SIMPLE FOOD ORGANIZATION TIPS THAT CAN SAVE YOU MONEY
You can hear the audio version of this discussion on my podcast at Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast, on Apple Podcast, and many other platforms!
BENEFITS OF ORGANIZING YOUR FOOD
Have you ever come home from the grocery store with several cans of tomato sauce only to later realize that you already had several cans on hand? What about the opposite situation where you didn’t buy something because you were certain you already had it? Having good habits in keeping your food organized can really make a big difference in your grocery bill. But saving money is not the only benefit. Organized food storage also saves you a lot of time.
REDUCE FOOD WASTE
When you keep your food organized, you can easily see what you have and what you need to use up before it goes bad. This can help reduce food waste and save you money in the long run. When we buy food and end up being unable to use it we basically throw away the money that we used to purchase it.
SAVE TIME
When your food is organized, you can easily find what you need without having to search for it. This can save you time when preparing meals or packing lunches. It also saves time when putting groceries away when you know exactly where everything needs to go. Anything that can be done to help me get groceries put away quicker is a bonus for me!
SAVE MONEY
When your food is organized, you’re less likely to buy duplicates of items you already have, which can save you money in the long run. By easily seeing what you have you can make an effort to use up what you already have in future meal plans. This reduces the amount of money you need to spend on groceries for the upcoming week. When you use what you already have on hand that’s less you need to get from the store.
MAKES PREPARING FOR & COOKING DINNER EASIER
When your food is organized, it’s easier to find the ingredients you need for a recipe. This can make cooking less stressful and more enjoyable. Who wants to be searching for an ingredient to make a recipe? Especially when you know you have it, but might just not remember where it was put. This happens to me sometimes when someone else uses an ingredient and puts it back in a different place!
TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR FOOD
Organizing your food does not always just happen naturally. It takes some thought and will improve over time. Especially if you have a large family and limited storage it can be difficult to keep things organized. I have been guilty of shoving things in any open spot when we have had to purchase an abundance of groceries. This might be due to a certain recipe requiring more ingredients than usual. Often as we approach the holidays we have more groceries that need to be stored than usual. But, in normal situations with your regular amount of groceries and leftover food, there are some things you can do to keep your better food organized.
CATEGORIZE YOUR FOOD
Group similar items together, such as canned goods, snacks, and baking supplies. This will make it easier to find what you need and prevent duplicates. You also want to think through where you store those categories of food. If you are like me and pretty much only bake around the holidays you can keep those ingredients in a less convenient location. However, if you love to bake each weekend then you will want those ingredients to be more accessible.
CLEAR CONTAINERS
Clear containers let you see what’s inside and how much you have left. They also help keep your food fresh. They can be used to store leftovers or also for things like flour, sugar, and pasta. I started storing flour, sugar, and elbow macaroni in clear containers on the top of my kitchen cabinets. They can easily be reached with a stool, and make room for other things in my cabinets. When using containers to store leftovers, consider having a specific area of the fridge for leftovers. This will help other family members be aware that those things need to be eaten up and can help limit waste.
LABEL ITEMS
Labels help you quickly identify what’s inside each container or bag. You can use a label maker or simply write on masking tape with a marker. This is especially important when you are putting something in the freezer. Even things that seem like you would definitely be able to recognize become unrecognizable in the freezer. I like to use ziplock baggies and a Sharpie. I not only do this with leftovers but also meat that I have separate to store. For example, I might have a bag that says 4 bone-in chicken thighs in the freezer.
MAXIMIZE SHELF SPACE
Often your cabinets will have more vertical space than what is needed to store most items. By adding shelf risers you can double the amount of space you have to store items. Make sure to leave some space for taller items so that you are not limiting what you can store in your cabinets.
ROTATE YOUR STOCK
When you buy new groceries, move the older items to the front so you use them up first. This will help prevent food waste and save you money. When putting things in the freezer it can be easy to just throw them in on top of the old. But, making sure you bring the older items to the front will prevent freezer burn from items being in the freezer for too long.
KEEP YOUR FRIDGE ORGANIZED
Use clear bins to group similar items together, and store items that are used frequently at eye level. This will not prevent family members from saying you don’t have something because it was behind something! But, it definitely helps with making sure groceries do not get forgotten about.
USE BASKETS, BINS OR BAGS
Baskets or bins can be used to store snacks, produce, or other small items. They can also be easily removed from shelves for cleaning or restocking. The one tip I learned that has made such a huge impact on me was using reusable grocery bags to organize my chest freezer. I have a bag for each type of item and I can easily lift them out to get to what I need. No more items getting lost and forgotten about in there! I also put bins in my regular freezer to keep things consolidated. It’s so much easier to pull out frozen cheese or grab some frozen vegetables when they are stored together in a particular bin.
Thanks so much for checking in! If you would like to hear the podcast version of this topic check out Lola’s Frugal Life Podcast! Also, be sure to check out my other blog posts on this site!
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