Wrapping up your frugal Passover

We just put away the last Passover pan and did the big "switcharoo" back to our regular kitchen stuff.  Whew!  What a wonderful holiday we had!  Fantastic guests, interesting company at meals, non-stop food, great conversation, meaningful seders, all-in-all a beautiful holiday.

If you've followed my series on How to Shop for Passover on a Budget, here, here and here, guest posted on the wonderful superblogs, Kosher on a Budget and Orthonomics, you'll remember that making sure next year's Passover is a frugal one starts NOW.  Here's what you can do this week to set the stage for next year.

1. When you put away your Passover stuff, take inventory:  what needs to be replaced?  Is that crockpot liner cracked?  Is that urn on its last legs?  Did service for 8 really cut it for the number of guests you had this year, or would you have preferred service for 12?  Did your kids break a wineglass or two?  Is it time to upgrade your frying pans to stainless steel?  Make a list of everything that needs to be replaced and then, separately, a wishlist of new things you'd like to have.  Don't pack away the stuff that must be replaced.  Throw it out or better yet, freecycle it.  You now have a year to find yourself a great bargain on that crockpot, urn, etc.  (And as long as you keep reading this blog, you will!)
2. Get out your master list of Pesach supplies and make your final notes.  I know this will slow down the packing-up some, but it will be well-worth it in the long run. Next year, you'll know instantly that you need more garlic powder, but have stockpiled three paprikas because they were on sale.  Stockpile your Passover dry goods and cans carefully.  Don't pack up any open boxes unless you have sealed them up very carefully and guarded against insects and other critters.  There is nothing worse than opening up a box of potato starch and finding it crawling with ants! I highly recommend storing closed boxes of matzoh meal, cake meal and potato starch in the back of your garage/basement freezer, if you have the room.  For information on what you can and cannot stockpile, visit StillTasty.com.  Mark the year 2011 on things you bought this year with a sharpie, so you'll have an idea how old everything is, especially the cans.
3. This week, the clearance sales start on Passover goods.  Ask your friends to keep an eye out and let you know what specials they're seeing.  It's a bit of a gamble, but if you wait just long enough, you'll see stockpile-able goods on sale for less than a dollar each....then strike while the iron is hot!  Last year, I scored matzoh meal for $0.25 and bought a dozen boxes.  (I also use this during the year to make matzoh balls.)  Keep checking the stores for unadvertised specials.  You can score some amazing deals on Passover goods in the week or two immediately following Passover.

That's it, fellow Cheapskates.  Here's hoping you had a very happy, kosher, frugal Passover.  Remember, next Passover is only a year away!

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