The annual check and shopping plan

In short

• Two checks a year: in June (winter stores: preserves, cellar, crock, cheese) and in December (the whole year, with meat and grain). Grain is also checked before harvest.
• Balance per store: planned, made, eaten, thrown out. What is left in June tells you everything.
• Gone before February: +30–50 %. More than a third left: −30 % or a different recipe.
• Shopping is a short list, once or twice a year, before the season: jars and sugar in May, vinegar in June, grain in August, salt in August–September, potatoes and apples in bulk in autumn.
• Reserve for a bad year: fruit butter, dried fruit and vinegar for two winters, grain +20–50 % where drought or a wet harvest is common.
• Decisions are written into next year's pantry plan (H58-01), not left in your head.

What's inside

Chapters

1. When and how
2. Four figures per store
3. What the figures mean
4. Balance by group
5. What to make and what to buy
6. Shopping plan by month
7. Budget and the value of the pantry
8. Reserve for a bad year
9. The family meeting and next year's plan
10. Most common mistakes
11. Printable checklist

Worksheets

• Yearly pantry balance
• Difference and use per AE calculator
• Shopping calculator
• Pantry value calculator
• Monthly shopping list
• Calendar of checks and shopping
• Goals and the family meeting