Many of you can agree that BJ’s Wholesale is a great place to shop for the quality and prices of many of their products. Yet one downside to buying in bulk is the huge boxes you bring home and try to stuff in your pantry.
Nothing in your pantry? Here’s what you should have in it.
I know in our first house I didn’t have a pantry and had to use the closet in the hallway and even store some things in the basement.
Now in our 1850s farmhouse, we are blessed with some cupboard space. During the summer our cupboards looked like a tornado. I would pull out half of the granola bars and throw them in the plastic bin just so my family could see they were an option.
Going through a bible study we were challenged to clear 7 inches of space every day for a week. The first day I decided to clear space in the food cupboard. I had about 5 bags of granola and cereal that had only a handful left. Out to the farm animals that went.
Related:
Let me tell you last year when we were living on $25 a week that would NOT have been the case. I would have made granola bars or something out of all that leftover because there wasn’t any other option.
I feel the need to keep that in mind. We tend to compare and feel not good enough and want what others have. Everyone has a story. I want you to know my situation today is quite different than it was a year ago. We worked hard and did everything we could when our financial situation hurt. We had to implement a spending freeze for 100 days. We didn’t turn to a credit card to help us through.
It’s not quite so painful now. Right now is to remember that if you are in a situation where buying snacks for the kids is a burden on your shoulders if you are wise with what you do have, you will make it through and this time in your life will just be a season.
It is amazing how many items start to get forgotten about. We live in a society where our access to goods is so plentiful yet we so easily fall into a routine of buying more need more and forget what we already have. Or at least I do 😉
- READ OR PIN: HOW TO STOCKPILE WITHOUT BEING EXTREME
- Are Multipacks Actually Cheaper at A Wholesale Club?
TIME TO GET ORGANIZED
So this year as my kids go back to school in just two weeks I am getting the snack cupboard prepared. BJ’s is a super place to buy those convenient pre-packaged snacks too. I did a comparison about the price of buying them or making them yourself if interested.
We had so many bags of snacks open and without air conditioning packaging them up will probably be better because of the humidity.
I’m pretty excited now when I open my snack cupboard because it looks like a convenient store.
And that is exactly what the goal of this planning was.
Just like with meal planning taking a half hour to organize things so that you can have a smoother week is a life saver.
Now the only problem I am facing is hoping this all lasts until school starts!
- PRINT OR PIN FREE DAILY GET THINGS DONE SHEET
I am not a very organized person. In fact, I would list that as one of my weaknesses. I say that because I know some of you will take this to the next level and I am so glad for that. You could probably even organize your snacks into bins where your kids pick one from each bin to get all their nutritional values met.
Me? No, I don’t have time for that! 😉
SUPPLIES:
I bought the Ziploc storage bags, variety pack 347 total count at BJs for $13.49.
This item does come with four individual boxes each with their own barcode.
I used TWO $1.00/2 Ziploc bags printable coupons here.
Made the price $11.49 or $2.87 a box.
PRINT A $1.00/2 Ziploc Storage containers coupon too.
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER BOXES?
I take the leftover boxes I have and shove them in the bottom shelf where no one but our indoor pot-bellied pig goes or they go out to the garage.
OTHER OPTIONS TO ORGANIZE
We used this over the door in our previous house. Our kitchen was very small and no pantry. So I put this on the door going down to the basement and it worked well.
We also used a kitchen island and had snacks and mostly my baking items in it when our cupboard space was minimal.
You can search Pinterest for even MORE ideas on how to store snacks with limited space.
Here’s How the Cupboard Looked Before:
WHAT I USED
I bought the Ziploc storage bags, variety pack 347 total count at BJs for $13.49.
This item does come with four individual boxes each with their own barcode.
I used TWO $1.00/2 Ziploc bags printable coupons here.
Made the price $11.49 or $2.87 a box.
PRINT A $1.00/2 Ziploc Storage containers coupon too.
I bought these new four baskets from BJ’s for $12.99. Not a bad price at all after looking around.
You can always look on Amazon for a better deal or be resourceful like I was and use boxes from the snacks you bought just cut down to fit in your cupboard.
Now to the after:
I love to use up leftover granola, raisins etc and mix all into a bowl throw in some chocolate chips and then package that up in bags. Don’t be afraid to get creative. You may be surprised what your family didn’t eat sitting in it’s original bag compared to when you pack it in a Ziploc bag.
PSSS. You know I rarely buy things without a coupon so those Annie cheddar puffs which my kiddos love right now over the Pirate’s Booty has a $0.75/1 printable coupon here. These are priced at $5.99 with a clipless coupon currently.
I loved the easy tab at the top of these bags to just grab, open and stuff. No messing around trying to get the two to separate. Totally worth the extra cost for my hyper self.
You guys, I am so excited about this. I had to practically shove my husband over there to give me a little recognition. Honestly, I should have done this all summer because it was so nice to have the girls grab their snack before bed, come out to give the animals their final rounds of food and water and close in for the night and they munched on their snack in the little baggie!
2 Days Left: Arm & Hammer Laundry Detergent $9.99 at BJ’s