Organizing the Stash! (A Peek Inside My Pantry)

Every so often (not often enough) a girl's gotta organize her stash. We get all these fabulous deals, and often times I find my pantry begins to look a bit like this... (I have 2 small pantries in my house.)

Not so organized... Notice, I couldn't even fit all of my stockpiled tomatoes in! This was NOT working for me.

So to clean this disorganized mess up... and finally be able to find what I need... I decided to separate the items in my pantry into 3 categories:

• Throw Out (if expired)
• Donate (if not going to be used)
• Keep (but keep organized!)

When all was said and done, I was able to fit everything in, donate some items, and unfortunately, throw some expired ones away. The items I kept, I organized by expiration date. Meaning, if I had several boxes of pasta (which I always do), I put the first to expire on top. You get the idea. The below picture is my canned goods pantry. The shelves are steadier and it keeps me organized in this small way.

My other pantry has wire shelving, so I keep most of my dry and boxed foods as well as my larger stockpiled items such as juice, oil, etc. in here.


Here's the set-up of my pantry pictured above:
(Top - Bottom)

• Cereals and Breakfast items (Top Shelf)
• Baking Goods
• Pastas and Other Dry Goods
• More Dry Goods
• Broths, Dry Beans, Soup-Type Items
• Larger Bulk Items or Stockpiled Items on Floor

So, when was the last time you organized your pantry?! I encourage to as you see things getting out of hand or as you stockpile different items. Keep it organized so that you know what you have on hand. It doesn't save you money if you can't find what you're looking for. You'll end up (like me) going to the store to buy more only to find you had it all along!