Freezer Inventory Tracker.......

[smokeusum]

Y'all scare me!!! It's in the frig, if it goes longer then two days and no ones touched it, it gets tossed. I'm getting better about recycling meals into something new.. But FEEZING IS NOT AN OPTION!!! I just can't.

 

[dward51]

I tweaked my copy a bit more...

I tried to upload this revision to the forum but the server will not accept it for some reason.  Will try again tomorrow during the day.

Here is what I changed/added in my copy which I'm calling version 2.0 for 2003......

1. I changed the color scheme to a "stop light" based one.  Green is good to go, yellow is 30 days or less "shelf life" left, and red is past the desired "shelf life" date.  Colors are automatically generated based on the current date and the "use before" date.
2. I added a "shelf life in months" field which is used with the data in the "date frozen" field to auto calculate the "use before" date (which is now a locked calculated field).  Just put in when you made it, and how many months it should be in the freezer and the rest is automatic.
3. I set a condition that if the "number left" is zero, it highlights this in black.  If it's something I will make or buy again, I can just delete the "date frozen" and "shelf life in months" field.  When I make or buy more, I just update the relevant data.  If it's not a item I would make or buy again, just delete all the data in the user fields and it will look like the other zero item lines in the example. In the screen capture below this is how it would look if I was out of chicken sausage and intended on making more but had not yet done so.

I really like the "stop light" color scheme as it makes it very easy to assess your inventory with just a quick peek at the screen.

I could have tweaked it more to better handle the zero items, made the shelf life field a pull down, etc...  but it is made to be Excel 2003 compatible and in 2003 that would require the use of visual basic macros and I'm trying to keep this as simple as possible as others might want to use it (if I can ever get it uploaded - not sure what the deal is as the first one worked fine and I even gave this one a different file name).

And remember you don't have to just use this for sausage.  You could use it for steaks, seafood, and pretty much anything in the freezer.

spreadsheet snapshot.jpg

• dward51
• Mar 22, 2013
• 1

 

[missed-em]

Looks great, but then you'll miss out on the fun of thawing out a piece of mystery meat.  Did an inv of the freezer 6 mths ago and we didn't keep it up so who knows what's in there now!

 

[humdinger]

Once again...thank you Martin!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

[quote name="dward51"]I tried to upload this revision to the forum but the server will not accept it for some reason.  Will try again tomorrow during the day.[/quote]

I wonder if it has something to do with re-naming the file.
I re-uploaded the file in the first post without a problem.
Same file name.


~Martin

 

[dward51]

Ok, here is go #2 (actually more like #10) at uploading version 2.0 of the Freezer Inventory Tracker (Excel 2003 and later compatible with other modifications).

Woo Hoo!!!! Apparently it worked this time.  I have no idea why it didn't work at 1:30 this morning, as I have not changed anything on my end, but at this point it does not really matter I guess.
https://statich.smokingmeatforums.c...nventoryTrackerforExcel2003ver2.vnd.ms-office
This is the version with the "stop light" color scheme and other mods (screen snapshot below).  And yes, I fixed the cell shading in cell Z22 in the posted version (shows as white background in photo but should be light blue).  This template is protected to prevent accidental modification of the calculated fields and their formatting which generate the color scheme.  It is *NOT* password protected and can be unlocked by anyone in Excel for further modifications.

All the notes from the earlier post where I first describe ver 2.0 above still apply.  **DATES MUST BE ENTERED IN THE FORMAT OF MM/DD/YY or MM/DD/YYYY. 

I figured most of us keep frozen food "X" number of months so that is the way I set the "shelf life" field to be used in the calculations.  If you want to have a shelf life of more than 12 months, it should work if you enter 18, 24, etc... for the number of months.

spreadsheet snapshot.jpg

• dward51
• Mar 22, 2013
• 1

 

[dls1]

Thanks, Martin, and Dave as well. This is a handy tool for someone like me who can't remember half of the item I have in the freezers.

Using Excel 2010 I converted it from compatibility mode, unprotected it, and it works like a charm. Now I just need to find the time to do my initial inventory which should be a real PITA.

Thanks again.

 

[dward51]

I'm also due for a defrost of my chest freezer in the garage.  One thing I dislike about the chest freezer is some stuff seems to get lost in limbo in the bottom after a while but when we bought ours in 1979 it was a lot less expensive than an upright (guess I got my $250 worth out of that Sears Kenmore! Going on 34 years and still runs great - unless I just jinxed it). 

I'm thinking inventory time might be the perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone so to speak.

 

[whtplainssmoker]

Is there a post or link somewhere that gives suggested freezer shelf lives for different cuts of meat if same are vacuum sealed? 

 

[diggingdogfarm]

Freezing and Food Safety.png

• diggingdogfarm
• Mar 22, 2013

Source: USDA




~Martin

 

[whtplainssmoker]

Thanks Martin!

 

[smokeusum]

Freezing and Food Safety.png

• diggingdogfarm
• Mar 22, 2013

Source: USDA




~Martin

PERFECT!! I know a handful of you know I don't freeze anything!!! It seems to be almost a generational (baby boomer) thing that possess idea that if its frozen it'll be fine!! NOT TRUE!!

I have a theory; baby boomer parents (my grandparents) were the first generation able to be able to purchase (as the average joe consumer) freezers. This gave the average consumer the ability to store food by freezing instead of canning, salt curing, etc. food or shopping daily (a city folk thing) for the evening meal.

As a child of a baby boomer, I have suffered through evening meals of freezer burned crap as a kid. As a result, I never put anything in the freezer except Popsicles, Digiorno Pizza & Vodka. Everything, EVERYTHING, has a shelf life!!!

 

[diggingdogfarm]

I never put anything in the freezer except Popsicles, Digiorno Pizza & Vodka.

:icon_eek:


~Martin

 

[smokeusum]

:icon_eek:


~Martin

I know, but some evenings it's easier to pop a pizza in the oven!

 

[dward51]

But you left off the category of "ice encrusted freezer burnt mystery meat" in the bottom of the chest freezer.  It's got a freezer storage life of at least 36 months, right?

 

[shoneyboy]

 

[05sprcrw]

Thanks that is awesome will definitely help keep track of what I have going on in the freezer.

 

[hvactstatguy]

Great Job Ya'll! No i will have to go check my deep freezer!!!

 

[grampa doodie]

Dave's revised version works great on my Mac with MS Office 2008.

Thanks Martin and Dave!!

Gramps.

 

[cabo68]

This is a spectacular tool!! I never thought of doing anything like this. I've got all kinds of stuff in my freezer that I'm not real sure about, this will greatly reduce meat loss. Thanks for being so innovative!