I added up one month of takeout spending. Four hundred and twenty dollars. Delivery fees, tips, the markup on every single item. I was paying more for a single pad thai delivered to my door than it would cost to buy the ingredients for four servings of the same thing.

I decided to stock a pantry instead. The first trip to the store cost a hundred and sixty dollars — less than one week of takeout — and I cooked at home for the next three weeks on what I bought.

What a Real Pantry Needs

Not a Pinterest-perfect pantry with matching jars and labels. A working pantry — the stuff that lets you throw together a meal without running to the store. The goal is having the building blocks of a hundred different meals, not buying ingredients for one recipe at a time.

The Starter List (About $160)

• Grains and pasta: Rice (5 lb bag), spaghetti, penne, old-fashioned oats, all-purpose flour, corn tortillas.
• Canned goods: Diced tomatoes, tomato paste, black beans, chickpeas, coconut milk, tuna, chicken broth.
• Oils and condiments: Olive oil, vegetable oil, soy sauce, vinegar (white and balsamic), salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes.
• Freezer: Frozen chicken breasts, frozen mixed vegetables, frozen berries, butter, shredded cheese.
• Produce: Onions, garlic, potatoes, carrots, lemons. These last weeks when stored right.

How to Use It Without Waste

The trick is shopping to replace, not to restock. Do not buy another bag of rice when you still have half a bag. Use what you have, then replace. Every week, buy the fresh produce you need and check the pantry to see what is running low. Replace those items the following week.

The first month I did this, I spent about three hundred dollars total on groceries — a hundred and sixty to stock up, another hundred forty on weekly produce and replacements. Compared to four hundred twenty on takeout. I also ate better. The food was fresher. I knew what was in it.