Saving Money With Proper Food Management - Part 3 - Controlling Supplies

In two previous articles on food management you have learned how to arrange the food supplies in your pantry and your freezer in the proper way, and how to apply the FIFO principle. In this article I am going to tell you how those two things supplemented with a simple trick will help you manage your food supplies.

Remember the list you made to arrange the food in your pantry in the right way (see "Saving Money with Proper Food Management - Part 1 Getting Started"). Now, we are going to use the same technique to make our shelves and cupboards tell us when they need resupplying. What you will need for each cupboard is a small white-board and a dry erasable marker.

The white-board must be smaller than the door of your cupboard or shelves, and you attach it on the inside. Now, you divide the board into two columns, one titled "Product", and the other "Quantity".

Now you list all the products stored in the cupboard in the first column, and mark the quantity (usually the number of cans, bottles or bag) in the second column, representing each can, bottle, bag, or any other container with a big dot, circle, square, or any other symbol you fancy.

After the last symbol you write a number representing the number of containers you want to keep in store at all times, e.g. "Peeled tomatoes" o o o 3 (meaning you have three cans of peeled tomatoes, and this is what you always want to have).

Each time you take something from the cupboard, you erase one symbol representing it. Each time you make a shopping list, you simply open the cupboard and look at the number of symbols and the number after the symbols to know if you need to resupply or not, e.g. "Peeled tomatoes" o o - 3. It means you have two cans of peeled tomatoes, and you need to store three of them, so you have to buy just one this time.

You do exactly the same with your freezer, but this time you can attach the whiteboard on the outside of the freezer cover.

This way your cupboards, shelves, and freezer always "tell" you what you need to buy. Based on that information you will always prepare an appropriate shopping list, telling you what to buy and how much of it.

You will save time writing down the shopping list, you will save time shopping, and you will save money, because you will never buy something you don't need.

Proper food management combined with and enhanced by menu planning can lead to significant savings in money spent on food without the need to change your eating habits and lowering your culinary standards.

Not planning your meals ahead of time can cost you hundreds of dollars and precious hours not spent with family and friends. At the same time a regular family dinner can result in a more loving relationship with your kids, less trouble at home and even a reduced risk of school dropout and teen pregnancy. Save Time And Money By Planning Your Meals.

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