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Cook Fast, Live Young: 4 New Year's Resolutions for Your Pantry
By JulianaWeissRoesslerGuest Blogger(view all posts by JulianaWeissRoessler)
at 9:57AM Sunday January 8, 2012
under
Money Saving Tips
Want to eat healthier? Lose weight? Save money? Get rid of those annoying pests around the house by living cleaner?
Okay, that last one probably isn't on the resolution list for most people, but by concentrating on just one thing, you can come closer to accomplishing all of these goals. If it wasn't obvious from the title, I'm talking about working on making your pantry better by taking just a few simple steps. Clean your pantry. Doing this will help you to reduce the number of bugs and other unwanted house guests you have by getting rid of old, spoiled, and possibly even spilled food you didn't know you had. Don't half-ass it--really wipe the shelves down and make sure it's spic and span. Set reminders in your email or on your phone to go this again 2 or 3 mores times during the year.
Get organized. Remember all that expired food you found? Well, that's all wasted money. And I know for me that a lot of times this happens because I don't remember buying something and don't see it in the clutter. Stop yourself from doing this by reorganizing the pantry in a way that makes better sense to you and sticking with it throughout the year. If you need to, buy some containers and labels--the one-time cost of doing that will be repaid tenfold when you actually use the food you buy before it goes bad.
Stop stocking up. If you're still having trouble using food by the expiration date, make it a New Year's resolution only to buy what you need for a few weeks at a time. This way you won't lose track of what you have, and it will also help you with the next step.
Eat better by buying better. I said that sometimes food expires because I don't even know it's there; other times, I'm well aware, but I'm able to avoid healthier decisions because of all the unhealthy snacks at hand and the food I should be eating suffers…just like my waistline. The easiest way to stop this cycle and save money at the same time (and, heck, room in your pantry so that you can see everything) is to stop buying the unhealthy snacks. It doesn't mean you can't have a treat every once in a while, but the idea is to make it an event instead of a chaser after every meal, and if you don't have the bad food right at your fingertips, it's a lot easier to avoid.
Okay, that last one probably isn't on the resolution list for most people, but by concentrating on just one thing, you can come closer to accomplishing all of these goals. If it wasn't obvious from the title, I'm talking about working on making your pantry better by taking just a few simple steps. Clean your pantry. Doing this will help you to reduce the number of bugs and other unwanted house guests you have by getting rid of old, spoiled, and possibly even spilled food you didn't know you had. Don't half-ass it--really wipe the shelves down and make sure it's spic and span. Set reminders in your email or on your phone to go this again 2 or 3 mores times during the year.
Get organized. Remember all that expired food you found? Well, that's all wasted money. And I know for me that a lot of times this happens because I don't remember buying something and don't see it in the clutter. Stop yourself from doing this by reorganizing the pantry in a way that makes better sense to you and sticking with it throughout the year. If you need to, buy some containers and labels--the one-time cost of doing that will be repaid tenfold when you actually use the food you buy before it goes bad.
Stop stocking up. If you're still having trouble using food by the expiration date, make it a New Year's resolution only to buy what you need for a few weeks at a time. This way you won't lose track of what you have, and it will also help you with the next step.
Eat better by buying better. I said that sometimes food expires because I don't even know it's there; other times, I'm well aware, but I'm able to avoid healthier decisions because of all the unhealthy snacks at hand and the food I should be eating suffers…just like my waistline. The easiest way to stop this cycle and save money at the same time (and, heck, room in your pantry so that you can see everything) is to stop buying the unhealthy snacks. It doesn't mean you can't have a treat every once in a while, but the idea is to make it an event instead of a chaser after every meal, and if you don't have the bad food right at your fingertips, it's a lot easier to avoid.
Juliana Weiss-Roessler has ten years of professional writing and editing experience. For four years, she managed the web content for the star of an Emmy-nominated reality series. Currently, she is an editor for the geek girl e-zine PinkRaygun.com, a contributor to the career blog at Resumark.com, and owner of the food blog CookFastLiveYoung.blogspot.com. Follow her @cookfast on Twitter and learn more about her work at WeissRoessler.com.
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