Soliciting thoughts on Pantry/cupboard/freezer/fridge management

[goldfish]

 . . . fridge not too bad lately . . but the freezer!!!  Open door - keep toes out of way!!!   Would love to have an upright freezer . . some day!

[CreamPuff63]

No, nothing written down. Just sorted it when we moved in, and put things back where I found them. DD2 moving out this week so I will be able to have it just the way I like it very soon. Looking forward to being able to go over to her house and chuck something in the cupboard where it doesn't belong 

[Amy :-)]

LOL CP

[judydawn]

The picture is one I have recently done of an inventory for the freezer at the bottom of my fridge which has 2 baskets.  I only keep bits and pieces in here so each drawer has ingredients on the LHS, middle & RHS of each basket.  A pain to find without having my list to refer to. As you can see since I did it, I have only removed 1 item  

The upright freezer's inventory is very messy at the moment but that is similar to this except without the LHS, middle & RHS.  Whatever is in the basket is just listed as being in drawer 1, 2 and so on.

The small freezer has a shelf for bread products, one for cakes, one for ice-cream and usually more bread, one for odds and ends which don't fit into either of these categories and I have a box in the bottom which has bits and pieces of meals ready to go.  I do keep a list of what's in there but that also needs redoing at the moment.

The pantry is too hard to do an inventory so I have to trust that I remember what I have or haven't got.  I do replace each item before it is all gone though so often have everything on hand except for new recipes using different ingredients. I try and put things back where they came from as that's the only way I will ever find them again, move something in this house and it sometimes gets lost for a long time    My spice draw is separate from the pantry which makes it easier to know where to head for those items.  Mind you I do tend to shove new things in there wherever they will fit and really do need to do an inventory of that as well. A job for over the quiet after Christmas period I think.

[Wonder]

Wow Judy I'm in awe or your organisation. I try and at least put labels on everything going in but we still end up with a few mystery items. We don't freeze that much stuff so it's not too bad.

[Mama Fergie]

I wish I could be that organized but its just not me unfortunately. 
I tidy my pantry regularly and roughly know where things should be but somehow things end up in the wrong places.
I always know what it have used up but sometimes can't find things that I need without rummaging  is that a word?

[Emme]

Yep definitely a word, MF and I actually do that exercise on a regular basis
 Marie

[Mama Fergie]

  

[Jamberie]

My pantry is the only organised space in our whole house!
If the pantry is not organised, my life is a mess!
-but in saying that I hate the pantry, it has a narrow door and wide shelves so accessing all of it is tricky.
I've bought cheap containers and trays so that everything has a 'spot' somewhere in a tray or a basket. I'd love Tupperware modular mates but I'd need about 100 so I've used the Sistema brand which I love...I also love that they all match and interlock.
I keep extra ingredients that I've bought in bulk or on sale in a basket I use like a 'drawer' at the bottom of the pantry behind the flour so I can just pull it out easily to get what I need. I also have a different cupboard where I keep my Costco super bulk items.

When we run out of something, I check the basket and then if it's not there I write the ingredient on the list that stays on my fridge. This list is also usually organised into columns:   Coles | Aldi | Costco | Bunnings | Other  so when I go to those shops I know what I need.
It works for us.
And just because I have other things to do today (so I'm procrastinating from work) I took a photo and labelled it so you can see what I mean...because of the shape of the pantry, you can't see quite a bit of it....but you'll get the idea.

[EmeraldSue]

I would never contemplate keeping an inventory of what food I have and where I store it, as it would be a nightmare to keep it up to date. I am not a list keeping type!
I tend to keep things in the same place (eg all the pasta is together, all the spices are together etc) and add them to the shopping list as i use them up. In my upright freezer, I tend to group things together and label things with a date and description as I put them in.eg one drawer has baked items like cakes and bread, another has frozen fruit, a couple of drawers have meat

[CreamPuff63]

I'm impressed jamberie 

A) your pantry is so tidy you can go to it and just take a photo without having to make it presentable
B) the way you have labelled the photo - very clever

[obbie]

Jamberie totally impressed with your pantry. looks great.

[Amy :-)]

Wow, I'm impressed with both Judy and Jamberie

[Yvette]

Well done Judy and Jamberie

[Jamberie]

Haha! thanks Robyn, Amy, Yvette & Cream Puff!
As I said though, it's the only cupboard that is organised in my house! -I didn't show you any pictures of my fridges or freezers for a reason! -OMG our wardrobe is horrendous!
It used to be chaos as I could never find all the little things because of the orientation of the pantry/door...the little baskets with handles on the second shelf from the top on the right hand side have made a massive difference. And having spices in alphabetical order means they are easy to find and I don't have 4 bottles of ginger (anymore!)