One of the biggest obstacles stockpiling couponers face is organizing their pantries.
When strategic couponers buy an item on sale, they usually buy several.
During a really good sale, a couponer might end up with 10 or more items. This can lead to a full pantry that easily becomes disorganized and chaotic.
Organization is important to prevent food from expiring and to avoid frustration.
As a busy mom of three, I confess that sometimes groceries don't always get put away properly. In a rush, a new box of cereal might be tossed in front of the old one, or the new can of beans might be put on top of the older one.
Sometimes items are randomly thrown on shelves. Recently, I decided it was time for a pantry makeover. I asked Keri Scott, a professional organizer with Once Upon a Clutter (onceuponaclutter.com), for advice on organizing my pantry.
Scott's first tip for creating an efficient pantry involved labeling. According to Scott, even if a label doesn't stay in place forever, you will still recognize that spot as belonging to that item.
I took her advice and cleared off every shelf in my pantry and made proper homes for each item. Cereals, rice, beans, canned vegetables, fruit, pasta, sauces and baking ingredients all have homes now, and their homes are labeled.
Cereal is no longer put in the spot where the rice goes. This tip was great. Now there is no excuse for my children or husband to put an item wherever it lands and say, "I don't know where it goes."
She also suggested that we create an overflow area when we have too much product. The overflow area will create a more user-friendly pantry, she said.
With this strategy, newly purchased items are placed in the overflow storage area. When one of the labeled areas becomes empty, we transfer the new items from the overflow area. This allows us to see exactly how much of that item we still have. When our reserve begins to get low, we can look for coupons and sales on those items.
I chose to use the top shelf of my pantry for my overflow area. When I reorganized my pantry, I left three or four of each product in its labeled area and the remainder went on the top shelf. It made a big difference.
"The two most important components to getting organized are inventory control and categorizing," Scott said. "Think of it sort of like you are managing your own little store, and that really is what you are doing."
I think that is so true, especially since my extended family enjoys "shopping" in the pantry.
Keeping your stockpile organized is the best way to ensure that food items aren't wasted.
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