Tuesday's Tip...Take inventory of your grocery stockpile!

So, how are you doing on your meal planning?  I didn't post my menu yesterday as I'm taking an inventory of what I have on hand over the next couple of days and planning my meals around that!  That leads me in to Tuesday's Tip of the day...

Take inventory of your grocery stockpile.


If you're a couponer then sure enough the day will come when your pantry will be stocked so much that there's no more room left to stock anything else!  This is when it's time to sit down and take a stockpile inventory and put it to good use.  At a certain point, you have to stop stockpiling, no matter how good the deals, and determine to use up the food in your pantry stockpile.
I know some people that actually have an inventory list that they keep track of and that's great.  I'm not one of those people. :)  I just go through my pantry and freezer every few months and write down what I have in them and make a "rough draft" meal list using ingredients from the stockpile.  
For instance...if I see that I have loads of pasta, frozen veggies and chicken I could make: 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup 
Chicken Spaghetti 
Fried Chicken with garlic noodles and veggies
Chicken Parmesan 

When I make those meals I cross them off my list.

Why take an inventory?  Well, this blog is all about being frugal and saving money.  Guess what?  Taking inventory of the food you have on hand will:
1.  Save you money IF you plan your meals around what you have.  I do this a few times and year and every time I do it I'm amazed by how much food I have in my house.  I think I would be safe to say that I could do fine living off my stockpile for 6-8 weeks right now.
2.  Free up some time by not having to run to the store to purchase things for my meals other than a small list of basic supplies such as milk, fresh produce and maybe a small ingredient or two for my meal planning.
3.  Allows me to give more by already having things on hand when a need arises.  For example, there are times when people at church have surgeries that need meals made for them for awhile.  I can readily prepare a meal because I know what I have already.  Also, I don't have to get into my budget to purchase something that way.
4.  Keeps food from going bad since I determine to use it or give it away while taking inventory.
5.  Freezer Cooking....This is also a time when I do a lot of freezer cooking.  I LOVE having meals already made for those days that just don't go right.  (Maybe I'll post about freezer cooking in the near future as it has it's benefits too!)

So do any of you take and inventory of your stockpile?  Have you figured out something that works for you?  Give me some feedback as we can all help each other learn...

I was going to post a picture of my stockpile, but my camera battery died!  Maybe I'll get it posted in a few days!