REFRIGERATOR AND FREEZER ORGANIZATION

According to polls on YouTube and Instagram stories, the refrigerator and freezer are the spaces in your kitchens that you struggle to organize the most. So, I am here to tell you how easy it is to keep your refrigerator and freezer organized with these super simple tips and tricks!

The full video refrigerator and freezer organization video tour can be found here. Don’t forget to grab my free organizing and financial resources and printables from my freebie library here!

MEAL PLAN

My first and super important tip to organize your refrigerator and freezer is to meal plan. My personal meal-planning is super simple. My diet consists mostly of fresh produce so that’s why my personal fridge looks like this. When you get into the habit of meal-planning, you will notice that you have a consistent list of items that you purchase on a regular basis. Meal planning helps you to recognize how much you need to purchase and how quickly your family consumes it all. Therefore, you will be more aware of how much space you need for each category of food items. So, my fridge right now is what it looks like shortly after our monthly grocery trip which is the big shopping trip. Once a week, I get more fresh produce as needed.

CREATE ZONES

Once you are more aware of what you typically purchase, you can create zones to organize your refrigerator and freezer. Each of us will have different categories of items based on our diets. My daughter likes to make a lot of different drinks like special coffees and milk teas so this is her drink zone. And, like I said, my diet consists mostly of fresh produce, so I needed to add lots of baskets for my two large fresh produce zones to contain our fruits and vegetables.

Your family might eat a lot of dairy like yogurt and cheese, so you will have a dairy zone like this one I created in my friend’s fridge which I shared in this post. Or you might make a lot of sandwiches, so you can have a sandwich zone, for example. And, everyone will need a prepped food/leftover zone, so you will designate that in a consistent area in your fridge. This seems to be the biggest problem zone in most refrigerators. So, if you are going to label any zones in your fridge, you will want to label the leftover zone. That way, you will likely go to this area first and consume these foods before they go bad.

Creating zones prevents you and your household from jamming items wherever they fit. When groceries are jammed wherever they fit, things get lost, and you start to wonder what’s reeking until you do a major fridge clean out. Next thing you know, all that spoiled food is money in the trash! So, when you consistently have categories of items in designated areas, your household will get used to finding items in their designated areas. Also, they will be more likely to put the items away where they belong.

USE WHAT YOUR FRIDGE PROVIDES

There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Your fridge was designed with temperature and humidity-controlled areas for a reason: they control temperature and humidity! So, utilize the drawers and fridge doors for what they were designed for in order to organize your refrigerator and freezer. I have meat thawing in the “meat
bin and produce that I would like to remain crisp in the “crisper” drawers. My daughter’s eggs are in the door along with her butter in the “dairy” section. Fridge doors are perfect for condiments because they are shallow. So, these smaller bottles won’t get lost in the back of the larger part of the fridge.

DON’T GET PARALYZED BY PERFECTIONISM

I know it can be intimidating to get organized when you see Pinterest-perfect and Instagram-worthy condiment and drink organization. You get paralyzed by perfectionism and don’t even attempt to get organized. What is our goal really? It’s to make sure we can find what we need when we need it so that we don’t waste food and money. So, you and your family will be more likely to keep the fridge organized if you simply use your fridge the way it was designed and just place things where they naturally belong.

ONLY PURCHASE ORGANIZING PRODUCTS WHEN NEEDED

When we first moved in, we were using the meat bin to contain round fruits and veggies so they didn’t roll around all over the fridge. And I used the drawers to contain root vegetables and onions so they wouldn’t be rolling around the fridge either. So, it made sense for me to get some baskets for the plethora of produce I usually buy. To coordinate with the gold accents in this fridge, I added these gold wire baskets in this size and this size. The best part is that they are each only one dollar because they are from the Dollar Tree! This allowed me to move the vegetables that I needed to stay crisp into the drawers and give me back a spot to thaw meats.

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Here is an acrylic bin option (found here):

Here is an acrylic set (found here):

And another acrylic set (found here):

For my friend’s fridge, I used acrylic bins like the ones above for their dairy products. So, I suggest putting your groceries in your fridge in zones first. Then, as you realize what needs to be more contained, that’s when you go out and purchase organizing products. It’s a common mistake to purchase organizing products first before you even know if you need them. That’s why I created this whole organizing product series playlist here to help you decide. I’m here to help save you money. In my personal fridge, I only spent seven dollars to get it organized!

DON’T OVER-ORGANIZE

Yes, there is a such thing as over-organizing. Notice how I didn’t fill up every inch of space in this fridge with a basket? I don’t have baskets behind the cuties and apples. I don’t have a large long basket here for the romaine lettuce. Sometimes organizing products can be limiting. If you have an extra-large item, it won’t fit, and you won’t have anywhere to place it. Also, if you make a one-time purchase, you won’t need a bin or basket to contain it regularly.

DESIGNATE “EAT FIRST” ZONES

I also didn’t need baskets behind these baskets because of my next tip. You can designate “eat first” zones by lining categories of items up from front to back. My daughter eats a ton of cuties, so I get multiple bags and keep the contents of one opened bag in the basket in front while the unopened bags sit behind. I do the same for the apples. Apples take a while to spoil, so I purchase enough for one month. So, again, I store the contents of the opened bag in front.

I notice in people’s freezers especially that they have multiples of the same item opened. For example, in this post here, I share how my friend had every Costco-size bag of frozen fries opened and multiple bags of frozen hamburger patties opened. So, I lined each of these items up so that they could see how many they already had opened in order to use them up and to also stop purchasing more until they used them up. In my own freezer, I have an opened bag of hamburger patties in front and the unopened one behind. In the freezer door, we have my daughter’s opened packages of frozen prepared foods up top. The bottom shelf is her treat section along with butter and these smaller reusable zipper bags I use to freeze herbs.

DON’T OVER PURCHASE … EVEN WHEN ITEMS ARE ON SALE

One key thing to remember is that grocery store sales cycle every six weeks. So, the next time you see an excellent sale on oat milk, for example, you will only get as much as you need for six weeks. That sale will come around again as the store needs to clear and restock their shelves. Otherwise, you might purchase more than you can consume before the product expires. Also, you will be taking up a lot of space that you might need for other items.

Sometimes there are super clearance deals that you definitely want to take advantage of and snatch up especially if it’s a staple item that your household consumes and will definitely consume before expiration. However, if you don’t have the space, you don’t have the space. So, you will just be mindful of where you can store these clearance items before putting them in your cart.

STORE IN FILES OR PILES WHERE NEEDED

If you are a Costco-shopper, you know those packages are giant. So, I recommend filing them, like these fruits and prepared foods, for visibility and easy access so that you aren’t digging so much for the items you need. I recommend piling meats which are packaged like these so that they don’t accidentally begin to leak if they become punctured.

STORE MEATS AND SEAFOOD AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR FREEZER WHENEVER POSSIBLE

As I’ve shared in previous refrigerator and freezer organization posts, I talk about how you should organize your fridge and freezer with the possibility in mind that the power might go out and you will need to salvage what you can. Therefore, meat and seafood should be stored in the bottom drawer of your freezer to prevent cross-contamination if it begins to thaw.

STORE FREQUENTLY ACCESSED ITEMS IN FRONT

To organize your refrigerator and freezer, store in front what you reach for more often. For example, we make smoothies daily, so we have the frozen fruit stored in front. My daughter makes pot stickers and Korean rice cakes occasionally so those are stored behind. I fill the containers with vegetables scraps for broth more frequently than I access the seafood behind.

BE RESOURCEFUL

Speaking of broth containers, I repurposed pickle containers from Costco. Also, instead of purchasing disposable zipper bags, I use these reusable bags which currently contain bones for bone broth, shredded carrots, and bananas. I’ll share how I organize them in my drawers in my kitchen tour video next. These bags are sturdy, seal well, and do not retain odors.

BONUS MONEY-SAVING TIPS

How to Properly Store Nuts and Seeds

You might have noticed something strange, but I store my birds’ seeds in the fridge. Nuts and seeds last longer when stored in the fridge and freezer as the cold keeps the natural oils in nuts and seeds from going rancid. You can do the same for grain-type items like oats if you only eat them occasionally like my daughter.

How to Store and Reuse Rendered Fat

I keep rendered fat from cooking meats in these containers here to use when I roast veggies. If you make broth, you can save the layer of fat that floats to the top when cooled in the refrigerator. Then, you can toss your veggies in the rendered fat before roasting them. You might find your family eating more veggies because of the added flavor.

How to Save Money on Iced Tea

Instead of purchasing pre-made iced tea, place tea bags in a pitcher of water overnight.

How to Freeze and Use Herb Stems

Freeze herb stems like cilantro stems in reusable bags to throw in meat or cauliflower rice or regular rice dishes for added flavor.

Don’t forget to grab your free organizing and financial resources and printables from my freebie library here! Please share this with anyone you think might find this helpful! In my next post, I share in detail how I organize my tiny studio kitchen, so stay tuned for that!

Happy Organizing!