Would you like to have a full, well-stocked pantry that saves you money? The secrets to stocking your pantry is to follow a few guidelines that make it a frugal venture instead of a wasteful one.
Before you even think about stocking up, you should know exactly where you will be putting things. If you aren’t blessed with a large built in pantry or closet, you may have to get creative, storing pantry items in several places. Make sure that your pantry storage is in an area that is dry, not damp.
Only stock up on items that you family uses. I can’t believe the extreme couponers who have walls of items that they will never use. Why? It is fine to try one or two of something, but don’t stock it if you aren’t sure if your family likes it.
Speaking of coupons, use coupons and sales to help you stock the pantry. Buy your items in multiples when they are at their lowest prices. Just make sure that you don’t buy more than you can use. You don’t want to have to do a pantry clean out and find that you are tossing half of your pantry due to past expiration dates. That is just a waste of money.
Make sure to rotate your stock. New items should go in the back and older items brought forward. This way you can use items before their shelf life expires. Take some time to really look at what you have, at least once a month, to see if you can incorporate older items into your meal plan before they are unusable.
Don’t forget the freezer portion of your pantry. Items that are frozen can be stocked and rotated just as you might in a pantry, although we tend to forget this since a freezer is more out of the way in a sense.
Happy stocking!