Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Food Storage Inventory


Over the years we have used a couple of different systems to do our inventory. 

Do any of these sound familiar? 
  • When we were first building our food storage we wrote a list on the back of an envelope as we were running out the door to go to the case lot sale. 
  • As we started building our long term food supply, I once wrote my inventory on a blank LDS Dry pack canning order form.  
  • One year I just bagged the inventory and just bought whatever I thought sounded good We ended up with a lot of coconut milk and chocolate chips and not many foods that could actually be used to make a healthy meal. 
  • As we have gotten a larger supply I have used inventory’s in Excel that calculate everything you could possible ever want to know.  But I find them to be a little overwhelming.
This year I think I have finally created a system that I really like.   This food storage inventory is designed to be printed out and written on.  You are in control of how many of each item you want to store.  You can use a food storage calculator to figure it out.  I like this one, and this one

To print the click here:  Food Storage Inventory   (There were some problems with the link but it is working now.)

It is a Google document. When you are ready to print be sure to print from the Google documents menu NOT the browser menu.
I recommend that you print in color.  The categories are color coded to help you easily find the correct area.

Each section has a heading at the top and the bottom of the page.  When I do an inventory I put the list on a clip board and then flip pages as needed.  I could never tell what was on each page because the titles were at the top.  By adding the titles to the bottom of the page it makes it quicker to see which page you are on. 
The Shopping List:  Food Storage can be overwhelming.  After taking an inventory you may feel a little anxiety about the items you are lacking.  By narrowing it down to the top 10 things you need to add to your food storage you have defined clear manageable goals.

Good Luck doing your inventory!  If you use my inventory I’d love to hear how it goes. 

P.S.  Don't feel like just because it is on the inventory list you have to store it.  You don't.  I recommend that you store ONLY foods that you eat regularly.   If you have never in your life eaten quinoa then it is probably not something you want to buy in bulk to add to your food storage.