[Green Lilly]

I think this is the right sub section to post this.

I have a question about inventory. I haven't been very good about it over the last couple of years, relying more on remembering in my head what preps I have bought and what I need to work on. After the first of the year I made myself go through everything I have and write it all down, count it etc.

Left me with two thoughts- Number 1, I still have a ways to go. Doing the inventory really called out holes that I didn't realize I had in my preps.

Number 2, there has to be a better way to keep track of things then writing them down in a notebook which is my current tactic.

I guess I am looking for ideas on inventory control or tools used to keep track of inventory. How you guys keep track of everything? Do you write it down in a book? Use a spreadsheet? I really want to stay on top of things better than I have in the past.

 

[Denton]

I think this is the right sub section to post this.

I have a question about inventory. I haven't been very good about it over the last couple of years, relying more on remembering in my head what preps I have bought and what I need to work on. After the first of the year I made myself go through everything I have and write it all down, count it etc.

Left me with two thoughts- Number 1, I still have a ways to go. Doing the inventory really called out holes that I didn't realize I had in my preps.

Number 2, there has to be a better way to keep track of things then writing them down in a notebook which is my current tactic.

I guess I am looking for ideas on inventory control or tools used to keep track of inventory. How you guys keep track of everything? Do you write it down in a book? Use a spreadsheet? I really want to stay on top of things better than I have in the past.

I use a tabbed notebook so that I can categorize the items. I also have to annotate where the items are.

 

[SOCOM42]

I use a tabbed notebook so that I can categorize the items. I also have to annotate where the items are.

Roughly about the same method, no computer stuff at all.

 

[Slippy]

Great question. Here's what we do to help inventory control. We are not perfect but it works pretty good on most items.

Have a Designated Area for Certain Items;

For example FOOD--Short Term Food goes in the cabinets and pantry. Medium Term Food is in the Basement Left Hand Side of Stairs on Shelves. Long Term Food is in the Basement on Right Hand Side of Stairs in Shelves. New purchases go either in the Medium Term Location or Long Term Loactionand rotated up to the pantry when necessary. Totes and 5 Gal Buckets are labeled with Best Used By Dates. Rotate regularly. We haven't had a need to write things down in many years due to habit AND more importantly we throw away very little bad food due to mistakes.

Medical--Medical items are stored in two locations. Items with EXP DATES are in a cabinet specifically for MEDS and Long Term Items that you can keep forever are in some 5 gallon buckets near Long Term Food Storage. Short Term Med Cabt is reviewed maybe every other month or so. Items that we use regularly are replenished regularly.

Fuel Cans; Get filled and put in the barn, when one runs out the empty can is put in the garage. Whether its LP Gas, Diesel or Gasoline, me and Mrs S know that if we have 3 or 4 empty cans in the garage, one of us takes them to get refilled.

Defense/Shelter/Transportation items-- you get the gist of the process so no reason to go on and on. Just know what it takes to run your house without going into debt and without having too much of one thing...(Creamy Peanut Butter! Damnit, Mrs S eats creamy, I eat crunchy and she rarely eats creamy and I eat a lot of crunch so we are always out of crunchy and have too much creamy peanut butter! lain

It helps to have a "Mrs Slippy" who is a Habitual Purchaser of certain items that we use regularly. She knows if she is in a Sporting Goods store to buy a box of .45ACP or 9mm or .357 REM MAG etc regularly, just like she knows to buy a box of Ibuprofen or a case of Canned Spinach, or a roll or 2 of duct tape...you know things that you don't want to run out of and don't mind having an extra one around. I try to keep her in check when she gets out of whack with certain items.

Also, we don't give birthday or Christmas gifts "per se" much anymore, but we take the time semi anually to sit down and talk about things we NEED for our little homestead. I'm constantly losing Tape Measures or the cheap ones break so its nice to get a few 25' tape measures in my stocking. Or a pair of silk boxers because it just makes a guy feel pretty! :vs_blush:

I think this is the right sub section to post this.

I have a question about inventory. I haven't been very good about it over the last couple of years, relying more on remembering in my head what preps I have bought and what I need to work on. After the first of the year I made myself go through everything I have and write it all down, count it etc.

Left me with two thoughts- Number 1, I still have a ways to go. Doing the inventory really called out holes that I didn't realize I had in my preps.

Number 2, there has to be a better way to keep track of things then writing them down in a notebook which is my current tactic.

I guess I am looking for ideas on inventory control or tools used to keep track of inventory. How you guys keep track of everything? Do you write it down in a book? Use a spreadsheet? I really want to stay on top of things better than I have in the past.

 

[paulag1955]

I use an Excel spreadsheet to track our inventory of ammo. Everything else is in my head right now. I just haven't gotten around to getting it on the computer. If you do use a spreadsheet, don't forget to print it out regularly (a) so your significant other can look at it on paper and (2) so that you have a copy if the computers get fried.

 

[Slippy]

I use an Excel spreadsheet to track our inventory of ammo. Everything else is in my head right now. I just haven't gotten around to getting it on the computer. If you do use a spreadsheet, don't forget to print it out regularly (a) so your significant other can look at it on paper and (2) so that you have a copy if the computers get fried.

Woman, you be wasting your time with an Excel Spreadsheet for Ammo! Ammo is the easiest thing to inventory, get you a bunch of Metal or Plastic 50 Cal Ammo Cans and fill those suckers up with the calibers that pertain to the guns that you own, shoot and plan on using post SHTF. When you fill them up get you a couple of Medium to Large Gun Safes and fill those up too!

Then start over and do it again...:vs_smile:

 

[paulag1955]

Woman, you be wasting your time with an Excel Spreadsheet for Ammo! Ammo is the easiest thing to inventory, get you a bunch of Metal or Plastic 50 Cal Ammo Cans and fill those suckers up with the calibers that pertain to the guns that you own, shoot and plan on using post SHTF. When you fill them up get you a couple of Medium to Large Gun Safes and fill those up too!

Then start over and do it again...:vs_smile:

Hahahaha! I wouldn't do it if I didn't like running it through my hands and counting it. It's also an easy way to keep track of how much we've paid for it. The Handsome Husband likes to know if a sale is really a sale.

 

[jimcosta]

This is how our 50 person group retreat does it.

We have designated storage places in the barn. There is a place for each of our Focus Groups, or area of concerns: Health, Morale, Nourishment, Planning, Physical and Security.

We rely on spreadsheets for each area.

If we pack food stocks in large containers we label the contents on the container.
We learned the hard way to record purchase dates of stored fuel.

All food contributed by others is recorded on a spreadsheet for them so If they leave they can get their food.

 

[Crunch]

We use boxes or plastic bins for most of the "deep storage" goods/supplies. I try to group the contents in general categories, personal hygiene, medical, communications, etc. Each box gets a designation, the first a character for it's location (A for attic, B for basement) and a unique number. A handwritten listing of the contents of each box/bin gets placed on a clipboard and a second photocopy of it placed in the box itself. Works well enough for us.

 

[Marica]

I guess I am looking for ideas on inventory control or tools used to keep track of inventory.

This is a big thing with us, especially for food. We are math geeks so we do use spreadsheets for some things. And before I go any further, if you go this route, do NOT upload 'em to the cloud! Do a monthly backup onto an external hard drive or to another devise. And what Paulag said-- print 'em out on a regular basis.

In particular, John has a spreadsheet for the meat in his deep freezer, I have some for what's in my freezer, etc.

We do a weekly menu. Except for veggie night it's based on the what's "coming up next" on the meat spreadsheet. The columns are item (whole chicken), size/pounds, date (sell-by). Each individual package of meat gets its own row.

From that is generated a shopping list. The first thing we do is shop the pantry (& storeroom) and the item gets a "replace" next to it on the list. (I do NOT have a spreadsheet for the pantry. More below.) At the store, John does the meat shopping and looks for bargains. As soon as stuff is put away, he updates his spreadsheet and puts stuff in the freezer. He even has a system for how his freezer is organized, oldest to newest.

His spreadsheet for meat, poultry, etc. also includes leftovers we may freeze, sausage we make, and stuff like that. Everything is categorized. As he's making the menu, he removes what we'll use that week from the spread sheet.

My strategy in the pantry and storeroom is different. I use an idea I picked up in retailing back in the olden days. Set Point (or "in the hole"). (This is what I do for ammo, too.) How much X do I need to have on-hand to last me short term (whatever that means to you)? That's what goes into the pantry.

So everything takes up some space. Sometimes we wind up making something unexpectedly (or John will decide to have beans for breakfast) in which case it may not be added to the grocery list. BUT a simple visual inspection shows me where the holes are. It's also a great system for FIFO-- first in, first out. Everything is arranged by date and it makes rotating easy.

We put all of the canned goods we're using this week on a couple of shelves in the front of the pantry.

I did start out with a spreadsheet for the pantry but for me this way works out better. I can also adapt it to changing circumstances.

Storeroom has longer term preps but I do it the same way.

Ammo I do like the pantry, except I have a spreadsheet which not only has on-hand, but the set points which we keep moving up.

My freezer has mostly stuff from the garden. So when we put up tomato sauce, those quantities go in. That also serves as a resource when garden planning.

For the stuff on the spreadsheets, once or twice a year we'll do a physical inventory and then reconcile. We usually do my freezer (veggies) before I start spring planting and when it's nearly empty.

 

[jimcosta]

I forgot to mention that every now and then we print the spreadsheet and place it in its right area. This of course is for power off as well as if the bookkeeper runs off to Mexico.

 

[Prepared One]

I keep most of my inventory in my head, maybe not such a good thing since I sometimes forget why I walk into the bathroom. lain: Ammo is the easiest. While I have some spread throughout the house for emergency use all of my ammo is stored in ammo cans in a closet along with long term food storage. I always have ammo in each of the safes that correspond to whatever caliber gun is stored in the safe as well. When a ammo can is full I mark the caliber, grain, and piece count and then put on steel shelves I put up. Same for the long term food, product and date packaged on outside of the bucket.

Canned goods is a problem since I store it in several places. The pantry of course, some in the closet upstairs, and in cabinets in the butlers pantry. (For the record, I do not now, nor have ever had, a butler) Two refrigerators and two freezers. I need to get a better handle on these items. Bulk items, paper towels, TP, 1st aid supplies, gas, propane, etc, are easier for me to track for some reason.

I suppose, to keep better track of all this I should do a spread sheet. Hey, maybe I can get a butler to do that!

 

[Chipper]

We keep all supplies on open shelves. Easy to see when things are getting low and need resupply. Plus easy to rotate new stock in and use older stuff up.

This way we won't have to throw out a pile of unused expired goods away, again. Only store what you currently use. Stockpiling 500 lbs of rice is just a waste if you never touch or eat it.

Guns and ammo are stored in separate fire proof safes. Ammo is marked and labeled in ammo cans with an extra mag or 2 on top, depending on weapon. One is worthless without the other.

 

[Slippy]

I forgot to mention that every now and then we print the spreadsheet and place it in its right area. This of course is for power off as well as if the bookkeeper runs off to Mexico.

Wait a minute...(Slippy thinks real hard and finally a light bulb comes on)...jim aren't YOU the bookkeeper? :vs_laugh:

 

[paulag1955]

Only store what you currently use. Stockpiling 500 lbs of rice is just a waste if you never touch or eat it.

I mean...I store foods that we don't eat now or don't eat often, like rice. I follow a low carb diet (and I LOVE white rice) so I rarely cook it, but in a SHTF situation, dietary requirements are likely going to be different. For example, I probably won't be sitting on my butt posting on a prepper forum. Instead I may be working in the garden or hauling water or some other horrifying job that I can't think of off the top of my head. So the excess blood glucose that makes me fat now would be burned off and I would NEED that rice to keep going. And rice is a great keeper because it lasts practically forever if properly stored.

Anyway, that's just a long way of saying there could be reasons to store foods that you don't currently use. BUT I agree that you shouldn't store foods that you don't eat because you don't like them. Beets, for example.

 

[Prepared One]

Rice, various beans, instant potatoes, Pastas, are staples of my long term storage and are easy to track. I can supplement those stores with can goods I have on hand and the occasional meat byproduct type critter that passes by. You know, squirrels, birds, deer, dogs, cats, and rats, the occasional lost liberal. I do store vitamins to make up for the fact that I am not depending on my growing a whole lot of veggies in a garden, since I am in the habit of killing fake plants an all. I am good tho, rice beans potatoes, pasta with some hot sauce and what ever meat I can scrounge and it will work well enough. My freezers alone will keep me in meat for months.

 

[Crunch]

Anyway, that's just a long way of saying there could be reasons to store foods that you don't currently use. BUT I agree that you shouldn't store foods that you don't eat because you don't like them. Beets, for example.

Agree, except the beet part, pickled are the best imo.

We're not big fans of canned fruits or veggies, fresh or frozen is what we normally eat, but we keep cans in the deep larder. It's wasteful, but we'll usually just replace them with fresh cans all at one time and toss the old ones if we can't give them away to family/friends that know we're preppers. Kind of pains me to admit to that, but at 2 or 3 cans for a dollar when on sale and only having to replace them every 8-10 years I just look at it like homeowners or car insurance, we spend a lot more on those and never use them either. Same for items like powdered eggs or dehydrated milk.

 

[jimcosta]

"Wait a minute...(Slippy thinks real hard and finally a light bulb comes on)...jim aren't YOU the bookkeeper?"

Slippy: I'm planning to run off with the profits!

 

[paulag1955]

Agree, except the beet part, pickled are the best imo.

Seriously? They taste like moldy dirt to me. The Handsome Husband tells me he likes them, though. Although I don't know this first hand...I've never served them to him.

Instant mashed potatoes is another thing that I store that we don't usually eat. Also Stovetop stuffing, but I repackage it.

 

[Deebo]

Some serious lists and inventory there peeps.
Our Pantry is in a crappy location, under the stairs, directly beside the back door. It is also shaped terrible, like a "hermit living under the stairs", I really need to shelf the back lower portion, but It is low priority.
Trying to eat from pantry and freezer MUCH more this year.