So whats in your pantry

a couple times during the year I do this and every time I do I tell myself I'll be better organzied and won't have to do this again.  Yeah right...   I have a 5 shelf pantry that holds quite a bit of stuff and I randomly fill it up to where it gets very unorganized .. then I attack it and clean the clutter ..  Well I guess the last time I just re-org'd and didn't look at expiration dates.. today I did..  I probably threw out 8 protein bars, yes money down the drain .. aaaahhhh...  I can tell you I don't need to buy a protein bar or drink for maybe 6 months (hopefully they all stay fresh during that time)   The drinks I think i'll be good with the bars they tend to get hard and unedible (is that a word hmmm)       I have a bag of 'food stuff' for my nieces family.. stuff I don't need to eat but they will be ok with. 

Right now, I am making a commitment to myself to only buy fresh foods, nothing canned or bagged until my pantry gets down to where it might look empty.    I have one exceptoin, if I'm making a 'healthy meal' and need an ingredient specific to what I need to buy.. and only buy what is needed for the recipe.

So what did I throw out, expired sf pudding, jello, salad dressing, protein bars, snack cookies i had for the little guy.)  It makes me so mad wasting money this way.    Is it just me or does anyone else do this...     It feels so much better once the clutter is cleared.. it makes your mind so much clearer.. does anyone agree with that.    Now I have to do the same for the rest of the house.  one room at a time one day at a time. 

 

I LOVE to clean out my pantry or fridge or a closet or my car - anywhere clutter grows.  It is clearing to my mind to know that even if no one else can see it notices it (my family) it is done and I feel good about it.  I hate to throw out money too - I understand where you are coming from!!

Good luck with the house cleaning.  The only way I can stop the clutter from growing, is by organizing the mess - that way I can see what I need to get and what I have plenty of - so I don't over stock and then end up throwing away. 

Have a great week!

I've been a cluttered person for many years and I so so soooo want to be uncluttered.  I think the people who know me would be shocked if they walked in and I was clutter free.  I think it would be so freeing to be clutter free.  I think the clutter pulls me down at times, it consumes.   I have duplicates/triplicates of things.. I probably could open a sock shop when I get to that part of my house but in the end it will all be good .. I'll have to find something else to spend my time on then devising a cleaning plan : )

I am a neat freak,  I can let stuff get a little messy but hate, hate hate clutter, I have a cupboard with shelves in it that I put overflow cans and box items on, and when I am making my grocery list, I check my kitchen cabinets, then shop from my pantry, then revise my list for the store.  Just this last week, I wrote down recipes I wanted to make, went shopping, then spent a day cooking and packaging up meals for the next 2 weeks.  I love to be organized like that.
Vivienne

Oh my, I have to hang my head in shame LOL  I only have a tiny bit of cabinet space but I never seem to have attack of tidy where it's concerned.  Do have to do that with other things though - if I don't I find my closets and drawers fill up with things I'm not using and then I have no space for I am using.  So thanks for the gentle reminder

Have a good BOTT week coming up

What everyone in this thread is describing are energy drainers.  Energy drainers can be anything like a pantry, a drawer, your car or a person.  When you clear the clutter, it makes you feel great, awesome and so much less noise when you eliminate the energy drainer.

That being said, you'd think I am completely organized with everything in their proper place and clutter-free.  NOT, NOT, NOT.  When I take care of energy drainers I feel so light and free from the noise and busy feeling I had with the clutter.

Just like you said, I clean the clutter with the intention that it will stay that way.  Somehow the clutter finds me again. 

I love what you said that one room at a time....for me, one drawer at a time, one closet at a time, one room at a time, etc!

Thanks, Cathy

Cathy, you are so very right.. energy drainer .. and it is so lightening to realease that drain.  I just got this mental vision of when you have a sink full of dirty dish wather and you pull the drain and it just flows away.. That is the feeling you get when your done cleaning out the clutter.    I have to remember that vision.. I like it lol... Have a super day.. Maria

I can't stand clutter so I clean and organize often, LOL! Also, with 3 hungry guys in the house (dh and 2 sons) there's not much that doesn't go uneaten! I too can't stand to waste $$$ and food is SO expensive, so I try not to waste anything!!!!