Not Made Of Money

Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a huge advocate of stocking up on your favorite grocery items while they’re on sale. I’ve been known to buy crazy quantities of paper goods, canned or jar goods, and even meat, if I have enough room in my freezer to hold it. A good sale can allow you to insulate yourself from rising grocery prices, at least for awhile, and stay within a tight grocery budget.

Unfortunately, stockpiling groceries can lead to its own unique set of problems. Where will you put all of your bounty? How will you arrange it so that you can find it when you need it? In order to reap all of the rewards of your careful shopping, you will need to have a pretty strong organizational plan. Here are a few tips to help you keep your pantry in tip-top shape:

Keep lighter items in high places. Rolls of paper towels or packages of pasta are perfect for storing on those hard-to-reach shelves in your pantry. You don’t need to reach them everyday, and, if you drop one, you won’t smash a toe.

Place duplicate items together in a row. You don’t necessarily need to see every can of green beans or jar of pasta sauce. Instead, place these items in a row to the back of your pantry shelves. Then, you can place the next type of food product next to it. Different varieties hidden behind other products make it hard to keep tabs on your pantry’s inventory.

Keep regularly-used products within arm’s reach. Can you imagine what a pain it would be to have to drag out your step-stool each time you need to reach staples like flour or breakfast cereal? Make your life easier by keeping the products that you use everyday in a location that you can get to quickly.

Consider who uses your different pantry items as you organize the pantry. Keeping cereal in a location that is easy for youngsters to reach can help speed your morning routines. In addition, if your children are old enough to help with meal preparation, you can empower them to do more by storing supplies for regular dinner menus in an easy-to-find spot.

Mount a dry erase board in your pantry. One of the worst parts of going to the pantry to get something is the realization that you’ve run out. Imagine a family barbecue where you discover that you’re out of barbecue sauce. A simply family rule requiring anyone taking the last of something out of the pantry to write the name of the item on the board will make it easy to keep your pantry stocked.

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