It’s so important to plan ahead for meals when you’re trying to budget every dollar. I put in a chunk of time to lay out the meals for the entire week, got my grocery list together, and headed out for the store. This was going to be great! No quick stops at the store for some prepared, deli meal this week. This is great!

When I got home and started to put my groceries in the pantry, I noticed a reoccurring theme. There it was. Duplicate items purchased today at full price instead of the reduced price that I had paid before. I hadn’t remembered that I already had some items that I needed, so bought them again. I sure didn’t need to spend the money on those things again. And I sure didn’t need to pay full price for them when I can always find a sale. What a tremendous waste of money.

It is time to make a plan so this never happens to me again. For this plan to make sense, I’m dividing it into 4 steps. Let’s give this a try.

Step 1: Clear Out Your Pantry. Pick a day, make a cup of coffee, and start cleaning out your pantry or cupboards out of all the dry or canned food items. Take everything out, checking each item for expiration dates or damage. Then wipe your shelves off so you can start fresh with a clean space.

Step 2: Mapping Your Pantry. This will take some organization, but it isn’t difficult. You’ll actually be sorting your food items into categories so that you can make an inventory of what you have. The basic items could be sorted into baking goods, soups, broth, canned diced tomatoes, canned tomato sauce, oils, barbeque sauces, crackers, dry snacks, canned snacks, rice, and so on. Then you’ll need to do the same with your spices. This can be tedious, but start arranging your spices in alphabetical order so that you can check for duplicates. You’ll be amazed how many duplicates you have. Again, check the expiration dates and throw out any spices that you know, or suspect, are old.

Step 3: Create A Working List Of Basic Items. Writing down what you have in your pantry and keeping track of the items as you buy and use them seems like work. Well, it is, at first, but once you start using it, you’ll save time and money just knowing what you already have in the pantry. Using a column and row type paper, list your most often used items and the number you have in the pantry. Then as you use them, cross one off, and as you buy them add what you buy. This method is very easy once you get the hang of it.

Step 4: Use Your List On Shopping Day. If you’re sitting down with your recipes for the week, you can now grab your pantry list and easily eliminate any unnecessary purchases. You won’t pay full price again for staples in your pantry if you know ahead of time that you already bought those items the other week on sale. Now you will stock up on the basics, like canned tomatoes, rice, or broth, when you find a sale, and not buy at full price when you need it for tonight’s dinner.

Wouldn’t it be great if we always knew what food items we had in our pantry and never bought duplicates at anything other than a sale price? Once you dig out your pantry and discover all those hidden items tucked away in the dark corners, you’ll see why a system and a list is important in saving money and time. You’ll never go grocery shopping again without referring to your newly categorized and inventoried list of the basics.

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Tags: cooking, Cooking Tips, family, groceries, home, home organization, kitchen, kitchen organization, mom, organized home, organized kitchen, pantry, parenting

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