Learning to organize your fridge is important to create a confident kitchen that you use everyday. Organizing your fridge with labels creates clear categories that the people in your life can use to help keep it organized when they help you clean up. This prevents food spoilage, which helps you reduce your grocery budget too!
Do you know what lurks in the back of your refrigerator? Do you know what mold monsters have begun to form back there? Can you even find the back of your fridge? If not, then now is the time to begin!
Why and How should I Organize and Clean my Fridge?
When you organize your fridge you will be able to find the food quickly and it wont get lost in the back. If you can remember it, then you can make sure to use it before it goes bad which will save you money and time. You will save money because you eat all the food you buy and you save time because you cook less because you don’t have to replace the meal.
How should you clean your fridge? How should you organize the food in your fridge?
These are great questions that the USDA has answered in their article here.
In that article the USDA also discusses how long to store different types of food in your fridge. If you have any worries about how long to store meat, eggs, or poultry; click the link above!
Before we Begin, Answer this Question:
Would you rather have perfection or confidence?
I love color, matching bins, and fancy font labels as much as the next person. However, I have found that waiting to gather all those special materials slows me down.
When I try to make the space perfect there is no progress. No progress means no increase in my confidence.
My confidence is more important to me than perfection. I can always upgrade my labels and bins later, but right now I have an organized fridge I use everyday to feed my family.
Step 1 – You have entered the NO BUY FRIDGE CHALLENGE!!!
Challenge yourself to not buy anything for the fridge for at least two weeks up to one month. You cannot organize a stuffed space. If you want to organize you need to create the space for the organization to work with.
Step 2 – Throw it or Donate it
After not buying anything you probably have gotten through all the fresh food. This leaves you with the sauces, condiments, and the food that sticks around or has stuck around too long.
Take a moment to notice what kinds of food got moldy. Do you know why? Maybe your family doesn’t like that meal as leftovers, or maybe the recipe came out a little funny. Learning from mistakes is how we stop making them.
Right now is a good time to check the expiration dates on the food you haven’t looked at in a while and try to use up the oldest sauces first, if they still seem good.
If you have unopened, unexpired foods to donate you can use foodpantries.org to help you find food pantries in your area that you can contact about donations.
Step 3 – Move the Shelves
I find that I never like where the shelves in the doors or in the fridge are placed at first. I need to move them or remove them to make the fridge work for me.
Step 3.5 – Measure the Shelf length, depth (width), and height
If you want to use bins to organize you need to know the size you need them to be. Once you have the measurements then you can shop around your house for bins that will fit, or you can buy bins that you feel like will work. I recommend bins with easy grip options because they may be heavy when full.
Step 4 – Grab the Tools
I like to clean thoroughly and I do that by grabbing tools I need to organize my fridge first. That way everything is in one space and I do not need to hunt for anything.
Tools to Organize Your Fridge
Cooler, Gloves, Bins, Tape, Labels, Marker, Towel, Spray
Step 5 – Empty it out!
You have two options to empty it out. You can empty out one space at a time or empty everything at one time. Think about how much time you have and if you will be interrupted often.
Priority foods go in the cooler that way anything that has to be left out is not a concern.
Step 6 – Deep Clean it!
Your fridge is as empty as it has been for a while so clean it right! YOU deserve a clean fridge too. I use warm water with a splash of vinegar in it to wipe down the fridge.
Step 7 – Try the Bins
Wash the bins and take off any stickers. Now is the time to try out how all the bins fit in your fridge together. You can move the shelves around now to accommodate anything. It would be sad to fill them up then realize that they don’t all fit together like you thought. Find a system that works together that moves easily.
Step 7.5 – No Bins No Problem
I don’t use bins, because I prefer to label shelves. I have one shelf for each type of food (see step 8) so that I know where to look.
Step 8 – Label the Spaces
Take a minute to think about all the food you took out of the fridge. It should all fit into similar categories.
Labels to Organize Your Fridge
Veggies, Fruit, Meat, Dairy, Desserts, Leftovers, Prepped Meals, Snacks, Sauces, Ferments
Parenting Pro Tip: Try to put what you want your kids to snack on at their eye level. They will be more likely to eat what they see over and over again!
You have an idea of how much of each food you have on a normal basis. Assign space to the categories you have. You probably have spots where some foods go that work well, so focus on the foods that don’t have a good spot and try to solve that dilemma.
If you live with others, you can try to label the bins or the corners so that they know where things go. Remember that no one will care about this system as much as you do though, so have grace with the others. Even if you are the only one who cares, cleaning up after the others will be much easier because you have a plan.
Step 9 – Organize Your Fridge!
You now have to put everything back into the fridge in the right space. Do you need to shift things around?
Step 9.5 – Random Extras? Doesn’t fit?
Do you have a few special foods that don’t fit in the system? It sounds like you know what you are making for dinner this week! Try to use the sauces with these meals.
Step 10 – You have done it!!
Test out your organization for a month or two and see how it goes. What problems come up? What is working really well? Adjust as you need to, but you are more organized than you were before!
Your refrigerator is beautifully organized and you can rest easy knowing that you know where everything is and how much of everything you have. Cheers to you for doing something important and helping create a confident home for yourself!
How do you Organize Your Fridge?
Write in the comments below any tips or categories that you use to keep your fridge organized.
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How to Organize Your Freezer for Good
How to Organize Your Pantry for Good
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