The next area we’re going to organize in our series, 15 ways to get organized for less than $15, is all of our kids’ snacks and lunchbox items.
I love the look of pantries that have lots of glass containers, each one with a different item in it, but for our pantry it’s just not practical (and it’s expensive to buy all those containers). So instead I save money by using the boxes that the items come in. Let me show you what I mean.
One of the shelves in our pantry has a large rolling basket attached to it. It was like this when we moved in and I though it would be the perfect snack shelf because it’s at a good level for my 5 year old to be able to reach things.
In the large rolling basket I placed a medium-sized basket that I got at the Dollar Tree ages ago. I use this to keep all the snack food boxes organized. Think of it like a puzzle, all the boxes fit perfectly within this basket.
To save time, and make snacks easier to access, I rip the tops off of all the boxes when I bring them home from the store. This keeps all the snacks nicely organized, but also easy to get to when we’re packing lunches, or my daughter wants to get herself a snack in the afternoon.
I like to buy trail mix as a healthy snack for myself, and since plastic bags aren’t always resealable, I have 2 large glass canisters that I keep my trail mix in (it takes 2 because I buy the trail mix at Costco).
To keep our snacks organized it cost me less than $10 dollars. The plastic basket, that holds all the snack boxes, was $1 and the glass containers are from IKEA and were $8. You can also buy them on Amazon.com.
So I might not have the prettiest pantry in the blog world, but it’s practical, affordable, organized and best of all, it’s easy for my kids to get themselves their own snacks!
How do you organize kids snack food in your pantry? I’d love to hear if you have any fun tips!
Join me Monday and I’ll be showing you how I organize all the tons and tons of art supplies my daughter got for Christmas! To start from the beginning and see all the posts, click HERE.
Lauren @ Mom Home Guide says
January 9, 2015 at 7:12 amNice! I have to figure out how to organize all the snack foods that I have for my kids, since my kitchen doesn’t even have a pantry! 🙁
Lanne says
January 9, 2015 at 10:44 amI buy the snacks and then measure them out into portions, into zip lock bags. It hen group the bags together by kind. My husband and son can then grab a bag, and pack lunches or grab a snack easily … And there is never an unsealed bag of crazy portions. I have a note on the side of the fridge that says pack 1 of these, 1 of these, and so on. I try and limit the premade and processed snacks, so they know to grab 1-2 ziplocks plus something I have made etc and then fruits and fresh items. I also put the baby carrots into ziplocks etc to store. Makes for easier packing and snacking.
Anna says
January 9, 2015 at 12:16 pmThat’s a GREAT idea! I love it, thanks for sharing. 🙂
Rachel says
January 9, 2015 at 10:50 amI keep ours on the top shelf of a tall cupboard because my boys would leave it bare in a day if they had access. I literally use an old plastic toy box the lid broke off with a shoe box and lid inside – the lid on it’s side to make a divider so sweet goes to one side and savoury to the other side – they get one choice from each side in lunch boxes and it just helps as chips etc come in bigger packages than cereal bars or cookies, raisin boxes etc.