Did you finish all your spring cleaning?
I’m going to admit it, I didn’t finish everything on my spring cleaning list over the spring. The weather was just too nice to stay inside, and the basement didn’t get finished, and a few other items were left incomplete.
But, somehow, with the first real bit of rain we’ve had all summer, my itch to get some serious cleaning done returned.
So this week all the rugs made it to the washer, I started getting the utility room organized, and I tidied up the pantry.
Remember last year when I used some diaper boxes to organize the pantry? They are still doing their job, adding a little extra storage space on those tall shelves.
But, to make it a little easier to see at a glance what staples I need to pick up on a grocery run, I added a little something to the pantry this year.
Easy way to organize the pantry:
I found a small dry-erase board in the dollar section of my beloved Target store. I used a couple permanent markers to write our canned-good staples on the board (think canned veggies like mixed vegetables, canned meats/beans like tuna fish, etc. ) Then I counted up each and every can and made tally marks with the dry-erase pen for each item.
Now, when we use an item from the pantry we will just erase the tally mark. When it’s time to go to the grocery store I can easily look at my list and see which staples I need to stock up on. (This will save me time and money in the long run – if an item’s on sale, I’ll know if I need to stock up on it, or if we already have a good supply at home.)
So simple – I don’t know why I didn’t think about it sooner!
Have a great organizing tip you want to share?
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Rach says
July 23, 2012 at 4:02 pmOne of my besties has the same sort of pantry organization going on. I love it!
OneMommy says
July 23, 2012 at 10:01 pm🙂 I seriously don’t know why I never tried it earlier!
Kristen says
July 23, 2012 at 4:30 pmI always strive to be more organized when it comes to grocery shopping and meal planning. I never quite get there though. I honestly just can’t stand either one of those things. I don’t mind cooking I just don’t like the parts that are necessary in order to actually do it. 🙂
OneMommy says
July 23, 2012 at 10:03 pmI’m with you! I am struggling to become more organized. I need to start writing down possible meal ideas for the week before going shopping… I kind of wait until the last minute and then just throw things together.
Michele B says
July 23, 2012 at 10:43 pmNeat idea. I have to get my pantry straightened out as well. Hubby built new shelves in it and I rearranged a few things but I really need to do a complete overhaul. Thanks for the ideas.
OneMommy says
July 26, 2012 at 9:47 pmOh, I think the pantry is something we all struggle with! 🙂 My husband made me a few extra shelves for under the original shelves so I could put the wok, electric skillet, and a few other not often used items. Now if I could just find a place for all the extra canned items I got the other day….
Michele B says
July 26, 2012 at 11:41 pmWhen hubby built our extra shelves it was specifically for canned goods. I still need more shelves for my food processor, canning materials and my dehydrator. LOL I could keep hubby busy every weekend with building projects.
OneMommy says
July 28, 2012 at 3:06 pmYep, I could keep mine busy, too. 🙂
Donna says
August 4, 2012 at 5:37 pmThis is a great Idea. I could use this on my canned goods that I keep in the basement as extras. I could even write the expiration date too.
OneMommy says
August 5, 2012 at 9:57 pmOh, expiration dates on those extra canned goods! Now that you say that, I should do something similar for our emergency stash downstairs…