Let’s Talk About Kitchen Inventory

Are you tired of going to make dinner only to find you are out of that pasta or that canned good? Do you have four jars of mayo because they keep getting lost in the back of your pantry? Did 2020 change your opinion on what you want to keep around? Let's talk about why it's time to make a kitchen inventory.

Let’s start from the beginning. What is a kitchen inventory you might ask. In simple terms, it is a list of items and the amount of each item you have in your kitchen, refrigerator, freezer, pantry, etc. By keeping track of these items you will make sure you use whatever you have on hand before you purchase new items. 

A kitchen inventory is not only useful to eliminate waste in your home, but also to help you keep track of your budget. By creating a kitchen inventory you are making meal planning, and making a grocery list a breeze.

A general rule of thumb is to eat what is fresh first, frozen second, and dried or canned goods last. Keeping an inventory, which allows you to know what you have on hand, allows for easier meal planning.

Keep in mind you do not have to list every piece of fruit or veggie in your fridge, it's more about pantry staples like rice, beans, cereal, flour, tomato sauce, you get the drift. The first thing you should do is make a list of everything you have in your pantry. Once you have your list you can start to organize things into categories. For example grouping flour, sugar, chocolate chips, and all baking goods into one category.

When it comes to how many of the items you have in your kitchen it is best to make a tally mark for each item. By making tally marks you can simply erase a tally mark as you use the item from your inventory. 

The important thing about keeping an inventory is to keep it up to date, so you should organize your list in any way that makes sense to you. The easier it is for you to naturally think of it, the easier it will be for you to keep up with it. After all the inventory is meant to help not be a chore you never complete.

You can also choose to laminate these pages and use a dry-erase marker to keep your tally, or the Printable Pages by CJY Zazzle shop also have magnetic dry-erase templates. 

The moral of this story is by keeping a kitchen food inventory you are going to save money as well as reduce waste by helping you use what you need first before it spoils, and only replace what you use.