One of the easiest ways to save money on your grocery bill is to use the food you already have. Stupidly simple, right? Well, that can be difficult to do if you don’t know what you have and its not organized enough to be easily accessible. Thats why organizing your kitchen is the first step in saving money on groceries.
Depending on how much food you have stockpiled, this can be an overwhelming task, so my advice is – do a little at a time. Look through your cupboards and fridge to get a mental idea of what you have, then do a rough sketch or diagram of where you would like those things to end up. I have one shelf in a cupboard designated for all of my spices.
I have always struggled with how to store spices, so for now this is it. The shelf is just a Pampered Chef baking rack.
For the rest of your food (and house) I would highly recommend purchasing a label maker. I have a Brother PT-Touch label maker, and I love it. I may or may not have been called the crazy-label-maker-lady on more than one occasion. My dogs are lucky they aren’t in containers and labeled.
I use a variety of canning jars, Gladware, etc. for my pantry items. Not only does this make things visible, neat, and accessible, it is critter proof (we don’t say the “m” word in my house). You can also see at a glance how much you have left of each item.
While you are at it, line your shelves and wipe everything out, too.
I don’t keep a pantry inventory. That just doesn’t seem to work for me. Instead I just peek through my cupboards and fridge as I am menu planning and making my grocery list. The labels will peel right off if I change what is in the containers.
Not only does this keep your food fresher, it helps to eliminate “losing” things in your cupboards and forgetting about them tip they are expired.
Once you find and maintain discipline in one area – like your pantry – its a lot easier to keep rolling and organize the rest of your house!
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