Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> When Tammy visited last September I recall that she was curious about my
> habit of marking the purchase date on my pantry grocery purchases. I
> believe in FIFO and this makes it possible and very practical.
>
> I do the same with dry goods that are transferred from box to plastic
> storage containers. (My current favorites for dry goods are Lock & Lock
> from heritagemint.com. I've bought them at Walmart, local supermarket,
> and the QVC store at TMOA. A boatload of sizes available in
> rectangular, round, square.)
>
> I label those with the date of the contents, too. I use masking tape
> slapped on the container. Free tip: If you turn under a leetle bit of
> the end of the tape, you won't have to pry it off the container when you
> need to remove it * the turned under bit makes a little handle. It's
> now something I do without much thought * I tear off what I need and
> turn a bit under of what's still on the roll. Lather, rinse, and repeat.
>
> Do you have much storage space for foodstuffs? I have generous shelf
> space in my basement for canned goods (commercial and home-canned). I
> usually have at least four tomato variations available to me. I might
> keep one can upstairs and the remainder down.
>
> Tammasita, if it weren't you expressing curiosity, I'm sorry for the
> error.

For most pantry items and storage things, I'm only 2-3 items or amounts
ahead. SOme things we buy in bigger quantity when on sale. What we do is
pick a color for the year in marker and we mark the month number on the
tops of cans or boxes quickly. So anything bought this month will have a
big 4 on top in blue, the color of the month. I don't worry about day of
the month. I need to know month and year. When we store things in the
pantry or basement, the oldest get placed in front, rotating the items
if need be. We do the same with freezer goods though I may have to put a
piece of tape on something to be able to mark it. If we use an item, we
have a master list that we note that "such and such" is gone from inventory.

Melondy