# How do you inventory?



## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

How do you guys inventory your stuff? I am specifically asking about equipment and non food items , any ideas would be much appreciated!


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

I have an Excel spreadsheet that has different tabs, Ammunition, Food Boxes, Food Buckets, MRES, Precious Metals, Electrical and Energy, Lighting etc. Also in the area of Name, Number, and what ever, I have the storage location. I have everything documented down to the AAA battery (Enelope are best) LOL


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

So u keep a hard copy on the comp and a printed sheet filed?


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

PipLogan said:


> So u keep a hard copy on the comp and a printed sheet filed?


Yes and backups too. I am thinking saved as a pdf and stored on a Kindle too.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Great, thanks!


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## kejmack (May 17, 2011)

When I buy new stuff it goes in the back and that way we are using the older stuff first. Older buckets of rice go in the front, the newer stuff goes in the back, etc. Since I only buy food we already eat, it is automatically rotated. By the time we use a bucket of rice or cans of corn, I have already replaced them.


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## Tweto (Nov 26, 2011)

All of our food storage is in lidded stack-able clear plastic storage boxes. Each box contains and assortment of food to make 4-6 meals, We mark a hard card with the date of purchase and put it inside the box with the print facing out and is it is readable from the outside, When I go to get some food, all the oldest dated food is closest to the store room door.

The other very valuable advantage to this system is if BO is in the future, I can just grab as many of the boxes necessary to sustain us for however long we need.

One of the boxes is a master box with small 1 burner stove with propane, small pot, pan, cups, plastic ware, 2 liters of water, condiments, can opener etc. This box has red duct tape around it. This box sits by itself in front of the rest.

BTW, we only store the food that we enjoy eating.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks tweto!


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## Jason (Jul 25, 2009)

we just rotate stuff. No real logs of what we have. We also just store what we normally eat. I do like to write the dates of purchase on non food items just so I know how long a given item (even down to hygene products, etc) have been sitting around.


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

Tweto said:


> All of our food storage is in lidded stack-able clear plastic storage boxes. Each box contains and assortment of food to make 4-6 meals, We mark a hard card with the date of purchase and put it inside the box with the print facing out and is it is readable from the outside, When I go to get some food, all the oldest dated food is closest to the store room door.
> 
> The other very valuable advantage to this system is if BO is in the future, I can just grab as many of the boxes necessary to sustain us for however long we need.
> 
> ...


It sure would be moral support if you posted a picture, just saying! :wave:


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## Wellrounded (Sep 25, 2011)

This is an area that I struggle with for so many reasons. 

Food storage works okish, I know pretty much whats there, we only store what we eat. 

It's everything else that's a mess. I dream of shelves with everything arranged neatly and I am working on it but other things always seem more urgent. When I finally have my store built the shelves will act as an inventory in the same way the food store does now. 

Take sugar as an example, if I know I want 40 lb stored I'll make sure I devote that much shelf space to it, at a glance I can see there are 4 spaces to be filled so I put 4 x 1lb sugar on the shopping list. New stock goes to the back of the shelf and doing that means I check the shelves for cleanliness and vermin all the time. 

With hardware etc I want the same system, enough room for each item in the number I'm wanting on hand, keep the shelves full and all is ok.
The main reason I'm using this system is that there are lots of people with acces to the stores and they just wouldn't update inventory and that can cause too many problems over time. It also means everything is neat and tidy and easy to get to.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

There's a way to do inventory without being physically organized. You have a clipboard and paper. Get a Sharpie. You write the number 1 on the first item. Write what it is on paper. Move it to another area. Do the same thing with the other items. Once you're all done you put everything into Excel and sort everything alphabetically. Then you can add lines and put in totals. That way if your cans of tomato soup are scattered all over and they're items 6,37,52,112,174, and 208 it's easy to total it up.


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## PipLogan (Apr 25, 2011)

Bill I believe that's the way in going to do it, I'll work on it this week and have the mrs do the data entry next weekend


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

BillS said:


> There's a way to do inventory without being physically organized. You have a clipboard and paper. Get a Sharpie. You write the number 1 on the first item. Write what it is on paper. Move it to another area. Do the same thing with the other items. Once you're all done you put everything into Excel and sort everything alphabetically. Then you can add lines and put in totals. That way if your cans of tomato soup are scattered all over and they're items 6,37,52,112,174, and 208 it's easy to total it up.


Sorta like what I do. I have a inventory such as Box 1, printed on the box ans in the inventory spreadsheets. Here's a pic. Right now it is very unorganized because I am moving into the new storage room and I need to get the buckets and boxes of perishable and non perishable goods reorganized.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

ComputerGuy said:


> I have an Excel spreadsheet that has different tabs, Ammunition, Food Boxes, Food Buckets, MRES, Precious Metals, Electrical and Energy, Lighting etc. Also in the area of Name, Number, and what ever, I have the storage location. I have everything documented down to the AAA battery (Enelope are best) LOL


Excellent way to keep things in hand. Wish you could share a copy for newbies. One of tge things that kills a lot of the newbies is they are overcome by lack of plan and ability to control their buying. Nice job. GB


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

GrinnanBarrett said:


> Excellent way to keep things in hand. Wish you could share a copy for newbies. One of tge things that kills a lot of the newbies is they are overcome by lack of plan and ability to control their buying. Nice job. GB


WOW GB. I am taken back and humbled. Thank you. I am more than willing to share a example for other.

It is time like these that I feel happy that I can help others and I appreciate your comments


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## DJgang (Apr 10, 2011)

That's great CG!!!

Question: do y'all can? It so, are your canned items in these boxes too?


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## ComputerGuy (Dec 10, 2010)

DJgang said:


> That's great CG!!!
> 
> Question: do y'all can? It so, are your canned items in these boxes too?


Yes we do can. We can cause qwe can can LOL. Yes we can and also dehydrate.

We are still learning the canning process. Canning only takes up less than 1% of our prepping.

I consider canning a very important aspect of preparations. A skill that is a long term life skill that must be learned. Much more than gathering stuff as they say.

I wish I had the skills and hopefully God will bless me with the patience to learn


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

I organize my food by meals. I have menus for breakfasts, lunches, & dinners we can make using only our stored food & I track my food by meals. So, for example, I need one can each of chicken, butter beans, navy beans, lima beans, & green enchilada sauce & turmeric to make white chili. On the shelf I store like items together but in my spreadsheet I record "1 white chili" & also the individual items. When I didn't do it like this we ended up with too much of one meal & stuff we didn't even know how we would turn it into a meal. 

Out here in the country, we are given the opportunity to live without power in the heat of the summer & the dead of winter for days at a time so we know we have what we need to make do. :gaah: other than that, we don't really inventory anything other than food.


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## jsriley5 (Sep 22, 2012)

I"m no example to follow I"m fairly disorganized. I do label all closed containers and try to set it old in front to newer in back. My failing is I used to always be able to keep a pretty good tally in my head but over the last couple years my thinker has gotten broken so what used to be organized choas in my mind has turned into complete choas broken brain coupled with two moves and a divorce I have alot of work to do to get it all in synch again and will have to find a better tracking method will probably use a spiral notebook and periodically compare rotate adjust and re tabulate everything. will try to put it in order as we move again in several months and then try to keep it up.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

I do it all in my head, based on observation. I store parts for everything where they will be used, and when I take something out of storage, it goes on the shopping list. Same deal for everything, food, nails, meds, etc. Our water comes from our cistern, so I have a dipstick for that. 84" deep in the cistern = 6,700 gallons, which can run us for up to 6 months, or 3 months normal usage. 

I am not worth anything at keeping records, so I dont even try. The only thing worse than NO record, is an INACCURATE record. I have seen the results of poor record keeping in business and industry, where the cost of not knowing what you have can lose customers for you. Much easier for me to just make a list as I use things. Most of the time, I have a pen and paper in a shirt pocket with an ongoing shopping list. 

A second aspect of this approach is, when I find I have to go to the store for something I DON'T have stored, I get at least two, or more if it makes sense. Recently, that meant getting some extra scrubby sponges and other cleaning supplies.

Nobody can foresee everything they might need, nor can most of us afford to stock that much. So, I try to keep the obvious wear parts for equipment (belts, bearings, switches, blades, etc.) on hand and supplies in whatever quantity that experience shows would be sensible to have for a year or so. That sure reduces trips to town!


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## sailaway (Mar 12, 2009)

All oof my gear is on a shelf where I can alk by and look at it. Its assembled by Themes & sub topics. ie. camping: Tents, mattresses, sleeping bags. Clothing, summer, winter, heavy weather, scouting. Saws, hatchets & axes are in another area. Books are shelved by catagory also. Fox Fire, Scouting, Primitive living. Stoves & Fuel and on and on.


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## Drumrunner (Sep 25, 2009)

*my check list*



PipLogan said:


> How do you guys inventory your stuff? I am specifically asking about equipment and non food items , any ideas would be much appreciated!


this would be a start


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## preponomics (Nov 18, 2012)

I use a custom made relational database system with an elaborate sub-summarized cloud based reporting system that initiates a responsive WAN network which provides strategic printed and collated reports, that instantly reflects inventory change. My WAN network automatically will printout any variance upon product movement of a single item using a RIFD grid in my walkin prep facility. I monitor it via satellite photography and inter continental triangulated motion detection.

I can detect if a rat nibbles on a single item or if my wife steals an unauthorized can of corn. Plan b, providing an EMP, I have resonated unto the archaic idea of using a pencil.

seriously - I don't inventory, but instead buy and store with a rotation strategy.


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## nomadjanet (Mar 28, 2011)

Since my husband does not prep and believes my need to have food in every closet and under every bed as well as my pantry overflowing is if not an illness at least a pretty silly obsession I find it difficult to organize or inventory. I mostly spend my time buying stuff on the sly, sneeking it in the house and hiding it When I need something that is under the bed and he sees me walking out of the guest room with 2 cans of mushrooms I get the evil eye, but it is usualy out of sight, out of mind.


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## Cwilliamson (Jun 8, 2012)

I phone has this App called"prep & pantry" very neet if it has a bar code you scan it in and out of your inventory and it reminds you when things are going to expire if it doesn't have a bar code you can make one for it or just put it in by hand


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## CulexPipiens (Nov 17, 2010)

I've got my own spreadsheet I put together. Feel free to look it over and see if it would work for you. Allows for most categories and tracks not only for "have" but also "want to get" and can calculate out, based on the food you have and expected caloric intake, how many actual days of food you have for you/your group.

http://www.culexpipiens.com/PrepperSpreadsheet.php <-- downloadable from here in ODS format

Works with Excel, LibreOffice Calc, Open Office, etc.


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## dixiemama (Nov 28, 2012)

I'm über organized. All my breakfast items are in one area, dinners in another, then snacks, then water has its own wall with powder mixes. All medical supplies are in a large tote (that i'm currently organizing into kits) then toiletries. All our tools and garden stuff is in the garage.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

I got all my stuff in one room in labeled boxes.if I don't see it,I add it.
need 40MM gas mask filters and non GMO gluten free foods, and Cobray M-9-11 mags.anybody up to swap?


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## webeable (Aug 29, 2012)

I have my 40mm rounds marked, my 3"54 stashed on racks, and my larz rockets crated and stacked.


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## prepper2012 (May 8, 2012)

for me i usually just write it on a piece of paper, but an excel spreadsheet maybe be alot better due to i can save it on my laptop and not loose it. thanks for the great idea about excel.


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## Marcus (May 13, 2012)

I was thinking about using a bar code scanner app on my smart phone and then d/l'ing the list to Excel. Anyone know of a good app for an Android to do this?


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## AnonyManx (Oct 2, 2012)

Marcus said:


> I was thinking about using a bar code scanner app on my smart phone and then d/l'ing the list to Excel. Anyone know of a good app for an Android to do this?


I'm now using the "prep & pantry" app (for iPhone; there's an Android version) to do inventory. It scans barcodes. I have been tweaking a system of "tags" that will let me use it for a lot more than just foodstuffs.


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## TheLazyL (Jun 5, 2012)

Get a iphone or or a iPad. Down load the app Prep & Pantry.

Download and apply TBarCodeOffice V10. TBarCodeOfficeallows you to write and print customized Bar codes from Word or Excell.

Got an ammo box full of 1,000 loose rounds of 5.56 NATO? Excel spread sheet showing what type, price paid, purchase date or whatever. Print a bar quote to attach to the ammo box. Bar code is also inserted to the line item in the spreadsheet.

Or if you have a box filled with several different items a customized bar code label would tell you what’s in the box with minimal hassle.

You can scanning the bar code with your iPhone/Pad and get the same information as what is on your spreadsheet. Also acts as a backup data file on you iPhone.


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