Tip #22: Always Rotate
While your long and medium term stores are all about how carefully you have stocked-up on food, your short-term store is much more about how careful you are about what you use. If you always use your food in the right order, you will always have a short-term store that has the maximum expiration.
In your short-term store you may well have processed foods such as ready-meals (these often have a short expiration so you are unlikely to have them in your medium or long-term stores), for these always obey the expiration dates and throw out if they have been exceeded. Always remember to store new items at the back of your short-term area to ensure a constant rotation of food.