Welcome back! Pull up a chair, I’ll pour you a coffee, and we’ll talk about how you, too, can have a Use What You Have home. The good news is that it’s not about buying 50 organizing bins, getting a huge load of groceries or running through your house like a whirlwind, bringing it to order in one session. This is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. This is about taking small, manageable steps with no spending at all until it’s the right time. You can do this!
Start By Knowing Where You Are
How can you get started? It’s the same for everyone – you have to know where you are. Beginning with the food category, I will walk you through taking stock, just like grocery stores used to in pre-computer days.
You’ll count and write down every can, bottle, freezer bag, etc of food in your home. You don’t need to do it in an hour, or even one day. I did a recent inventory over the course of a weekend, one area at a time, working about 20 minutes per area.
Don’t Let the Inventory Drag On
I wouldn’t spread this inventory over too long a period, since you probably prepare and eat food multiple times a day, and that changes your inventory. When you buy groceries, you add to the inventory. When you prepare a meal, you subtract your ingredients. Try to complete your inventory within 3 days, even if it isn’t perfect or completely finished. Future inventories take much less time. Whether you track it on computer or paper, it’s an ever-changing document.
One Area at a Time
You will want to inventory food in your deep freeze, fridge, cupboards, and shelves of home canning. Check the place(s) you store huge packs of paper towels, the food you keep in the camper, the spice drawer; whatever applies to your situation. You might want to inventory only food at first, and that is a great place to start. On my recent inventory, I took stock of paper products, personal care items like shampoo, food wraps, garbage bags, cleaning products, laundry detergent, and anything else I regularly buy in a grocery store. You don’t have to do all of this yet, but everything you track will give you a better picture of what you have.
Yes, it’s a big list. Or lists, because it helps to write it down by area. So a “what’s in the fridge” list, “what is on the garage shelves” list, etc. This does take time, it’s also the best way I know to get started. You need to know what you have before you can start building a pantry system, and a plan to use up whatever you have.
If you discover that you are all out of paper towels (for example), by all means add that to a grocery list. But I’d advise waiting to finish taking stock before you get a large load of groceries. Every time you bring groceries in you need to add those items to your inventory, and every time you cook a meal, you need to subtract from the inventory.
Why Writing it Down Matters
I can hear you grumbling now, “That sounds like a lot of work!” I know, and I balked at doing this for years. But having a paper or computer inventory is the only way to reliably know what you have. There’s nothing worse than going to the freezer to pull out those pork steaks to thaw and discover that they’ve already been eaten, and you need to make a different plan for dinner! I tried to keep the inventory in my brain, and it’s just about impossible. It’s far too easy to forget some items until they are freezer burned beyond recognition and inedible. The Use What You Have Home concept includes reducing food waste.
Start With What You Have
Grab an old notebook and a pencil and start taking stock. If you get meal ideas while counting, write them down. Just don’t get distracted from recording what you have. You have made the first step towards a more intentional and predictable pantry, a crucial part of a Use What You Have home!
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