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Keeping track of preps


WormGuy

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To some keeping a spreadsheet is simple; to others a notebook is simple. With the way and places that people live we all have different storage situations. We need to try different approaches for storage and rotating our stocks until we find the one that works the best for our situation.

 

Stocking supplies is the most important thing we can do for ourselves, and our family. The next most important two things we should do is date and rotate our stocks. These two things should be done in order to assure we are using our preps and not letting things get out of date.

 

Here are some links to read so you can see how others are managing their preps.

 

http://www.thefoodguys.com/foodcalc.html

 

http://www.providentliving.org/content/dis...-4070-1,00.html

 

http://standeyo.com/News_Files/menu.food.store.html

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=6#Post121392

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=6#Post120006

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=11#Post91453

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=14#Post79494

 

http://www.mrssurvival.com/forums/ubbthrea...ge=22#Post31085

 

 

 

A question often asked is “How long does food stay good” Here are a few links to help answer this question.

 

http://www.waltonfeed.com/grain/life.html

 

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_fnut/HRAP/STORAGE/cupstor.htm

 

 

 

This is how a few people do it:

 

I only have five places where food prep items are located - and I do not spread it out any more than that or it would become impossible to keep track of. Of those locations... there is an order of rotation that ensures I keep a handle on it... pantry is current opened/usage items stocked with things moved in from the first tier storage rooms (there is two). Second tier storage areas have items that will not be used within a year's time (longer term items). Once a year, I rotate items from the second tier storage areas into the first tier storage that are ready to be rotated into use and then I replace with new products in the long term storage area.

 

At the time that I do the rotation... I do a couple of inventory management things:

 

First, I do a physical inventory and put in on my inventory sheets (computer spreadsheet) - this only get's done once a year and gives me a baseline to evaluate what needs ramping up and what is overstocked.

 

Second, I clean the storage areas including the pantry shelves (vacuum up cobwebs, spilled items, and dust - wipe down surfaces) and move the first to be used items forward and put the recently moved in items at the back. While doing this I inspect the items and make sure nothing has developed problems.

 

Finally, I date all new items coming in with the date purchased/stored(i.e. Jan 2008).

 

This get's done once a year. Last year I started doing all my major restocking at the start of the year (prebuying to replace the current year's expected usage to lock in lower prices) and that makes this system work even better... as I just do all the inventory management and restocking all within a months time frame and then am done! It works quite well actually but requires carving out some time for the rotation/cleaning/inventory and saving your cash for the big annual restocking purchases. It's cheaper though and more efficient in my mind.

 

Another one:

 

I have one pantry and everything gets crammed into it except what goes under the bed, behind the couch, on top closet shelves and etc. Once we are a bit more finished with the remodeling though will be another story.

 

I'm hoping to put in shelves that can be loaded from the back and used from the front. That way there is less moving things around other than moving them forward on the shelf.

 

I do not keep a written inventory but do take frequent visual ones to see what needs to be tweaked. I buy certain things yearly also but not all at the same time. When I find a good sale on something we use regularly, like T-paper, I buy enough to last a year or two depending on its storage life. Those are usually non-food items and are stored separately. Because I buy this way it frees up funds to buy the next good sale. Most of my monthly buying is based on the sales ads.

 

Most of my food items are easily inventoried at a glance but only because I've been doing it so many years that all I have to do is calculate approximately what is on a shelf and the time of year to know if I need to stock up further at the next sale.

 

One thing I do is to mark all items with the date of purchase and use the oldest first. Canned goods and such I also mark with the name of the product inside just in case we have a problem and the cans lose their labels. I had that happen once and it's not always nice to have a surprise when preparing a meal LOL.

 

One thing that I do keep very close tabs on is the hidden inventory of food and non-food items to make sure they are rotated. Normally I just take new items as I buy them into the area and remove the older ones for everyday use. Many of those items are for long term storage so they are not switched as often. If "someone" decided they needed my pantry of food more than I did at least there is a chance they would not find the hidden supplies.

 

Here is what can happen if you don’t have an inventory of your supplies:

 

I thought I had more flour but I could not find it. So I chalked it up to having been used. That was until last night. I was looking of something in the hall closet and there in a big 21/2 gallon zip lock bag were 2-5lb bags of flour. Not my favorite brand but hey its 10lb of flour!

 

And:

Yes...I sometimes have to shift things around and am always pleasantly surprised to find some "lost" item. I thought I had used up all of our soap (but could not remember doing THAT, either) only to remember that I had moved it from its original storage location to a new set of storage drawers that I had simply...forgotten about!

 

And:

I keep a little coupon saver type pouch and list my preps and where I have stashed them on index cards. It is a nice system - I carry it with me where ever I go. If I spot a sale I know what to purchase. If I have extra dollars, I know what I could use, yet. It is a good system unless I forget to write down my purchases, however! We ate a lot of sauer kraut last winter because I bought, stored and didn't write down the fact that I had stashed twelve cans of Kraut!!

 

 

 

wormie

John

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