Dollar Tree Pantry Organization, Pantry Organization on a Budget

You will love these fun Dollar Tree pantry organization ideas! Create your own dream pantry, even on a tight budget! Post contains affiliate links.

My current little life mission is to be a better meal planner. It feels like more than half the time, I’m about to leave for the kids after school activities and I’m scrambling to figure out dinner… or picking up takeout.

Trying to remedy this dinner planning struggle has inspired some fresh organization, especially in the pantry!

Here is our pantry when I started this update! It is a mess… and in need of a cleaning for sure.

The first step was a bit of purging. I went through and pulled out food that had expired or we just did not enjoy.

Then, I removed the old containers and the baskets, and wiped down the shelves and table top.

Dollar Tree Pantry Organization to the Rescue

Organizers can be so expensive.

As much fun as it is to browse for solutions at fancy organizing stores, it’s not always practical to drop hundreds of dollars on an organization project.

So I try to think creatively, and use them as an inspiration springboard for a similar look with more affordable options.

When I saw these glass canisters at Dollar Tree, those light bulbs were going off! They are well made and large, the ideal solution for a beautiful matching pantry. I have never seen this type of glass canister for less than about $4-$5 each. I even had these in my Amazon wishlist!

They can be tricky to find in store in enough quantity, so I used free store pick up. I bought enough to fill one row of the large glass canisters, and another of the smaller size. I also used some to organize the baking cabinet!

For reference, the larger canisters hold a full box of pasta.

The smaller row looks great in the front, so there is still a view of what’s in the larger canisters behind.

I used our simple dymo label maker to label the contents I couldn’t be sure of by sight.

On our Dollar Tree run, I also picked up these greenish blue bins, love the color. They are a large size, great to hold all the random pantry staples!

For our family, we use one for each member of the family to hold snacks and packaged foods, one for tea and beverage mixes, and one for packaged soup and recipe mixes.

I added some laminated printable labels to the bins, although we know where each basket typically goes.

This larger size tub in the same color was a great find to use for opened bulky items like chips and pretzels. One thing that contributed to the messiness battle after out last pantry makeover was not having a simple place for these.

The kids would just throw them in, or we would stick them in the fruit baskets because they were too bulky for the snack bins. I think having a big tub for this kind of stuff is going to help a lot with keeping it tidy!

But, the fruit baskets on the wall with cup hooks are still going strong! Dollar Tree still makes a perfect round basket for this project!

We also have Dollar Tree wire baskets sitting on the bottom for potatoes and onions.

On the very top shelf, I use the big cube baskets to store lighter weight things we don’t use routinely.

For us, this is extra baking mixes and snacks when i stock up on a sale, and paper products like napkins, plates and cups.

On the very bottom, these DIY rolling crates are such a big help for storing rice and packaged grains like pasta and quinoa.

With a big bag of rice 25 weighing pounds, it’s great having wheels to lug that around. The casters are still going strong from this project about 7 years ago. I’m honestly impressed, because my kids have also used these as go carts on more than one occasion!

For the pantry door, I ordered new spice jars with labels for these wood spice racks. The set came with a funnel and marker with blank labels in case they are needed. I only needed the marker for one spice blend, it included hundreds of choices.

Fun fact: these jars are the exact same jars as the organic spices at Walmart! So if you have some of those, you won’t need to transfer them. The Walmart labels peeled off easily.

For another (nearly free idea), our last spice jars were recycled baby food jars with chalkboard painted lids. They were just getting worn out after about ten years, and I was ready for a change!

Changing out the spice jars was oddly satisfying! All the pouring and all the fun smells was probably just entertaining. I love how clean it looks now with the matching labels!

In the short time since finishing up this Dollar Tree pantry organization project, I have already noticed it is easier to plan ahead for meals on the go, just knowing what I have on hand to easily throw together.

Now, I just need to deep clean the fridge, which is one of those tasks I always seem to put off! I can’t be the only one?!

If you enjoyed this Dollar Tree pantry, you might also like this one on Dollar Tree linen closet organization!