Before I started using coupons it was hard to make it til each grocery day without running into some serious problems, always out of stuff, We would end up with milk, but no cereal. Sandwich meat but no bread. When it came to figuring out dinner, the pickings became slim. Once I learned how to use coupons that problem slowly went away. Now I am faced with a whole other problem, Learning to Balance what I have on hand with when to use it so that it doesn't go to waste.
Today I felt the urge to do a little Spring cleaning. It led me to my fridge for some reason. I ended up throwing out so much! It was sickening. I don't buy mass quantities of things, Usually I do not buy more than 6 of something. It really just depends though, but by no means do I buy more than we can eat. Our problem is we don't make a plan for what we have. I am ashamed to say that among the stuff I threw out one item was a never been opened lb of Strawberries! Yeah, I know! I bought these 2 weeks ago for only $1.50 and very excited because my daughter loves strawberries as a snack. I forgot to tell her we had some, and somehow they managed to get pushed to the back and never thought of again, til now. They were mushy and moldy and sad.
I had also only bought a couple packs of yogurt that only a few were ate. We all like to eat yogurt but never really went to grab them often enough.There was 2 cans of Cinnamon rolls that expired, 1 bag of shredded cheese and 2 different flavor bottles of Salad dressing. There were probably a few other things, but it makes me a little sad. Am I alone in this? Is anyone else struggling with this issue, or have in the past? My fridge gets a really good cleaning once a month, and a quick check of expired items every big Grocery week which is Bi-weekly.
But I can't cry about it. What's done is done. But I CAN and WILL learn from it. So with that, I am setting a goal for April. I will figure a plan with what I have and buy smarter. This will require making of menus for dinners (which oddly, I really never have applied to our lifestyle) As well as lists of snacks available for the family to snack on. Also I have to keep in mind the expiration of the fruits and work them in earlier in the week. Hubby takes a packed lunch to work, and Daughter eats at school. Mornings are usually Cereal because our schedules do not coordinate very well to have a big cooked one.
So here is where I would like your help please. What are some tips or tools you use to keep your families food storage organized and used wisely. How do you manage to keep your stock rotated enough to be used before things expire. Also does anyone know of any cool printable lists that can help me organize the stuff I have on hand, and may help me know when I am going to need to buy more when I am running low on some items. Thanks for your help in tackling this goal. If you find yourself in the same situation sometimes feel free to join me! I hope that I am able to tackle this pretty easily and hope that I can share more with you later!
1 comment:
Hi, have you seen the prudent homemaker?
Here's the link: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/awellstockedpantry.aspx
She has an incredible pantry!!
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