What is FIFO? If I didn’t know better, I would think it was the latest hot Christmas toy in the form of an electronic dog, or a new way time of money management account. FIFO is neither of these things, but a way to store and stockpile and save money by buying the things you need at the lowest prices and then using them in an organized way.
To simplify things, FIFO stands for First In First Out. It means that when you stockpile and store things in your pantry, you use up the oldest stuff (the first in your pantry) before you use newer stuff. For example, if you stockpile canned peas after a couple of good sales, you would place them in your pantry in a way that puts the oldest items at the front. This way, when you are quickly grabbing peas for dinner, you know that you are using the next can that needs to be used.
Without FIFO, you’ll find that a lot of your food passes the expiration date and needs to be tossed. Tossing expired food is not very frugal.
There are a number of different organizers out there that will help you manage your pantry on the FIFO system, such as can organizers that will let you feed your new cans at the top, and they will filter down to the bottom in FIFO order. You can also use plain generic shelves in your basement or other storage area. Just label each item clearly with the date, so you know when each item must be used.
Getting into the habit of simply loading your shelves by putting new items in the back is a free way of practicing the FIFO system. The few extra minutes you take when you unload your groceries can make the difference between saving money by stockpiling, versus losing money through expired goods.
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