If you're frugal like me you probably save the condiments from restaurants. But have you ever noticed they don't usually have an expiration stamped onto the packet? This could leave you with the possibility of keeping condiments way past their expiration date. It happens to all of us. The day I decided to start keeping track of the condiments was when my kid asked me for ketchup and the bottle was empty so I went to the back-up condiments that had been sitting in the pantry for a while. I opened about 15 packets and they were dark brown like A1 Sauce. Obviously out of date but how could I tell without opening the packets? No expiration date. It made me wonder how old is this stuff anyways? So I threw it all out and started putting the condiments in sandwich baggies marked with the year.
So at the beginning of every year I go through my pantry, medicine and vitamin cabinet, and coupons to trash the out-of-date items (not the coupons because I send those to our military troops). Having the condiments in marked bags with dates makes it much easier to know which condiments to use first and also which ones throw out.
So that's my tip.
This is what I threw out also. It makes me both happy and sad. Happy to be cleaning and getting rid of stuff and sad because I feel like I'm throwing money away.
