fewer mouths to feed, we sometimes will raid our respective pantries and combine resources for either a big cooking party or a surplus swap. This helps downsize my pantry overstocks and brings a few new ingredients for cooking experiments. It’s kind of a reverse potluck!
5. Keep in mind and heart that life is an ever-refining process. We aren’t done learning yet, and playing with food, even how we organize it, can still be fun! And, now that grandchildren are on the scene, re-adjustments continue. But I confess to enjoying the ongoing perfecting process!

Best of luck to you, Bill!
Cynthia

Donate Part of Your Pantry Inventory

My suggestion for this gentleman is to donate the food cans to a food pantry or church. Once a month, I go through my pantry and donate a grocery bag of foods to the local church.
Elaine

Why Downsize?

An option would be not to downsize. Cook as usual and make your own frozen “TV Dinners” with the leftovers. After a while, you’ll have a variety stocked for days you don’t feel like cooking or cold and flu season. Also, check out Pinterest “meals for one” for endless recipes.
Cheryl, Kentucky

Donate to Food Banks

I’m so sorry for your loss. Losing a spouse and having kids who are now grown and gone are events that will leave a person feeling an emptiness that can be overwhelming at times.

Take a look at what you actually have in your pantry and see if there are some things you’re keeping that would probably still be there six months from now. Food banks are always in need of non-perishable foods that aren’t outdated. Start by donating only a few items — don’t completely get rid of everything. Just look at it as your way of helping those less fortunate, who rely on food banks as the only way they’ll be able to eat for one more day.

Find new recipes using items you already have and even recipes that call for something you’ve never purchased before. You sound like you still have a lot of love for the things that are in your past. Now it’s time to share that with people you’ll probably never know, who don’t even know where their next meal is coming from. It may be especially hard the first time you do this, but once you find out that this journey begins with the first step, you’ll realize that everything in moderation, including moderation, gives us room to breathe.
Ed, in SW Montana

Use Up Your Inventory, Then Reevaluate

Regarding keeping pantry and other inventory small: This was a problem for us, too. The best solution is to use up everything until you have only one of each thing, but make a list of what you really want to keep on hand. If something is only widely available during certain holidays or times of the year, and you like to have it year-round, then stock extra. Or if it is more economical because of things priced two-for, then the goal will be no more than two in inventory. We had some things we never bought again once the inventory was used up.
Mel

Keep a Pantry-Inventory List

One of the best ways I’ve taken control of our stockpile is to do an inventory and post it on freezer and inside cabinet doors. Instead of writing “10 cans” or “4 chicken breasts,” put the equivalent amount of dots/small circles/small boxes alongside each item. It’s much easier to X off a used item and see at a glance how many are still available. Make a column to read “buy more at xxx amount “and arbitrarily assign a number. For example, for chicken breasts, he may want to restock at two but chicken soup at four.

The gentleman may also try to limit how often he shops and find alternatives to the social aspect shopping provides.
Linda

Put Your Crockpot to Good Use

We also have a 2-quart crockpot. We make large batches of soup or stews using up frozen meats and vegetables that we have in the freezer or pantry. We freeze them in pints or 16 oz plastic containers, which are the perfect size for a small crockpot.

We place a piece of tape on the top and write down what kind of soup it is. When you want lunch, you just run the frozen container under hot water and let the soup slide out in one big chunk into the crockpot. In a couple of hours, the soup is ready to eat. Very easy clean-up.
Toni

Try a Pantry Challenge

Take stock of all your pantry and freezer items and make a list. You only need one backup for each item; if you have more than one, use it up or pack it up to donate to a food pantry.

To use it up, do a “pantry challenge,” where you only prepare meals from your pantry/freezer (meal planning will help with this). DO NOT go to the grocery store for anything you are missing. Get creative!

You could combine this “pantry challenge” with a “no spending” week or month, depending on what your stock looks like.

When you get the stock under control, keep a list to monitor only what you NEED to replace.
Therese

Related Articles

• Solo Cooking and Dining On a Budget
• The Secret to Saving When Grocery Shopping for One
• Cooking for Two: Tips for Empty Nesters

Reviewed November 2023