I have a baking center right where my mixer is located. I just open up the baking cabinet and take out what I need and then put it right back. This center has helped me get pancakes, muffins and waffles done for breakfast very quickly for my hungry kids in the morning.

We live in an old farm house…lots of room but no closets. I use bookcases and wall units to store like items behind books. Then I list the item, the room, area and shelf where things are to make accessing them easier as I need them.

What I do is group my groceries in the pantry, for example canned veggies go together in a neat stack, the canned fruits next to it, and all the baking goods likes vanilla extract and cake flour on its own little corner. I also started lining these up according to the date by putting the item with the most current date in the front of the line or stack. This way I would end up using it before the others. It was also a great help to have a list of the name and expiration date of the item and clipped it by the pantry door to remind me at least 2 months ahead that I should use these items before it expires. It does seem a lot of effort but this makes sure that nothing goes to waste. I did the same thing with our 1 week emergency bag to organized everything.

I keep everything in order vegs with vegs, soups with soups and so forth…I also keep a list on the cabinet door listing everythig , and the dates bought. that way i know when i’m running out of something. works for me.

Our prepper food is just the same as our “regular” food but I keep the bulk of it on shelves in the basement. So I might have a few cans of tomato sauce and diced tomatoes upstairs while the majority is stored downstairs and I grab any replacements while I’m bringing laundry up and down. I keep track of the amounts and dates by entering them on a google doc. Since I’m on and off the chromebook throughout the day, it’s not hard to update my inventory quickly. I also use Amazon’s subscribe and save program for some items, which allows you to set up an automatic delivery system – this means I’m less likely to run out of those items.

One of my best tips is to use shallower shelves in your main usage area whenever possible – the deeper the shelf, the more likely you are to have something that gets lost. With no more than two rows of items, it’s quick and simple to see what you have. Deeper shelves are better for long term storage that you’re not in and out of as often, especially if they’re organised by category.

Also never skip your FIFO! (First in, first out.) When you put groceries away, take the extra minute to make sure the newer stuff goes behind the older stuff.

Finally, schedule regular “work through it” weeks in your menu plan, where you purposely work only with what’s on your shelves instead of going grocery shopping. It can lead to some odd meal combinations, but it’s a great way to clean up those miscellaneous items or pare down an overstock of something. By the time you’re ready to shop again, you’ll have more space and a clear idea of what you need and what you should avoid. (Incidentally, anything you can’t bring yourself to eat during a “work through it” week should be donated or thrown out. Don’t let it sit around being clutter – just let it go and make a note not to buy it again!

For food storage, I store items that I use together in the same place. So:
–My grains, honey, canola oil, dried milk, malt, salt, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, yeast, canned pie mixes, and such for baking are stored together, along with the measuring, mixing, and baking pans I use to do the baking.
–Cereals, breads, canned jams and jellies, and snack items (that the kids can grab and fix for themselves) are together in a lower level cabinet, along with unbreakable dishes to put them in. (I also put peanut butter and lunch items in here so the kids can pack their own sack lunches–no fuss, some muss, but no mom required).
–Microwave-specific snack items are in the cabinet under my microwave (popcorn, paper bags to cook it in, butter-flavored cooking spray, another container of salt, hot chocolate mix, tea bags, etc).
–Canned foods (I do my own canning) that I use for cooking main dishes are in upper shelves, placed on “risers” within the cabinet, so I can see at a glance what I have. (Nothing gets “lost” in the back of a row).
–I also have 3 freezers (I live on an acreage with an orchard, garden, and food animals). One freezer is devoted to uncooked frozen meat (separated into types–beef, chicken, pork, etc.) A second is devoted to frozen produce and herbs that I have dehydrated. The top two shelves have only vegetables, the third shelf has fruits and fruit leathers, and the bottom shelf has herbs, herbal tea mixes, and homemade maple syrup (which I collect and cook down from the sap in my maple trees). (According to my cookbooks home-dehydrated foods and homemade maple syrup will last longer in a freezer than on a shelf and I store the items my kids might want on the lowest shelves.) A third freezer is devoted to the fruits of my bulk-cooking efforts (stews, soups, casseroles, and such). The top shelf has soups, the second and third shelves have stews, and the bottom shelf has casseroles. This is handy for when I am unable to cook (I have a chronic illness that can flare up unexpectedly) or for when I want to take a ready meal to a friend or neighbor who is ill or in need of a little pampering.
–I store my canning supplies, juicing supplies, solar cooker, maple syrup buckets, taps, etc, and wine making supplies on metal shelves in the basement. The most breakable and alcoholic contents are on the top shelf, the light weight less breakable items are on the second shelf, and the heavy non-breakable items (such as a fruit press and pressure canner) are on the bottom shelves. (If my kids were younger, or if I lived in earthquake prone areas, I would be sure to strap the contents into the shelves, and the shelves into the wall).
–Water and 5 gallon buckets of whole grains are stored in a cool, dry section of the basement, with the newest items to the back of the rows (to ensure automatic use of the oldest items first).

These plans aren’t fool-proof. I have had thing show up in the back of the freezer that were older than I’d like, but since I put so much work into creating what goes into storage, I try hard to make sure it all gets used in a timely manner. In bountiful years, I also give away a lot of food I can to those in need or as gifts.

I am not much of a cook (major understatement), and have no pantry, so my only hope of keeping track of stuff is with a spreadsheet that includes item, quantity, expiration date, and location. That way I can use all sorts of interesting smaller storage opportunities throughout the house. I’m pretty good about keeping the spreadsheet up to date and so far the little codes I have worked for identifying the storage locations have worked fine. I do retrieve and use by expiration date which is a major improvement for me over pre-prepping days.

I keep a black Sharpie pen on the kitchen counter. When I buy groceries, as I unpack them, I write the expiration date on the top of the container (jars, cans, oils, etc.) so that I can quickly see the expiration date on any item in a flash. (Looking for that miniscule date on every item drives me nuts–and it’s always in a different place on everything.) That makes rotating everyday foods easy-peasy even when things get mixed up on a shelf or in the basement when you have several of one kind of item.

I use bins to organize food by items. Cans in one bin, oils in another, baking items in another. In general, any type of organization is better than none!

I started to reorganize my pantry when my husband deployed, moving the lower calorie/carb items towards the front and hiding the junk food towards the back. I also made sure to group them based on cans on one drawer, carbs (bread, cereal, oatmeal) on another, etc. This set up keeps me from hunting through trying to find the cheat foods. I am currently in the beginning stages of starting my stockpile, which is why I am here!

I live in the UK, in a tiny terraced house with no pantry or basement. For my long term storage I had a cupboard made in an alcove in my bedroom; all cans and dried goods are marked with expiry date and stored with the oldest in front. Like others, I keep small packets, etc, in baskets.
In my kitchen I keep at least 2 or 3 of everything so that I never have to go to my storage if I have visitors. OPSEC goes out the window if visitors see you disappearing all the time to replenish supplies and restock the goods in the kitchen. Having a large quantity in the kitchen also gives me an excuse for having the expiry date prominently marked on everything.

Soups go together. Cereal & oatmeal are together. Pasta, pasta sauces & parmesan go together. Also, all baking items are snuggled. Spices are all in one spot and like to hang out with the baking items. Any canned tomatoes are organized in a group and stacked according to what they are, diced, stewed, etc. I do keep canned veggie broth with a small can of tomato sauce on top of it because I make mexican rice a lot so it’s easy to just grab them together. And I also keep an extra cumin, chili powder & garlic salt with them since they all go in one dish and those are my 3 most used spices. And I like all the labels to be face out so I can see what it is easier.