Stock control of food, toiletries and cleaning stuff

[TheRealScousewife]

Do you stock control your cupboards? I am trying to cut down on the money I spend on food, toiletries and cleaning products and one of the ways is to look at the "stock" I am holding. So, for example, if I was running a company, I would probably be in debt or have a poor cash flow for holding too much stock.

We are a family of 4 and I seem to be too well stocked. I have cupboards full of food staples (tin toms, rice, pasta, herbs & spices), a freezer full of frozen sauces and fruit that had to be frozen before it went off (think smoothies) and other dried goods. It is the same with toiletries and cleaning products. I think I am a sucker for offers and I bulk buy.

On one hand I think it is not a bad think to be well stocked, but then I am and have been spending a fortune on groceries. I think that if I added some fresh ingredients here and there to what I have in my kitchen. I could live off it for a month.

So, do you hold lots of "stock" in your house and/ or is there a way to reduce your food bill by better stock control?

Shop from your pantry - so look at what you've got and see what meals you can make, and just buy the things you need to complete those meals.
Also, look at sauces, condiments or also rarely used ingredients and see what you can make to use them up before they go off.

I keep a pretty rigid list of what's in the freezer, not the cupboards or fridge so much but I try to be strict with the weekly shopping list that before we buy anything we must check what we already have in stock first, although DH regularly gives me the rage by buying and opening whole new big bags of pasta when we already have two half full ones, or coming home with 10 bottles of toilet duck 'because I like this brand' when the cleaning supplies cupboard is overflowing already

The harder part IMO is actually using up what you have as even when you have a full complete audit, it's more effort to plan than just grabbing what you fancy, I meal plan the week ahead and every week we have 'freezer night' where we just eat out of what's in the freezer, and a good few times a year (e.g. leading up to Christmas and holidays, and anytime we are feeling skint e.g. in 5 week months) we have 'frugal' weeks where we challenge ourselves to buy as little as possible fresh and only eat what we have as a bit of a clear out - it's surprising how far what you have can take you, we freeze odd ends of bread, usually have a carton of UHT milk floating around somewhere and have frozen veg and tinned fruit so we don't get scurvy!

I've had a productive afternoon making lentil casserole with leftovers, muffins and just about to make a macaroni bake. Still not made a dent in the cupboard but will get there. I have loads of different sugars from Christmas baking and am just binging it into muffins. They seem ok so far!

I did no spend lent last year. I still didn't empty my cupboards.

Try a no spend week every month, so use up the freezer stuff, some cupboard stuff etc.

DH thinks it's a tragedy and a housekeeping failure if we run out of anything. Anything! I only count loo roll as essential. Everything else can be managed.

I have loads of different sugars from Christmas baking and am just binging it into muffins. They seem ok so far!
Sugar? It would be fine, wouldn't it?

I'm the same. DS's friend has decided I'm a secret prepper having seen my larder, which is full of tins, bottles & dried goods. I also have two full freezers. I like being well-stocked but it's a bit ridiculous at times, especially as there's only three of us at home now. I do an audit every so often, then forget what I've already got & buy more. I need to get more organised.

I’m a mix of impressed and horrified, as long as we don’t run out of toilet roll, milk and teabags then I think we’re ok. My store cupboard has a bag of pasta, 2 tins of baked beans and a few herbs and spices and that’s pretty much it. Mind you in a state of emergency we’d last about 2 days before we’d be picking off the weakest

Penelope

What I mean is I've replaced caster or granulated sugar with my leftover molasses, golden caster etc. All the bits I have left over. I thought the muffins would taste funny deviating from the recipe but no one has noticed. Baking, it seems, can be winged after all.

Oh, I see!! Now I get you 😁
That sounds like a great idea.
When I last had a clear out, I found NINE bottles of vinegar - seven different types. I wish I knew which one would work for everything, so I could just have that instead.

I've simplified my sugar stores. White sugar with a dab of black treacle replaces brown sugar. White sugar through the blender becomes caster, then icing sugar.

Do a stock take. We use an app (OurGroceries) to manage the shopping list, it shares the list live between iPhones and Android so either of us can add to and shop from it.

We've set up a "Freezer contents" "Larder contents" list too, moving stuff off the "Shopping list" to one or the other. It doesn't always get updated, we roughly resync it every month or three and it's close enough.

It prevents buying the ninth bottle of vineger as Penelope says (for whom: Malt for chips, a wine or fruit vinegar plus a balsamic for salads and fancy, so three. If you use vinegar for cleaning get a clear one)

Also do just live from the kitchen stores for a week or two, totally a worthwhile exercise. You'll need fresh fruit and veg and milk, but if you can't live out of your stores then you're storing the wrong stuff!

It prevents buying the ninth bottle of vineger as Penelope says (for whom: Malt for chips, a wine or fruit vinegar plus a balsamic for salads and fancy, so three. If you use vinegar for cleaning get a clear one)
Yes! I had malt, white wine, red wine, basic white, one large and 2 self-catering holiday bottles of balsamic, sushi vinegar, and apple cider vinegar. That makes me look foody, particular and sophisticated. I'm not and some of them were all cloudy and horrible from not being used after being opened once. For anyone who wants to know, balsamic vinegar can definitely go off.

Hello, I'm interested in stock-taking ideas. Has anyone done it on a computer ? If so, is it a manageable idea ? Do you have any suggestions ?

OP, I think it’s better to buy less so you don’t have to waste time looking after it. It’s just another thing for our already-busy minds to deal with.
I think it’s good to try to use up a lot of what youve got and then just buy what you need. The Minimal Mom has a couple of good videos on this. Simplified menus meaning fewer ingredients required, so fewer half bottles of things in the cupboard and fridge. Great ideas but, of course, I’m yet to implement them myself!