For years, I have collected tins. I have and have used a big Quaker oatmeal tin, an Uncle Ben’s rice tin, and a number of others to store said commodities and others  in.

Recently our local grocery stores had a promotion for some containers, clear, heavy plastic, with locking lids. Since you got a stamp with your purchases and so many filled cards got you the containers, I took part in it. Had to spend money anyway, why not get a little something out of it?

It didn’t take too long to amass quite a few of the containers, and I was quick to discover that the were ‘perfect’ sizes for the bulk items I keep on hand and routinely use around here.

Pasta, beans , flour, sugar, oats, rice and corn meal are now living in these lovely things on the shelf, not in tins.  If nothing else, I think it will keep me on track for shopping – perhaps I will not forget that I am nearly OUT of some necessary item next time I go shopping.

I know, I know, I have stated before that I try to keep up with that sort of thing on my check off shopping list, but ocassionally I am in the middle of something and the item is not marked down, the tin closed and put away. Shopping day comes and the item is not purchased. Not a good thing!

Besides being able to check supplies at a glance, they look nice on the open shelf, matching containers of different sizes, but no longer the hodge-podge there was before. I think I like it, but just in case, I am keeping the old tins, at least for now.