How do you store your extra pantry staples? Do you shop only sales circulars?
The above is one of my three shelving units that I have in my basement to store my extra supplies. I try to keep 3 months of staples so that I am not running to the store every time I make dinner. You know you will not walk out with just that one item you need. You will pick up extra milk and oh, look at those cookies in bakery! What about a loaf of bread for dinner too? The extra money adds up quickly. Instead of a $3.39 jar of mayonnaise you now have a grocery order of $50-$75. This happens to me if I have to just pick up one item.
This is the unit at the bottom of the stairs. It keeps the items that I will most likely send the kids down to the basement to grab in a hurry. The little box on the third shelf is where we keep lunch snacks. The kids can go down and grab one and throw it in their lunch for school.
When replenishing items we stock to the back just like the grocery stores. That way you are using the oldest first and the theory is that you will use everything before its expiration date.
Now, this is supposed to be about three months of shelf stable pantry staples (including the other 2 shelves) . If you notice the second shelf I only have 3 boxes of pasta left. That is because pasta is going on sale this week. I will buy 11 boxes at $.90. For us and this area, that is a good price. I know just about how much of each item I will use in 3 months. So, I wait every 6-9 weeks for the sales of the items I use. There was a sale on chicken stock last week so I have 8 cartons. Plan ahead and buy on sale.
Now, I also have my washer and dryer in the basement. Humidity! I only store the canned goods in that area. The boxes of crackers and cereal get soggy and develop a “taste” if not store in a dry area. Make sure you store each item in the best area or you will be throwing money away.
How do you store your extra items?
What's for Dinner Moms? 
All very good tips! Hubby built a large pantry in our new house, which seems to be big enough for everything even when I stock up. But when I do get overflow, out to the garage shelving it goes! We have low humidity here so never have to worry about soggy crackers or anything. p.s. I always keep a box or two of the blue and orange for my daughter, who can eat an entire cooked box of it in one sitting!
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Lol. Yes, there is one box on the shelf which I was actually surprised to see when I went down to take the picture.
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Outstanding post. I hope you don’t mind if I re-blog it. This is so on point.
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Thank you! So very kind of you!
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Reblogged this on Bee Organized with Pamela and commented:
Another Mom’s take on Pantry storage and keeping your Pantry out of a Wad.
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Wow! I could never be that organised ~ well done!
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Really I am not that organized. I do keep lists to help me. Every six months the kids and I do an inventory so I know what we need to use and what we are running low on
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I need to get our basement cleaned up of boxes so I can do more of this! As it’s only two of us and the pets, we don’t really need all that much, but it would be nice to have some emergency back up just in case, particularly during the winter months.
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The winter months are when I mostly depend on my pantry. Then I stock flour, sugar, peanut butter and juice. Things I do not stock normally in the summer unless they are a great buy. But, just figure out what the two of you eat in 3 months to get you through a sales cycle or two and you can start doing much of your shopping on sale.
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OMG so organised !
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Thank you! Not really but I like to try and keep on top of it. In my dreams things would be alphabetized.
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That all looks very organised indeed, Pamela. Of course, living in Florida, we don’t have a basement. I also don’t have a kitchen at the moment, but hopefully. that will change very soon. Can’t wait to get my two pantry cupboards. 🙂
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Love the post!! I do the same thing. I shop sales for staples and pantry items, along with my coupons. My “back-up” is a shelving unit that I placed in our coat closet. Here in the desert, we don’t use many coats, lol, so, it seemed to be a logical replacement. I often think if someone ever broke into our home that they would think that we have a strange attraction to taco shells and mustard. 🙂
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Love it. Mine would be cans of crush tomatoes and BBQ sauce!
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I have a room in the basement that I converted to a pantry of sorts. I have 6 metal canning shelving units for home-canned goods, three shelving units for staples, one heavy duty shelving unit for more staples, and one metal shelving unit for canned flour, sugars, salt, etc. that I buy in bulk then store in canning jars sealed with my food saver. Right now though I have bags of staples on the floor waiting to be put away. It gets out of hand quickly. I typically buy at least three of everything that I use all the time and rebuy when I get down to the last one. I buy some things when they go on sale for the entire year because I know how much I’ll use, but that doesn’t always work out because I do run out of space. I can’t say mine is as organized as yours, but I know where everything is. I can tell the kids to look on such and such shelving unit, third shelf, left hand side — or wherever it might be. I spend enough time in the pantry, I ought to know where everything is!
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Wow! We do have the rule when you take a bag of groceries downstairs it must be put away. That was after I went downstairs after a $500 shop and all the bags were left on the floor. We had a family putting away grocery party with dance music. Lol.
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I don’t think my kids would put things away where I’d want them, so the bags on the floor are all me. I’ve got to get in the habit of putting it away right away. A dance party sounds good though — even if I have to dance with myself. It was good enough for Adam Ant (is that right?).
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Yes! I was down there to “teach” them how to put it away.
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We actually have a large room that has 3 shelves that run the length of 1 wall. We got two storage units like you have, put them together, and put them up against another wall, with a small table between the shelving units and the wall that holds our chips/bagged items. The other half of the room holds my husband’s work desk, a closet where I keep my paper towels/toilet paper and the hot water heater (the house is set up weird)
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Great idea to have a table!
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You’re so organized! And give some really great tips! When my kids were little I used to buy in bulk and created a storage area similar to yours… but two have ‘flown the nest’ and the last two are rarely home to eat (college!) – meaning that I’m buying a lot less nowadays! I have a large pantry in my kitchen and am able to organize the shelves by food type – I also have a lazy susan for baking goods and a cabinet solely for spices! Keeping everything in it’s ‘proper’ place makes for easy cooking and cleanup! 🙂 🙂
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I have a 13 year-old boy. I will be doing this for a few more years. 🙂
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You will! 🙂
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What is it about buying in multiple of three? I must always have 3 of everything in my “extra pantry” in the garage. We had floor-to-ceiling cabinets put along the entire length of the garage and I keep all of my over-run pantry out there. That and the deep freeze chest for the other extra storage.
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I too have a chest freezer and another freezer. That is another whole story. 🙂
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I shop for 3 weeks at a time. I think I need to work on that after reading this. 😉
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Sales cycles tend to be 6-8 weeks. If you start watching your sales flyers you will see the same products (non-produce and meat) come on sale every 6-8 weeks. That is when I buy most of my dry goods and canned items I need. Definitely saves me money in the long run. 🙂
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Thanks for the tip. I really appreciate it. 🙂
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Great tips
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Thank you, Lynn!
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Most welcome
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I am in the South and the humidity INSIDE this house stays an average 60%. So, no crackers/cereal/dry mixes in their original boxes, everything has to be stored in a tight-lidded container.
I will be so glad when we move to a dryer climate and have a new house to store things properly and attractively. Be grateful for what you are able to store.
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My piano would die in that humidity. I have to keep it at low humidity year round to try and keep the piano in tune. I can’t imagine storing food items in that humidity. Lots of jars and tight containers I am sure. 🙂
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Yes! it is a real pain. Sometimes the AC unit helps dehumidify the house, but today has stayed around 60% all day (I have a humidity meter hanging in the dining room). I am planning to move to AZ soon, so maybe I can have a normal shelf and pantry. *Fingers crossed
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