Day 41: Two Varieties

What: Varieties

Why: It is easy to stockpile. I know that some say stockpiling is a good thing – especially when something is on sale. Guilty as charged. I agree to a certain extent. Again, there should be a limit if we are trying to live with less. Just because something is a good deal – do we really need 5 of it? Or are we just buying it because it is a good deal? Could we buy the off-brand for just as much, 2 months later, when we need more of it? A good rule of thumb is to not have more than 2 varieties of an item, to prevent overstocking – even in our cupboards.

How:
1. Look for trouble-spots in your cupboards. What do you tend to buy more and more of, even though you already have two or three in the cupboard?

2. Write down the items that you have multiples of so that when you are making out your grocery list, you can refer to this list to prevent buying more of it.

3. Use up the oldest item first, to prevent expiration issues.

4. Keep this rule of thumb in mind: Only stock TWO VARIETIES of any item at any given time.

Confession of the Day: I have this issue with cereal – I often have 4 boxes of cereal in our cupboard at one time. This is something I am trying to work on, but sometimes it is nice having a variety. But do I really need THAT much of a variety? Cereal boxes are not small. It is a work in progress. This can also go for canned food – cans that I do NOT need more than two of for a recipe. If we do not keep an eye on what goes into our cupboards, before you know it, you will have 4 boxes of spaghetti, 3 bags of flour, 3 ketchups, etc. Prevent unnecessary stockpiling so that we can continue to LIVE WITH LESS.

What do you tend to overstock in your cupboards?