Every year around this time, I organize my spices (affiliate) and herbs to update expired items and determine needed ones. Though every year, it takes me longer than necessary to organize spices (affiliate) and herbs in my home. Here are the reasons why:
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Why did I need an inventory checklist for herbs and spices?
Below are several reasons why I created this spices (affiliate) and herbs inventory list.
- The kitchen lacks storage space, so I have four places where I store my spices (affiliate) and herbs.
- The first place I go to find my herbs and spices (affiliate) is my pantry. This place is where I store oversized bottles. Visit our post 7 WAYS TO TRANSFORM A HALL CLOSET INTO PANTRY where we stored some of our larger bottles of spices and herbs.
- I go to the cabinet on the right side beside my range for my most frequently used seasonings, spices, and herbs. But the cabinet isn't large.
- I store my "only for baking spices" in my baking zone since I do not use them for anything else. That is located in a different part of my kitchen.
- Then, I have a small supply of hanging test tubes for spices I use less frequently hanging on the backsplash. It looks like this. We bought them many years ago to minimize the larger spice bottles we had to store in the kitchen. They hold pretty much all of our spices and herbs.
As you can see, it's a complicated system, but I did make it work. But because of this, it takes some time to go through these areas to review all the spices/herbs and make sure I have them all when we have our annual parties. So, to make a tracking list of all my inventory, I made a two-page spice list. Yes, it's two pages.
Two-Page Spice and Herbs Inventory Checklist
First, I created a list of all the spices and herbs I had in my areas.
And, then I created a spreadsheet to display the list. I included a column next to the name of each of the spices and herbs to use as locations. My columns were called "Pantry (affiliate)," "Cabinet (next to orange)," "Baking Station" and Test Tubes. I left these columns blank for you to fill out your locations for your home.
I then indicated the number of bottles I had in each area.
So, for example, I had one bottle of cumin in the pantry (affiliate) and 1 in my test tubes, so I put a 1 in my pantry (affiliate) column and 1 in my test tube column. Now, I would know where and how much I had for Cumin in all the different areas. It worked pretty well. I was able to bring together with this inventory checklist (affiliate) all the mixed spice and herb areas to know how much and where I had them honestly.
The first page of the spice/herb checklist.
The first page shows all the spices and herbs, and then at least 4 locations you may have these spices and herbs.
When you are doing your inventory, you can write how many bottles are in these columns from the different areas.
Second Spices/herb checklist page content
If you want to make one of your own, you can remove any of these herbs or spices you don't use to store at home. Most likely, you can get it to one page instead of two.
If you are looking for a regular checklist (affiliate), feel free to check out my other post. THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO ORGANIZING HERBS AND SPICES
I hope this post helps you get your different locations organized. I used this list for several years, and the checklist (affiliate) allowed me to see the 'big picture' of all my herbs and spices. No one should have to have this many places for their herbs and spices, but when you have a new home and have to deal with what you have, you need to create a creative system to manage the things you love with the space at hand. This is until you can rebuild the area to a more functional kitchen.
Below are some additional kitchen organizing posts you may want to see:
Mrs. Diane Hansen says
Thank You!!! I've been trying for years to come up with inventory sheets using notebook paper to keep track of pantry, freezer, food storage, long term food storage, first aid, hygiene and other categories. Being in my 70's and losing my memory is frustrating to say the least. I've tried to keep things together but with a spouse (78) who doesn't remember to mark off a can of soup or whatever from the list, it's near impossible to keep an accurate record. With your "Spice & Herb Checklist" along with other inventory lists I've printed off from other sites, I'm going to try once more to keep track. Thank You, again for sharing. It's very appreciated.