This is the second day of my 31 Days of Living Well & Spending Zero challenge. To read all the posts in order, start with Day One or visit the Overview Page.
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I should probably warn you from the start: we are going to be doing a lot of cleaning, organizing, & inventory-ing this month! (I never said it was going to be easy!) One of our main goals for the month is to get into the habit of using what we have, rather than buying more. Another goal is to realize and appreciate all that we DO have, which is easier to do when our things are cleaned, organized, & inventoried. Sometimes all you need is a fresh look.
We will be starting off our challenge for the next few days by planning our food strategy. I don’t know about you, but the second I start to think about trying to cook with only the food in my pantry & freezer for a whole month, I start to panic. My brain shuts down and although my cupboards may in fact be brimming, all I see is “NOTHING TO EAT.” Worse, I have found that it is when I am hungry that I make my worst financial decisions. I am willing to spend more when I just want to get food in my belly as quickly as possible!
Today we are going to start by taking stock of exactly what we have on hand. If you are a coupon user or stockpiler, you probably have more than a few forgotten packages back in the nether-regions of your shelves. It’s time to take control.
Organizing your pantry and freezer always sounds much worse than it actually is. Even if you have a huge, stockpile of stuff it shouldn’t take too long to get it under control. Here is what to do:
- Clear your kitchen counters and table before you begin so you have plenty of space to work with
- Take out all the food from your pantry cupboard(s). As you remove it, put like items together. Be sure to put all OPEN items in a separate section. As you go, toss any items are no longer edible.
- Wipe down cleared shelves.
- Use this pantry inventory worksheet to write down everything you have, going section by section though the different types of items. Place items neatly back in pantry once you’ve inventoried that section. Be sure to put open items that you are currently using in a separate cupboard or on a separate shelf. Make a rule to not open a new package until the old one is finished!
{Get pantry inventory worksheets here}
Repeat this process for your freezer.
{Get your freezer inventory worksheet here}
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When was the last time you cleaned out your pantry? Were you surprised by how much food you did or didn’t have? In what way?
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TAKE BACK CONTROL OF YOUR HOME LIFE
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We don’t have a pantry. We have one shelf in a cupboard (one of those short thin ones) it has the staples. Some cans a box of teething cookies and true butter dish.
I am so excited to start this challenge! I recently had some of my hours cut at work, so I definitely could use this challenge to better myself!
A little late finding your website but I MADE IT! So I jumped in with both feet and now am on Day 2. I use a website called Supercook.com that helps you make a list of what you have in your kitchen and it scours the internet for you searching recipes that match what you have on hand. It’s very user friendly and comes in handy when we try to eat through the kitchen. (FYI It doesn’t send me emails or spam but you do have to create a login.)
I found a whole cake in my freezer! and I found banana bread I had forgotten about. I was worried about cooking out of my pantry but after this I am more comfortable.
Decided to give this a go.
In some ways it will be a bit tricky for us, because
a) it’s the start of the school year in Australia
b) our 2 of our 3 teens live with their Mum half time & she is notorious for just buying things because it’s the start of the school year.- Doesn’t everyone one just need new shoes, socks, lunch boxes, pencils, binder books etc, every year, even thought they still have perfectly good ones from last year? And we have to foot half the bill. And she goes to the most expensive place, because you can get it in one go, where as I’ll shop around for the best prices. Saved $100 on the school book list for our oldest who is with us 100%.
It’s 44C/111F today & I just cleared out & did stock take of the fridge & pantry – any excuse to open the fridge again!
We’re pretty good, as we DIYed the kitchen last year & I opted for a small pantry so we didn’t over purchase. Just 5 small double ups because something got pushed to the back corner.
Also very proud of myself, I haven’t been to the January sales this year & instead am supplementing my wardrobe by making new clothes using fabric, patterns & haberdashery from my huge stash – I’m a costume designer so I have a garage full of stock that I pick up cheaply at business closeouts, massive sales or markets. I rarely buy full price. Also selling heaps on Ebay from my vintage clothing & costumes to supplement my income as I’m not working on a show first 3 months this year.
Lets see how this pans out…..