A pantry inventory template that dates itself.
Here it is — free, no email, no sign-up. It's a pantry, fridge and freezer inventory in one file: type what you have and when it's good until, and the sheet works out the days left, colours the rows that need eating, and warns you on the shopping tab when you're about to buy something you already own.
19 KB · works in Google Sheets, Excel, Numbers and LibreOffice · public domain, change it however you like
What's actually in the file?
Three tabs, and only one of them needs your attention day to day.
Item, category, where it lives, quantity, when it was opened, when it's good until. Two columns fill themselves in: Days left counts down from today, and Status turns the row red for Expired, amber for Eat now, sand for This week and green for OK. Sort by Status and the sheet has answered "what needs cooking" without you reading it.
Type what you're about to buy and the row goes amber if that item is already sitting on a shelf. This is the four-bags-of-flour problem, and it is the single most expensive thing a kitchen list can fix.
The five habits that make any kitchen list work, and an honest section on where a spreadsheet stops being the right tool.
How do I open it in Google Sheets?
File → Import → Upload → pick the downloaded file → choose Replace spreadsheet. That's the whole procedure. Every formula works in Sheets unchanged, so there's no separate Google Sheets version to go looking for — the dropdowns, the colour rules and the duplicate check all survive the import.
Once it's in Sheets you can share it with whoever you live with, which is the version of this that actually gets used. A file on one laptop is a file one person maintains.
Do I have to type a date for everything?
No — leave Use by blank and that row stays quiet and uncoloured. Date the twenty-odd things that genuinely turn and ignore the salt. A half-filled sheet you keep is worth more than a complete one you abandon in week three.
When a packet has no printed date, estimate. If you're not sure which dates are safety deadlines and which are the manufacturer being proud of the texture, that distinction is worth ten minutes: best before vs use by — one of them you respect, the other you smell.
How do I stop buying things I already have?
Write the shopping tab after looking at the inventory tab, not before — and let the amber warning catch you when you don't. The direction is the whole trick: a list built from what you plan to eat buys duplicates of everything you own but can't confirm, and a list built from what's already on the shelf doesn't. There's a longer version of that argument in write your grocery list backwards.
Can I just print it and stick it on the fridge?
Yes. Print this page — the navigation, this explanation and everything else drops away, and you get the blank grid below on its own, sized for one A4 sheet with room to write. Pen on the fridge beats an app nobody opens, and it beats a spreadsheet nobody updates.
Pantry inventory — printable
| Item | Where | Qty | Use by | Eat first? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Front row only. Newest shopping goes behind the old.
When does a spreadsheet stop being enough?
When keeping it true costs more than the food it saves. That's not a sales line — it's the specific week most people quietly stop. Three things this file cannot do, however well it's built:
- → It doesn't fill itself in. Every row is typed, including the date. A big shop is twenty entries at the exact moment you least want to make them.
- → It can't tell you first. The Status column is correct whenever you open the file — which is not the same as being told on Tuesday that the yogurt goes on Wednesday. A list that waits to be asked only catches what you were already going to check.
- → It doesn't reach aisle six. Even a shared Sheet is one tab and one signal bar away from being wrong at the only moment it mattered.
That gap is the whole reason shElf exists: the same list, filled in from a photo or a receipt instead of by typing, with expiry estimated for you and shared live with everyone in the house. It's not out yet. The template is yours either way — it isn't a trial, and nothing in it stops working.
Your first fifteen minutes
Don't inventory the whole kitchen today. Do this instead:
- 1. Download the file and import it into Sheets. Two minutes.
- 2. Open the fridge and enter only what has a date on it — perishables, nothing else. Ten minutes.
- 3. Sort by Status. Whatever is red or amber is dinner this week; put it on one physical shelf so the sheet and the fridge agree.
- 4. Before the next shop, open the Shopping tab first. Anything that goes amber, you already own.
- 5. Same fifteen minutes, same day next week. Add the cupboards only once the fridge habit has survived a fortnight.
If step 5 keeps slipping, the problem isn't discipline — it's that the list needs a human to stay true. Worth knowing before you blame yourself for it.
Questions about the template
How do I use this pantry inventory template in Google Sheets?
Download the .xlsx file, then in Google Sheets go to File → Import → Upload and choose "Replace spreadsheet". Every formula in it — the days-left countdown, the status column, the duplicate check on the shopping tab — works in Sheets unchanged. There is no separate Sheets version to hunt for.
Does it work in Excel?
Yes, it's an .xlsx file — double-click and it opens. The dropdowns, the colour rules and the formulas are all standard Excel features, nothing newer than 2007, so old versions and LibreOffice open it too.
Is there a printable version?
Yes — print this page and you get the blank grid on its own, without the navigation or the explanation around it. It's laid out for one A4 sheet with room to write, for anyone who'd rather keep a pen on the fridge than a phone.
Can I use it as a freezer or fridge inventory instead?
Yes — the Where column already offers Fridge, Freezer, Pantry, Counter and Cellar, so one file covers the whole kitchen. Filter by that column and you have a freezer inventory sheet, a fridge list, or a dry-goods list, without keeping three separate files in sync.
Do I have to fill in an expiry date for every item?
No — leave Use by blank and the row simply stays uncoloured and out of the way. The template only ranks what you've dated, so you can start with the twenty things that actually go off and ignore the salt.
Worth reading next
- How to organize a pantry with deep shelves — why the back of the shelf is where food goes to be bought twice.
- The 15-minute fridge audit — the weekly ritual this template is built around.
- How to use a freezer — the storage place where an inventory pays for itself fastest.
shElf is the same idea without the typing. One email when it's ready — that's the only one you'll get.
No spam. We'll send one email when we launch.
We'll email you the moment shElf drops. That's it.