30 Days to Better Preparedness. Day 29. Inventory and organisation.
This is my worst area! I have made big improvements though over the last few months. Assuming we have stocked our pantries and built up our freezers( and other areas like medical, laundry etc.) we need to know what we have and how much we have. We really need to be able to lay our hands on things as we need them without having to send out a search party.
My recent craft room clean up helped a lot. I have all sewing and mending things labelled. I have a special place for all batteries. My various designated areas have helped me a lot ie animal pantry is all in one place. Mainly grouping things together and storing them in a place that makes sense simplifies things. My freezer is my last battle ground as far as my inventory goes. I do have a list of ready meals. Also as I have four freezers (two are part fridge) they each are designated to a theme, ie one is just breads. Another is just meat. A half freezer is just veggies. So I can kind of see how I am going with these areas.
Organisation is kind of comforting. You know where you are. I have realised I can supply everyone with toothbrushes for years and can stop with the toothbrushes! I know we are ok for soap for eternity.
Your emergency supplies and first aid items need to be easy and fast to grab. No searching in an emergency! We also think it will be us looking for something and we know where it is. But what if it is you or me that needs help and our husbands or someone else is looking for something? We need some labelling and having others know how our system works. Andy can't find a car in a garage so I need to pay attention to labelling. haha!
We are nearly at the end of our thirty days. I think something like inventory is a project that takes some time. But if we can get the ball rolling and increase our organisation it will place us in a better position. It will also reveal any holes in our supplies that need to be addressed.
See you tomorrow for our finally day! xxx
This is so hard! We completely emptied, defrosted and restacked our freezers just two months ago….I listed everything in each freezer ( also each one was themed, meats/ fruit& veg/ other stuff/ in everyday actual use in the kitchen ) but autumn came and how quickly it has been reshuffled about to squeeze in this here and that there; and now, although I still have an almost accurate list of everything….exactly where it is is a bit more challenging 🙄
ReplyDeleteThis is a big problem here as well. I know where things are inside the house but once something goes to the garage to be stored I might as well have thrown it out! We have been looking for a bottle of bleach tablets for a week. The problem is that with my husband's brain injury he might think he put something in a certain place but he really put it in a random place that makes no sense. I am not sure what the solution is.
ReplyDeleteHi Annabel,
ReplyDeleteThis is a strong point of mine. I am naturally very organized and definitely like to know where things are. I know I mentioned it before, but I have the large write on wipe off board I used for homeschooling by the deep freeze. I have everything I have in there listed on it. When something is removed it is a piece of cake to change the number to one lower. I have another one for my larger pantry which is on the opposite wall. I have the deep freeze organized in sections with all of one type of veggies in a large freezer bag.
For my upstairs pantry I have a list with the number in pencil and item in pen that works the same way.
I had to laugh at the toothbrush and soap comment. I also have always bought multiples of things which is very helpful when they are on sale. It's not like you will never use it, so it's a wise investment. I've done the same with shoes on sale or winter tights.
Can't believe tomorrow is the final day. Blessings, Laura
I can totally relate to the car/garage situation. John could be leaning on it and he still wouldn't see it. 🙄
ReplyDeleteI love organization and have done countless notebooks for keeping inventory organized within our home. They just don't work since John retired years ago. He does the grocery shopping and, if I am busy, he puts it away. If there is a vacant spot whatever will go there; not where it really goes.
I have taught him 'like goes with like,' but his like and my like are way different 😁 So, I have gotten to the point where I just go through about once a month, straighten up shelves and take an inventory of what is low. I just did that today as Vitacost has Frontier brand and Simply Organic brand of spices, seasonings, baking products and extracts on sale through October 11. I was low on a few items.
Another thing that helped John a lot was purchasing clear plastic containers and labeling what goes in them. I keep the pantry, refrigerators and freezers organized with the containers. I, even, purchased rolls of 500 removable stickers from Amazon and label and date all food in the refrigerator. This is very helpful if you have a family member with no sense of smell or that doesn't pay attention to checking food visibly. No one wants food poisoning when there are no medical services available.
I am lacking in organization in several areas. Thank you for all of the posts in this series, Annabel. They are so helpful and great reminders.
Blessings to all,
Glenda
I am so lacking in organization! I have two organized friends and wish they would have rubbed off on Me! I am trying! Nancy
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