Inventory: How to do a Quarterly Stock Up
Every quarter I do a stock up on non-perishable food items and other household consumables. This is how I buy everything from pasta and canned goods to toilet paper and cleaning products.
I first started doing this for my family at the beginning of March 2020. What is crazy is that I had no idea what was ahead in terms of the pandemic and the supply chain issues. I had no problem getting things like toilet paper and disinfecting wipes. We were on vacation when everything really shut down where we live and I remember feeling relieved that I had toilet paper and a ton of non-perishable food when we came home.
Create your list of items. I looked over our core recipes and made a list of all of the non-perishable ingredients. Then I looked in our pantry and added all of the things we regularly keep on hand (other baking items, breakfast items and snacks). Finally, I looked in looked under the kitchen sink, bathroom sink and our morning and night time boxes to add toiletries and cleaning products that we use on a regular basis. After looking at my list, I added anythings else that came to mind that we could buy in advance.
NOTE: You will probably not think of everything the first time around and that is okay. Your list is living. Things can be added and things may fall off. For the first go around, just do your best and know that you can tweak things as time goes on.
Figure out how you are going to track your inventory. I personally use google sheets. Feel free to use my template at the end of this post. You could absolutely track your inventory on paper.
Decide on where you are going to store your inventory. If you have a pantry of any kind you may be able to fit everything in your pantry. My pantry is a cupboard so I store all of my food inventory on a shelf in my basement and all of my other inventory in a closet in my basement.
NOTE: It was important to me that the shelves of the unit were adjustable and had a solid surface (so it would be easy to slide items on the shelf). Also, be sure to measure your space before purchasing a shelving unit to ensure that the unit will fit in your space.
Estimate how much of each item you will need to get you through 3 months. Write this down next to each item on your list.
Take inventory of what you currently have. Record that.
Calculate what you need to order. Subtract your current inventory quantity from your 3 month estimate quantity to figure out the quantity you need to order for each item.
Order your goods. There are many options for this. I personally order all of my items from Walmart and get them shipped or delivered to my house. You could do this at a regular grocery store. You could also purchase this at a warehouse store (such as Costco). My only caution with this is that these warehouse stores typically sell items in very large packages. So large that you may not be able to use the item before it spoils (or goes stale). And so large that you have to decant the items into smaller boxes or containers to store them conveniently in your kitchen. You can always search on the internet for other options you may find more appealing.
Store your inventory.
At the end of 3 months (or however frequently you want to stock up), take an ending inventory. Your beginning inventory less your ending inventory is what you used for that period of time. You can use this to determine what to order with your next stock up (repeat steps 6-8 above.)
Pros of Implementing a Quartely Stock Up:
Everything about grocery shopping is easier. It is easier to create a grocery list because for the most part I only have to think about what perishable items I need to pick up (produce, dairy, meat.). My grocery shopping is faster because my list is a lot shorter and I’m bypassing all of the center aisles (I really only shop on the perimeter of the store). It also takes way less time to put everything away when we come home after grocery shopping.
I’m staying out of the center aisles of the grocery store, so I’m not tempted to buy stuff there that is not on my list.
I typically get a better price for non-perishables from walmart than I do at my regular grocery store.
I only grocery shop at one store a week. Stores like trader joes and aldi are fantastic for perishables but don’t have everything I need all of the time.
You have very good data to use if you want to create a longer supply of non-perishable food stored (like a year supply of food).
Cons of Implementing a Quarterly Stock Up:
You are paying for items all up front. For me and my family of 4 (with 2 very hungry adults and 2 not so hungry kids) we spend about $500 on our quarterly non-perishable stock up. If this kind of outlay is not doable for you, you could consider doing this on a monthly basis or just picking up paper products and grains or canned items and baking goods. It does not have to be all or nothing.
You have to have somewhere to store your inventory. This can be a real sticking point for people low on space. When I first implemented my Quarterly Stock Up, I was worried that it would be very annoying to run down stairs if I needed something (remember, my pantry in my kitchen is 2 cabinets). However, it is no big deal for us. You may have to experiment on where you store your inventory to find a spot that works for you. You can also reduce yor storage needs by stocking up more frequently (monthly rather than quarterly) or only stocking up on specific categories (like canned goods and baking supplies for example).
It takes more time on the front end. I would say it takes me about 5 hours to take inventory, order inventory and store inventory for every quarterly stock up.
A few things to keep in mind. What I am outlining here is my process and what works for me. I encourage you to take your best stab at it the first time and make it your own from there. It does not have to look just like my system to be effective for you.
Also, there will be times when you occassionally have to buy non-perishables outside of your stock up. For example, if you want to try a new recipe and you don’t have all of the non-perishable ingredients on hand. Or if you made a lot of pasta that quarter so you used more than usual. For me, this isn’t a big deal. If you want, you can keep a list of non-perishables you buy outside of your stock up so that you can have more on hand for the next quarter.
Here’s a template of the spreadsheet I use to keep track of my inventory.
