Interactive lesson

The annual pantry check, step by step

Interactive lesson: the pantry balance in June and December, four figures per store, what to make and what to buy, a shopping plan and a reserve for a bad year.

Free sample Chapters 1 and 2 (8 steps) are free. The full lesson comes with The annual check and shopping plan module. Already bought? Unlock

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The whole lesson as text

1. When and how

The year's reckoning was once made around Christmas or New Year, when the pig was done and the larder full.

Summer check in June — In June, before the new preserves, you look at the jars, the emptied cellar, the crock, winter cheese and dried food. The winter stores have finished, and the new season hasn't started yet.
Yearly check in December — In December you look at the whole year: meat, eggs, honey, shopping, costs and work. The pig is done, the pantry is full and there is time to plan.
Harvest check — Check grain, flour and seed in July, before harvest. Then you know how much to buy or sow.
The first year — Sit down with the stock-in book, the monthly inventory and the waste record. Where you don't know, write “estimate”. The second year is already half right.

Why: Today you have more stores and more shopping, so the paper is needed more than ever. From the inventory you make a balance, and from the balance a plan for next year.

A check in October is too late: the new preserves are already made.
Only once the figures are written in do you talk about decisions.

2. Four figures per store

For every store you write four figures: planned, made, left and thrown out.

Planned and made — Example: ajvar. The plan from January was 33 jars, and 28 jars went into the stock-in book.
Left and thrown out — At the June count 2 jars were left. One jar was thrown out because of the lid.
Eaten — Eaten = made − left − thrown out: 28 − 2 − 1 = 25 jars. Over 30 weeks that is 0.8 jars a week, so next year's plan is roughly 27 jars, not 33.
Waste as a percentage — Thrown out ÷ made × 100. For ajvar 1 ÷ 28 = 4 %, which is fine. Above 10–15 %, look for the cause.

Why: From those four figures you get how much the family really ate. That way the plan gets closer to reality every year.

Planned comes from January's pantry plan, made from the stock-in book, and thrown out from the waste record.
The difference calculator in the PDF does the same sum: enter three figures and it gives you eaten.