Have you ever reached for the pasta sauce only to have a jar of peanut butter drop on your head? How about getting dinner started and finding that you are missing a key ingredient? Having a well-organized pantry can eliminate both of those issues.
Yesterday, we talked about the important step of getting to know what you use and how to create a pantry that is valuable to your home. Today, we will build on that foundation to make sure that your pantry is stocked properly. If you are just joining us, don’t worry You can start this plan any time and on any day of the week. Just back track to Day 1.
Day 2: Shop to Scale
I love bulk shopping! As the blogger for the frugal blog, I am always talking about the money savings from shopping in bulk and stockpiling when things are on sale. But if you want an organized pantry, you will need to make sure that your bulk shopping is still to scale.
If you followed the plan for Day 1, you have already identified the items that you use and have an idea of how much of it you use. Use that list to help determine what should be in your pantry.
You have to evaluate the space you have in your pantry and how much it can realistically hold. No horizontal storage of a box of pasta stuffed in on top of your cans of soup because it won’t fit anywhere else. The idea is to only fill to the space you have available and to keep your food fresh by rotating in new items as the old ones get used up.
You can still apply bulk purchases to this strategy. Either have an auxiliary storage of pantry (such as some basement shelves or a little used hallway closet) or find another family to split the bulk purchases. You’ll still save money, but you will also have an organized pantry.
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