When your stockpile looks like Andy Warhol's art it can be difficult to make sure you are not letting food expire and thus go to waste.
Here's how I stay on top of things with only a few minutes here and there.
1. Group like items.
I have regular pantry, closet pantry, garage storage, underbed storage and extra bath storage. Each area stores specific items based on convenience and purpose. This will obviously vary for each family.
2. Rotate stock as you add new items.
For things like cereal, which I bring home often, I rotate every few months. For items I purchase every few months, I rotate as I bring them home.
3. Establish a place to store soon to expire items.
I like to move these items to my counter, which forces me to use them up or look at them every day.
4. Establish a NEED list as you rotate your stock.
Certain items in my stockpile are extras that I picked up only because they were free or VERY cheap. Other items are staples in my home and if I am running low they will need to be replaced even if they are not on sale. Keeping any eye on the low stock can help prevent paying full price even if the item is not rock bottom.
How do you rotate your stock to avoid waste?
6 comments:
I do all of these except moving things to the counter--I have a very small kitchen with little counter space! So when I see something that's about to expire, if I can't make a plan for it immediately, I write it in the "next week" box of my weekly to-do list. Then when I'm planning the next week's meals, I start with that.
We also maintain an EAT IT! list on the front of our refrigerator. All perishables (except staples that are easily used on time, like milk) are on this list, and we look at it when deciding what to eat.
We also keep a list of what's in the freezer (we don't have a big freezer, only the one over the fridge) to stop us from standing with the freezer door open rooting around to see what's in there! When I rearrange the freezer, if I see something that's getting old, it goes on the EAT IT! list.
I love the EAT IT list!
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your tips!
Great tips! I hesitate sometimes to 'stockpile' because I waste so much. Following these tips will be a great way for me to prevent waste AND save money!
Thanks!!!
Melanie
great ideas! One thing I've learned since I started stockpiling and couponing is to learn and become familiar with what you actually use or don't. Some things I bought when I first started out (because they were cheap or free) I no longer buy because I've learned what we actually eat or don't eat.
And if I realize we have things we won't ever use, I donate them to the local food bank before they expire.
I write the date of purchase with a sharpie on items when they are bought, and then I rearrange shelves when I add them to my pantry so that the oldest ones are in front and the newest are in back.
Also, most pantry items are good beyond their expiration date.
my kitchen right now is so small I can not have much of a stock pile, When we were in Texas I had a pantry and I put a list on the door listing what was in there and how much of each item. If I did buy something I would rotate the new item to the back by date. Oh how I miss my pantry.
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