My cupboards are too full!

gayleygoo

DH has always accused me of hoarding food. I didn't believe him until I went to put away some shopping last night - potatoes, cereal, veg etc, and realised there was absolutely nowhere for any of this to go. Every cupboard was stuffed with food, pot and pans, bakeware, food, condiments and spices, etc, and indeed stuff does fall out when you open them sometimes.

I'm not actually preparing for a huge emergency, in fact even if there was one I doubt I'd be able to find anything in the mess I need to reduce the amount of food in there by planning some meals around it, and getting rid of useless plastic tubs, excess frying pans and rearranging the baking cupboard!

I won't bore you all with what would be a very long list of my food stash and supplies, but thought I'd post on here so I could keep a record of my progress, and also, if anyone would like to join me on this challenge?

ragz_2

Storing food is sensible, just find somewhere better to keep it! Join in the Preparedness thread for some great suggestions of alternative storage.

charlies-aunt

I'm a shameless stockpiler .... I live ten miles from the nearest shop so the store cupboard comes into its own when it's bad weather, during illness, car breakdown, end-of-the-month-no-money-itis, zombie apocalypse and unexpected guests because it means that I don't have the additional stress of needing to go food shopping

I tend to stock up when things are on offer and have a long shelf life and having an allotment means that the freezer is similarly full to bursting . . . . my stocks of non food items like loo roll, shampoo, wash powder live in boxes under the bed

Would you consider having a few non-spend weeks to empty your cupboards and use the extra cash to start getting stuff in for Christmas??

unimaginative_user_name

It is always good to have some stores but when the cupboards are full it's time to use stuff up! For me the spring and summer is the best time to use things up. You are less likely to be stuck indoors through illness or bad weather so unable to get to the shops. It's also an expensive time potentially if you're off on holiday or have children at home during school holidays who need entertaining. Reducing your grocery spend in the summer frees up more cash for other things.

If you use up your stores in the summer you then have more room to stock up on things to get you through the winter during the autumn. I even have a Christmas shelf high up so I can take advantage of good deals in Christmas food with a good shelf life.

OP, I too have sometimes had problems putting the shopping away in already full cupboards. I find a good tidy up helps while at the same time compiling an inventory. If I were you I would defrost your freezer too and do an inventory for that then meal plan using your lists, have a few weeks where you only buy the essentials and use the money you save to pay for Christmas.

I have a list of store cupboard meals which I draw on in the winter and make sure I have enough stuff in to feed the family for a week if we get snowed in or I am ill. I live in Essex so it's not usually bad for more than a couple of days. If I lived further away from shops or in an area which tends to get worse weather I would probably aim to have enough for two weeks.

Dunroamin

If you possibly can, it's often better to keep your store cupboard items separately from your everyday shopping. We've put up shelves at the back of the garage to take our stores.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Make a list of the excess food; and freecycle all the excess containers and pans. Then put the excess food in a list on a whiteboard and make sure you use one in each main meal.
I grow chard at my lottie, it's the one thing that never gets any pests, disease, grows all winter and looks amazing any time of year; and I give myself the Swiss Chard Challenge, which is to get chard into 5 meals in every 7 all winter long.

Sally_A

Nothing wrong with a bit of hoarding, say for 10 - 14 days worth. Unsure what extremes of weather you get: but you are the one that will get the flack if you can't produce something should you be snowed in.

Pasta, rice, noodles.
Tins of tomatoes, sweetcorn, butterbeans, kidney beans, etc.
Tins of corned beef, ham (in that pear shaped tin - better than nothing, no point getting sniffy when you're hungry),tuna, salmon.
Soups.
Jars of curry sauce.
Cartons of Passata.
Bags of sugar, coffee, tea, long life milk.
Loo rolls, toothpaste.
Maybe those long life part-baked baguettes/rolls too.
Even a supply of cheap bottled water isn't as daft as it sounds, if pipes freeze you would be stuffed.

All the above are the essentials.

Now my husband would get uppity with meals made from the above - but not if he's hungry!!

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Sally_A wrote: »

Nothing wrong with a bit of hoarding, say for 10 - 14 days worth. Unsure what extremes of weather you get: but you are the one that will get the flack if you can't produce something should you be snowed in.

Pasta, rice, noodles.
Tins of tomatoes, sweetcorn, butterbeans, kidney beans, etc.
Tins of corned beef, ham (in that pear shaped tin - better than nothing, no point getting sniffy when you're hungry),tuna, salmon.
Soups.
Jars of curry sauce.
Cartons of Passata.
Bags of sugar, coffee, tea, long life milk.
Loo rolls, toothpaste.
Maybe those long life part-baked baguettes/rolls too.
Even a supply of cheap bottled water isn't as daft as it sounds, if pipes freeze you would be stuffed.

All the above are the essentials.

Now my husband would get uppity with meals made from the above - but not if he's hungry!!

I'd get uppity if my OH cooked me toothpaste wraps made from toilet roll too!

nearlyrich

I too have siege mentality I blame my Mum although when my children were small and my ex left me with no money we didn't starve... the freezer cam in very handy as did the tin cupboard.

I try to only stock up on things I know we will use when they are on offer and I am lucky enough to have plenty of storage but even then sometimes I know I have too much.:o

DigForVictory

Food - you can't have too much, but you can have out-of-date or getting near it stuff. The out-of-date stuff I leave to your conscience but mark the cans and packets & use them before November. Getting near it? Change pens, or use a *very* different squiggle and plan to use before February next year.

Pots & pans - merciless decluttering called for, think of all the young people needing a decent pan & make "student kits" (add a wooden spoon & a tinopener?!)

Bakeware - cook up a storm and surprise friends & neighbours with a smashing dish of home made goodness. The bakeware may come back with food in, or it may not, but you have a bit more space.

Condiments - be ruthless - ends of bottles into those home-made treats. Learn to love the recycling bin!

Spices - small, but get everywhere & *can* go out of date. Start with rounding them all up in one place. Line them up by age. Keep the three "youngest" of each and cook with and/or fling the rest.

As for me? Tin Cupboard One had a "shelf malfunction" and now the kitchen table is covered. All the family is a bit shocked at quite how much there was in there & we're getting better at asking if we can mix A with B on toast etc. Alphabetti spaghetti and tinned spuds the strangest-looking dish to date...

heavenleigh

You're not a hoarder until you delegate a whole room to it!