How do you buy and put away your stockpile?

[XUfan]

I'm mostly OCD about my stockpile. I rotate the stock by the dates on the packages. I also sort by flavor. Not only by flavor, but by what my husband calls "departments". There's the bean cabinet, the soup cabinet, the condiment cabinet, the cereal cabinet AND the cereal shelf (the cabinet is for open boxes...the shelf is up above, and only for unopened ones)...etc.

My utility room is my pantry. One wall has the washer, dryer and utility sink. Above those things are built-in cabinets. Under the utility sink is detergent and fabric softener storage. On the right-hand wall is a set of built-in wall cabinets, with a row of storage cabinets underneath, and a set of 3 foot long shelves beside them. On the third wall is another row of storage cabinets with a set of shelves on top of them. The shelves have 8"x5" baskets lined up on them. Each one has a different item in them....pop tarts, hot chocolate packets, tuna pouches, granola bars, popcorn, etc. It saves TONS of storage space, since I take them out of the boxes before I put them in the baskets. For instance, I can put 5 boxes of microwave popcorn packs in 1 basket.

All of that is just food storage. My HBA is stored in a hall closet, that has bins marked for each item. My freezer is the same way....sorted by date and type.

As for the outdated stuff...I check dates at the store 99% of the time. But, if I got home and found something outdated as I was unpacking, I'd surely take it back!

[cupunlvr]

Originally Posted by zansammommy Yes I try to put stuff away as soon as I get home. Atleast throw it in the right places, like TP in the bottom of the linen closet only to be orgazined in a little time later. Normally it's my kids job to "put it away" then I go behind them a stack them neatly. I do put things in by expiration date. I try to stack things neatly in the pantry or it makes me crazy. In fact once the kids are in bed I plan on pulling everything out and redoing it. It has been a busy two months so things have just been put back randomly and because of that we had two bags of egg noddles open at the same time. I have had to take back food to a store because of the expiration date. It was peanut butter, just swapped it with a good one. It was last summer and there was only about two weeks before it was bad which is shocking since how long peanut butter last. I learned my lesson and now look at the dates. I don't have a stockpile for fridge items. If you ask my husband we have no food by looking in the fridge. I am still working on how to orgazine my freezer. I have a small one above the fridge and a medium (5x5?) stand alone. I have a big stockpile of fries and pizza slices. Not sure how to orgazine it all. Can't find anything but those. Not looking forward to having my hands in the freezer for awhile. Suggestions?

I keep a pair of clean, never used outside, garden gloves next to our chest freezer so that anytime I have to go digging my hands don't get frozen. I try to keep bringing older dated meats to the top so that I can easily grab them when I am hunting for something for dinner. I would eventually like to have an upright freezer too so I wouldn't have to stand on my head as much to get things out of the bottom of the chest freezer, lol.

[mainelycoupons]

I put mine away by type and date. I have "zones" in my cabinets as someone else mentioned (XUfan maybe). Soda, soup, condiments/spices, pasta/sauce, baking needs, chips/crackers/cookies, juice, dog food/treats, rice/pasta sides, tuna/canned stuff, etc.

I have bought a couple expired things on accident, cause even I'm not perfect all the time
Took it back immediately. No way am I gonna eat the cost of 3month old frosting. Anymore than I am gonna eat the frosting, lol.

[dancinmama]

I ALWAYS use the FIFO method. I have a ton of storage. Like product is stored in the same area. Health and beauty are in the master linen closet; paper products are in the master walk-in. All cleaning/'household products are in the laundry room. All food is in the kitchen pantry and cabinets. Office supplies and bath tissue overflow are in the office walk-in. Miscellaneous and donation items are in the hallway cabinets. Dog/cat food and litter is in the garage cabinets. When I need ANYTHING, I know EXACTLY where to find it.

I too check expiration dates before I buy and look for the latest expiration date. If the item is free and I have more than enough product in my stockpile, I rotate excess to the donation cabinet. If I have to pay OOP, I base how much I buy on how much we'll need before the product expires.

[Cynthiabutterfly]

I'm really, um, let's say, particular about having my cabinets organized. If I don't know what's there, then how will I be able to use it, and look for deals on things I am low on?

I also hate to waste gas, so I never leave things in my car. DH hates for bags of things to be in the floor, so I usually put them straight onto the kitchen counter, or in my laundry room which is where my stockpile is stored.

Since everything is organized already, it makes it easier to put things where they go right away, putting new things on the bottom or back of a row.

When the kids or DH gets to 'looking' for stuff, using stuff up and rearranging things, I'll take an hour or so on the weekend to reorganize every few weeks or so, throw away anything that may have expired (I seem to have that problem alot with salad dressing) and put things that we decided we don't like or won't eat into a box for donation.

Then I also pull things out of the stockpile 'room' into the regular pantry to get used, and make a mental note of things we are getting low on.

[nuffsaid]

um...fast food service..FIFO left to right front to back.


kids are learning to grab the yogurt from the left first

oh and yes we have a condiment aisle, and a baking aisle....

when things are at stockpile prices the boys ask is it xxxx season?
last week was cereal season thanks to safeway

[nateNnatsmommy]

right now my technique is to keep everything (except perishables) in my car until the car's sluggish, then I bring everything in an put it wherever I can find it.

that's not my usual technique, but it's more interesting right now lol

[anaj06]

My husband hates to look at large amounts of stuff...I swear he just won't eat it if he sees to much of it...but that is a conversation for another thread.

So, I have what a normal family would have in our kitchen fridge/freezer, pantry, and cabinets in bathrooms.

My stockpile is in the garage freezer, garage shelves, linen closet (I have one in the hallway and one in the master bath), and my closet. When we get low in the normal areas I rotate in from my stockpile area. I then refill stockpile area from the groceries I buy. When I am rotating, I make a mental note of what is running low.

DH just wants everything he looks at/uses to be "normal." So, I try to accommodate him. For the most part, this system works for me:)

[ravenhart]

I must have my canned foods all lined up (like in front of like) I usually have tomato products, soup on the left side followed by different types of beans stacked on top of each other and in several rows followed by other canned veggies. This is the only area that I'm anal in for some reason other than boxes don't go on the can shelves. I haven't been doing the FIFO rule since I don't really have a large stockpile going on anything but there are some canned goods that need to be checked.
I've always knows the stores put the older in front so I guess I need to start doing that myself since there are somethings that are staying a little longer on my shelves.

I like the idea of the black sharpie marking the date and I would like to include the price. I like knowing how little I spend on making dinner for us.

[STallerico]

Oh some of your comments are hilarious lmao.. Man i wish i hasd a coupon room too lol