Am I The Only One Choking On "inventory"?
Decorating By CakeDiva73 Updated 20 Oct 2006 , 4:00pm by KHalstead
Beyond help??? Goody!! That means my DH can leave me alone because he's not going to change me anyway!! hahaha! 
You know, I don't really know on average how many cakes a week I bake, I just know that October is the new June for weddings, and I have been baking my heinie off! (If I could just bake off this cake gut we'd be good!) Things have been fairly steady lately so I am carrying more 'inventory' than usual. When I don't have big jobs on my calendar I pare down a little just to be reasonable! Meaning, once I do a big job I don't stock up as heavily as if I have another big job coming. But I have to tell you... opening that cupboard gives me a tingle of delight. 
I really do have issues.
Holy Moly Melvira! 
I have never seen that much pudding in someone's pantry in my life! Makes sense to stock up since you have to drive so far though. I just wouldn't have the room to keep it! Luck for me, Kroger is about 1 minute from my hosue, so I let them keep the stock, lol.
OMG!! What kind of a group have I got myself hooked up with?? 
Oh well, everyone has to collect something. Some people collect shoes, some purses. Cake enthusiasts collect cake mixes, puddings and cake Paraphanelia! Tee hee!! Well, as I said, I'm not full-time with this yet, but when I am, I plan to have a wall of ceiling to floor "pantry" cabinets built in my kitchen to hold all my goodies. I'll probably be as bad as Melvira (not!!)! 
BTW Melvira, is there a Costco or Sam's within driving distance? You can buy PS by the 25# bucket and crisco by bath-tub (or so it seems) sized tubs, etc. A real cost savings. 
Your plans for a separate kitchen sound wonderful!
do what the big kitchens do and what I need to start doing, even though I let my stock run low because I'm trying to save a few pennies..lol
Make an inventory of what you have.....print out a list...with little boxes and every time you take one out of inventory to use....you can see at a glance what you have left.
So you know what and how much to buy on your next shopping trip.
I have to make one that takes me down to at least the last dozen...because sometime I get swamped with 15 cakes and then some days like today..the phone is not ringing...lol
ROFL @ everyone! This is great.
My fiance and I rent, and he said we're moving when the lease is up so I can have a bigger kitchen - of course for cakes! He's the big pusher on it, won't pass the cake supply store without stopping "because you need X,Y, and Z, remember?" HE fills the kitchen with supplies he thinks I need.
Luckily I have a rolling cart with baskets which cake supplies are kept in. If they overflow into the rest of the kitchen, we do not buy more ingredients. He had 20 cake mixes and the same of pwd sugar in the cart - NO WAY! About 12 at a time (in the house, not the grocery cart) is my limit.
And here I thought I was going ALL OUT buying four more boxes of cake mix than I needed when I went to the store....and I got all excited when I had 1 2lb bag of powdered sugar left over that I didn't know I had!!
Geez, I would probably have it that bad if I had the room to....my bathroom is bigger than my kitchen.....no kidding....it's that small. I cannot wait till this lease is over and we can buy a house....I told my DH that I didn't care what the rest of the house looked like as long as I had a big kitchen with lots of storage!!
Hey FormerBuckeye... you can run, but we'll get to you eventually! You will become just like us! Bwahahahahahaha!! *Begin assimilation sequence now!*
We don't have Costco, (I've heard such great things about them... I am painfully jealous!) but we do have Sam's club. That's where I go to get my big bucket of Hershey's cocoa, cream cheese, etc. but I am an ingredient snob and will not use their "Professional Baker's" powdered sugar. I don't care for it. I have had a lot of people tell me they get 25# containers of C&H at their Sam's, but here they only have their off brand in 7# bags. I get the giant Crisco tub at Wally World because I am there all the time and it's actually a few cents cheaper. (Makes no sense... owned by same company!! 
) I am all about hitting sales and saving money, etc. but I just have to use good ingredients. Some off brands are good, but some aren't, so I always try them before using them for a paying job. A 'friend' told me how WONDERFUL the cake mixes at Aldi's were and they were only $.69 ea... I bought one choc and one van. BLECHHHH!!! DH rules and I can get it for only $.73 each. It's worth FOUR cents!!
Melvira, I fear that you are right. The only thing that saves me now is that I don't have my built in pantry yet. 
I agree that the quality of the ingredients directly ties to the quality of the end product. I too will only use the best.....no store brand sugars or butters, etc. Fortunately, here in Richmond the Costco carries good brands with great prices. Last week I bought 3 dozen eggs for less than $2.00!!! Made me smile 
See... you're working on a pantry for cake stuff... you're only a few short steps behind me, and then your madness will be complete!!
Some people get really mad when I say I will only use 'the good stuff' so I have to be really careful about how I say things. A lot of people swear by generics, and I don't have a problem with that at all, there are some generic items that I love, (and always use them for dummy cakes!) but there are some places where I just can't skimp, even if it costs me more. I really am a food snob. I don't mean to break my arm patting myself on the back, but I am an accomplished cook, so my standards are higher. When someone else makes something other people may rave over it while my opinion is somewhat lukewarm. (I am NEVER negative about it, I just don't falsely rave!) I often have to remind myself that they are just an 'average' cook, and this is a really good effort on their part. Just because I would add blah, blah, blah, etc. doesn't mean they didn't do a good job! And they are better at so many other things, so if I tried to do what they are good at, they would probably want to laugh at me! It all evens out. I don't think I am better than anyone else, I just know I am a better cook than lots of people. But there are some that would whoop my bum with one spatula tied behind their backs, so I am humble about that!
Melvira, your a woman after my own heart!! I leave on Saturday for my LAST 8 weeks of school before I'm a PAPERED chef!!! da da da...daaaaa! I'm so excited I'll be finished by christmas! I think I was born in the wrong month...my dvd collection gets the EXACT same reaction...oh my...are those in alphabetical order?!?!?! AND stangely enough I have a very simmilar looking closet in my house...(PLUS what I've hidden under the bed that DH doesn't know about...he he he) Cakes are my passion though and I'm thinking about taking my baking apprenticeship next...and my wine masters, (somellier) because life's too short to drink bad wine!! Cheers!!
Melvira, your a woman after my own heart!! I leave on Saturday for my LAST 8 weeks of school before I'm a PAPERED chef!!! da da da...daaaaa! I'm so excited I'll be finished by christmas! I think I was born in the wrong month...my dvd collection gets the EXACT same reaction...oh my...are those in alphabetical order?!?!?! AND stangely enough I have a very simmilar looking closet in my house...(PLUS what I've hidden under the bed that DH doesn't know about...he he he) Cakes are my passion though and I'm thinking about taking my baking apprenticeship next...and my wine masters, (somellier) because life's too short to drink bad wine!! Cheers!!
I think we'd get along great! If we didn't organize each other to death! How very exciting for you to be graduating so soon... congratulations and the best of luck to you! I have often said I'd like to open a small restaurant, but it would be totally different than any other restaurant you've been to. I'd like to call it something like "What's for dinner" People come in and sit down and eat whatever it is I felt like cooking that day! I mean, I would make several choices, and there would probably be some daily stand-bys that are always available... but for the most part people would come in and say, "What's for dinner?" and I'd tell them, "I felt like shrimp alfredo today..."
Edited to add: heheheh "mthiberge is paper trained!" *snork*!!! Hey, I couldn't resist, if it weren't for bad jokes I'd have no jokes, ok?
Melvira, it's too bad that we live so far apart. I believe we could be best buds! You too mthiberge. The only problem is that I would probably have to referee the two of you to keep you from pulling each others' hair out over organization. 
Hahahahahahahahaha! M: I like your restaurant idea. I get so tired of going out to eat (which my DH insists on doing at least once a week to keep me from having to "slave in the kitchen") only to find the same old crap on the menu at every restaurant. Give me braised lamb shanks, or lobster bisque...yum! I'd rather cook!
Question: Do any of you use a grocery list?? I used to do the same thing pick up a few boxes here and few mixes there. Now I don't let myself. "If it ain't on the list, we ain't gettin it". I tack a list on my fridge and we all add to it as we run out of things or use the last of something. Then on shopping day, I'll take an unofficial inventory and hit the stores. This has helped to cut down on "excess".
People think I'm insane.....we're always on a tight budget, so I always have a list and for the most part stick to it. First I make a list of dinners to make for 2 weeks, (I hate grocery shopping so I only go once every two weeks ) then I go down and write on my shopping list all of the ingredients I need to make those dinners, I usually figure about 12-14 meals (some nights we have leftovers) then i figure up what my kids eat for lunch hot dogs, sandwiches, etc. and write down enough for two weeks.....then I buy enough cereal to last one week and a box of pancake mix and some eggs, then I go through the pantry and fridge to see what we're low on or out of.....condiments, canned foods, milk, bread, etc. While I'm shopping I use tally marks to keep track of what I'm spending we have a 200 dollar limit for 2 weeks of groceries...I usually only try to spend about 150 of it so I have the extra 50 to get fresh veggies between my 2 week shopping trips. It works wonderfully.....my cupboards are RARELY overflowing with things we don't eat, and nothing spoils.......by the end of the two weeks we're pretty low on stuff which makes it easy to go through what left and use it or get rid of it....oh and it's so much easier to clean the fridge when it's virtually empty, which I do the night before I go shopping!! I also don't buy too much of anything and I know exactlly what we're out of. I do splurge and buy things I see every now and then when they're not on my LIST.....however only if it's in the budget! gotta be disciplined when feeding a family of 6 on one person's salary LOL.
KHalstead: I have to salute you for being so organized with your shopping. Also, my hat's off to you for being able to feed a family of 6 on $100 per week!
KHalstead... I bow to you humbly. You are SO with it! That is an amazing system, and I only wish I were so disciplined!! You amaze me!!
I don't know about all that............LOL It's not so easy sometimes......we do a lot of our shopping at Save A Lot and we do Save A LOT!!! hahahhaha and then we get some things at Wal Mart that we can't get there......like Miracle whip and some other things that we prefer the name brand but most of the off brand or generic stuff we don't mind. They even have sloppy joe stuff for like 79 cents a can that tastes exactlly like manwich......hey whatever, I don't care about the name if it tastes good!!
KHalstead... I bow to you humbly. You are SO with it! That is an amazing system, and I only wish I were so disciplined!! You amaze me!!
I don't know about all that............LOL It's not so easy sometimes......we do a lot of our shopping at Save A Lot and we do Save A LOT!!! hahahhaha and then we get some things at Wal Mart that we can't get there......like Miracle whip and some other things that we prefer the name brand but most of the off brand or generic stuff we don't mind. They even have sloppy joe stuff for like 79 cents a can that tastes exactlly like manwich......hey whatever, I don't care about the name if it tastes good!!
I do the exact same thing that you do, only for a family of 4, on average about $65-80 a week. I only shop for one week at a time too. I shop at Aldi's first, then at Wal Mart for the things I can't get at Aldi. People are amazed at how much I can get on such a tight budget. For the most part, if it's not on my list, I don't buy it!
I had to do this to my spice cupboard. I was forever buying spices that I already had. I made a list of all my spices. I alphabetized them, color coded the name based on what color the lid was, made a notation of how many I had of each, whether it was in a small, medium or large container, and noted which shelf they were on. I just marked off a little dash when I'd use the last of something, and cross it off completely when all containers were used. That way if I needed something I could open the door, glance at the list and see if it was already in stock or needed to be purchased. Plus the color coding/jar size made it easier to find what I needed.
Please don't think me odd, but I am truly impressed by those of you who are doing all of this on a tight budget. My husband has a very good job which affords me the ability to stay home with DS (cleft lip/palate) but we are not rich, and I know I could do better in these areas and be able to put more money away to offset these goll-durn never ending medical bills! Even with insurance there are co-pays and 'out of network' expenses, etc. We are trying to fix up the older home we purchased, so there is always a better use for the money! Good for you guys for keeping your nose to the grindstone, I want to try and benefit from your strength and good ideas and perhaps adopt some of these ways to save some money for that rainy day that we all know is just around the corner!!
wow you all are so organized......i would faint if i had to show ANYONE my sorry excuse for a pantry!
haha...my grocery list/shopping is very organized because it HAS to be, but my pantry...that's a totally different story, lol. I end up climbing on the counter digging thru to find things that I need. My 6 year old told me today that I'm too big to stand on the counter.
It takes a little extra time but you would be surprised how much money you save by making a menu and grocery list ahead of time. In the long run you actually save time cause you already know what you are going to make for each meal. I always make make an extra serving of dinner so I can pack for my honey's lunch for work or freeze a dinner for an emergency.
Oh, Melvira.............I was laughing at work when I saw the picture of your pantry !! My boss asked why I was laughing and I showed him the picture (good thing I have a job where I can "goof off" when we have down time).....Anyway, you're such a girl after my own heart. TONS OF COOL CAKE STUFF !!! I rarely have a list and just buy, buy, buy.....but, the way I look at it is this.........I will need all of this stuff SOME DAY, right? If I stock up and have lots of everything, then I don't need to run out and get anything when I MIGHT need it.
Anyway, thanks for the good laugh today........
I wish I had a system...I spend 140-200 a week on groceries...We are a family of 5 on 1 income...we have to drive 50 miles to the nearest super wally world to get everything we need. I try to plan a weeks worth of meals...but with kids in sports, academic activities and hubby working 12 days on 1 day off we barely ever eat together...and unfortunately I haven't trained any of them to throw away empty containers...they just stick the empty boxes back in the pantry for me to find. So it all adds up to this...kids eat different meals...even when I fix a big dinner..SOMEONE doesn't like it and wants something different...Hubby doesn't like warmed up meals..so off to fix another meal...so there ya go .. there goes the meal plan..and there goes the budget.. sucks!! Now baking cakes just adds to the bill...but ya gotta love lookin in your pantry to see that hey I could make any darn cake..desert I wanna... 
Hubby just bought me an antique hoosier cabinet and I have filled it up...hmmmm....does it ever get any better?
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