Taking stock before you shop
Most double purchases happen because nobody looked before leaving the house. Take the sheet to the shelf, not the other way round. Work one section at a time: pantry first, then fridge, then freezer, since the freezer is the one you want to open for the shortest time. Write the item, how many you have and the earliest use-by date you can find. Tick Buy for anything that is down to the last one or gone. When you are done, the ticked rows are your shopping list, and the rest of the sheet tells you what you can cook without buying anything.
Keep the first count simple. You do not need to weigh half a bag of flour; "half" or "1 bag" is enough. Precision matters more for things you cannot see at a glance, such as what is at the bottom of a chest freezer or behind the first row of cans.
Typing your staples once
If your household buys the same forty things every month, type them into the box above with a section name in front, like "Pantry: rice, pasta, oats" and "Freezer: peas, chicken, bread". The sheet then prints with the names in place, and future counts take a few minutes: you only write the number and the date. Add a quantity in brackets for the amount you like to keep on hand, such as "rice (2 kg)", so the printed row reminds you of the target. Leave a few of the chosen rows blank for things that come and go.
First in, first out
When you put new groceries away, move the older packages to the front and put the new ones behind them. Then the oldest package is always the one you grab first. The Use by column supports this: write the earliest date in the row, and when you next count, anything with a date in the next week or two gets used first or goes on the meal plan. For food you freeze yourself, write the date you froze it on the bag and in the Notes column, since those packages have no printed date.
When to count again
A full count once a month works for most kitchens, ideally the day before the big shop. The fridge changes faster, so a quick look at that section every week is enough to keep the Buy column honest. The freezer changes slowest; counting it every two or three months is plenty unless you buy in bulk. Before a holiday, a long trip or a move, do a complete count and plan meals around what needs to go, so you come home to an empty fridge instead of a smelly one.
Print a fresh sheet for every count and keep the last two or three in a folder or on the inside of a cupboard door. Comparing them shows what you always overbuy and what you run out of, which is more useful than any single list.
Using the Notes column
Notes is for whatever helps the next person. Write where something is kept ("top shelf, left"), that a package is already open, that the kids will not eat it, or that it was bought for a specific recipe. For the Household section, note sizes and brands you want to repeat, such as the filter for your coffee maker or the right vacuum bag, so the shopper does not have to guess.
Tools and printables for the kitchen
The unit price calculator compares two package sizes by price per unit, which is the honest way to decide whether the bulk bag you are tempted by is cheaper than the small one you usually buy. The cooking measurement converter turns cups into grams and ounces into milliliters, useful when the count on your sheet is in one unit and the recipe asks for another. When you plan meals around what the inventory shows, the recipe scaler adjusts a recipe to the amount you have, for example when there is only one can of beans instead of two.
The printable grocery list is the natural next step after the count: copy the ticked Buy rows into it by store section. The meal planner helps you plan the week around what needs to be used first, and the home inventory covers the rest of the house for insurance and moving.
Frequently asked questions
Is the pantry inventory free?
Yes. Print it as often as you like, for the kitchen, a second freezer in the garage or a shared house. There is no signup and no watermark; one small line at the bottom of each page names our website.
Do I have to type my items?
No. Leave the box empty and every section prints blank rows to fill in by hand while you stand in front of the shelf. Typing items is useful when you keep the same staples all year: the list then prints with the names already in place and you only write the count.
How do I put items into the right section?
Start a line with the section name and a colon, like "Fridge: milk, eggs, butter". Lines without a section name go to the first section that is turned on. Commas separate items, and "(2 kg)" or "x3" at the end of an item prints in the Quantity column. A line that names a section you turned off goes to the first section instead.
What is the Buy column for?
Tick it when an item is running low or gone. When you go shopping, the ticked rows are your list, so you do not need to copy anything. The Use by column is for the date on the package, or the date you froze or opened something.
Why does a section continue on the next page?
Sections flow one after the other, so there is no empty half page between them. When a section does not fit in the space left, it continues on the next page with its heading and column labels repeated, and the page number sits in the bottom corner.
Why are some characters missing from my items?
The PDF uses a standard font that covers English and most Western European letters, but no emoji and no other scripts such as Greek, Cyrillic or Chinese. Those characters are left out, a few rare accented letters lose the accent, and a note under the box tells you when that happens. The preview shows the text exactly as it will print.