I save my mayonnaise jars, coffee cans (Folgers), and my catsup bottles for re-use again. I keep uncooked rice, dried beans, macaroni and graham crackers in the clear mayonnaise jars. I use the large coffee cans for dried beans, peas, and other items like spaghetti and noodles. The catsup bottles are used to put catsup back into.
Because I use about three different types of flours, (sr,ap and spelt) and three types of sugar (cane, beet, and splenda) I need a lot of jars. Last year I found 8 1/2 gal canning jars for a dollar each. I use those to put the different things in. Then I also use those large pickle jars, which I got from the high school concession stand I worked at. I will paint the tops of them this summer to match the cabinets which are country blue.
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Since our kids are now on their own, we don't keep a large inventory of stored food goods in the pantry, but I do like to keep a few items stocked. I put a rubber band around the last item to remind me that I need to stock up on that particular food product.
I have a big pantry. That said, I also share it with clothes, crafts, and things to sell. So, when I can, I try and make things like food take up less room. I put little things inside bigger things and those inside other things, etc.
I was forever looking for my little packaged goods. Now they are all in one place. I sat the shadowbox on four cans. For stability, you can use full cans with rocks or sand in them.
"File" your food in your freezer. Organize frozen food boxes where the label shows and you can see what the item is. Put all meats "filed" together, all vegetable bags "filed" together, and all juices "filed" together.
First of all, I empty all cardboard containers into plastic containers. Then I label them: pastas, rice, chips, crackers, spices, sugar, flour, etc. I do not use a canister set.
I have these wonderful little jars from Oui' yogurt. I use the generic Splenda from the Dollar Tree. When I get a new box or two, I pre-fill all the jars I have so when I am done with one, I can just grab another.
Pantries can get really messy. With their deep shelves, foods can easily get pushed to the back, only to be found after they expire.
I have a very narrow shelf in my pantry and could get only a few cans in. When I began to put one as far back on the shelf as possible and then the other as far front as possible (touching each other) then I could get several more on the shelf.
Sometimes I get carried away by specials or forget I already have a lot of something and buy more. After my last pantry cleaning, I posted two lists on the refrigerator.
The post about buying peanut butter reminded me of how I handle sale items. I store cans of coffee or jars of peanut butter upside down.
This is a really simple hint, but it helps me with my tiny pantry, just a few shelves in my kitchen. I try to keep like types of items together.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have a big pantry, but obviously it's not big enough. It has open shelving and since I have major OCD it drives me insane! Does anyone have any tips to make it both more functional and more aesthetically pleasing?
My shelves are really deep, and so there is stuff just piled behind more stuff. It is not very functional.
By Jennie from Tempe, AZ
I purchased metal closet shelf dividers. Tomato items in a section, baking things, veggies, fruit, etc. I love it.
Purchase some plastic lazy susans at Wal-Mart or $ store. That should help.
Divide the shelves into sections. The hardware stores sell drawers that pullout for shelves. Or construct your own.
I am dying to know how all of you with those beautiful pantries that have a container for every item keep your back up items? What do you do when you purchase more of an additional item? Keep it in the original bag unopened, until all of the "old" is used up? i.e. chips, pretzels crackers. etc.
By D. O
Unless it can be dehydrated, I don't buy anything until I need to. When the food item is down to about 1/3 then it goes on my list.
This is a page about using drawers to organize pantry. Adding drawer sets to your pantry can create more useful and organized storage space.
A well organized pantry not only makes it easy to find a specific item, but can also help save money since you won't buy more of a food item that you already have. This is a page about restock your pantry like stores restock their shelves.
I recently went to the dollar tree and found these snack breakfast bars. When I got them home, I realized that each one had 5 packettes in them. But they were taking up almost no room.
Many people like to repackage their staple foods in glass or plastic storage containers after discarding the original packaging. Once done however, it can be difficult to differentiate between some dry goods. This is a page about labeling pantry staples.
Keeping a list of your pantry staples is a great way to know if you are low on anything. This is a page about organize your pantry with an inventory list.
This page is about pantry food storage. Storing food in your pantry can be challenging to keep organized and properly rotated.
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
I organize my pantry in alphabetical order. When I get home from the grocery I put things away in a certain order. Especially canned foods. They are stacked in alphabetical order.
I have a small pantry and would like advice on how to organize it. Can you stack canned goods on the floor?
My husband built me a pantry, which now I get to use all my cupboards in the kitchen for kitchen stuff. I like organization.
