I find that if I use wire baskets (or plastic) to organize my freezer and refrigerator, it is so much easier to find things and also to clean them. I move the oldest items in the freezer to the bottom bin so they get used sooner. This has saved me a lot of time looking for things.
By Pat from Phoenix, AZ
This page contains the following solutions.
I live alone and have a pretty small refrigerator. I found that buying one of those little plastic baskets from the dollar store and putting all your jams, jellies, etc. in it on the bottom shelf of your refrigerator.
I love condiments. But some of the bottles are a little too slender to stay up when I open the door. Today I came up with something I think might help some of you.
The bottle tops with their lids make perfect bowl covers for the refrigerator. This particular one is from a white vinegar bottle.
I buy removable labels at an office store. I put them on the lids of containers with the date and type of food. Now we know what leftover is in the fridge. I use the 7 day rule and throw out when necessary.
Always add a label with the date a product was opened to insure freshness. If you do not plan to use leftovers right away, immediately freeze them for future use.
Easy Refrigerator Slide Shelves. Make a slide in/out shelf in your fridge by using 1-2 cookie sheets. On these place your bottles, jars, etc. Gives you easy access because they slide in and out.
To keep my fridge organized, I found some second hand plastic drawer units. I then keep my cheeses, lunch meat, eggs, and breads in them.
If you're like most people, keeping up with the organization of your refrigerator is one of the last things on your mind. We generally tend to forget about our refrigerator until there is a problem, like we suddenly need to put something in it and there's not enough room.
I don't remember where I saw this tip but it sure did come in handy this holiday with all the cooking that I did. I placed a small oven rack on top of the Pyrex dish in the refrigerator so I could stack something on top of it.
I bought a two door fridge. The freezer side of the fridge was difficult to organize. The meat was one on top of another on shelves, so I used two plastic bin drawers that fit perfectly on the shelves
I had a lot of the old fashioned metal desk trays. These now are in the fridge to help keep things organized, i.e.
We buy orange juice by the carton and usually have two in the refrigerator door. The one that has been opened is turned to the outside; the unopened on is turned in. That way I don't take out the wrong on accidentally.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
Tips to help you ogranize your Refrigerator. Post your ideas.
A healthy and stress-free life can start in your kitchen. Here are 4 steps to getting your refrigerator organized.
TOSS. Immediately toss out any food that is spoiled, has an expired date, is unidentifiable or that nobody in your family is ever going to want again. The same goes for the freezer.
CLEAN. Moving your items from one shelf to the next, empty off each shelf one at a time and wipe clean. Scrape off any leftover bits of food and wipe up any spills. Do the same for the interior refrigerator door and drawers.
CATEGORIZE. Designate shelves for different categories. Milk, juice and soda bottles on the top shelf. Foods ready to eat (leftovers or foods that need no cooking) on the second shelf. Unprepared foods that need to be cooked on the third shelf. Soda cans and heavy items on the bottom shelf. Veggies and fruits in the produce drawer. Condiments on the interior door.
CLEAR OFF THE OUTSIDE. Remove all loose papers from the outside of your refrigerator. Toss out anything that is outdated. Put coupons into a coupon organizer. Recipes you're definitely going to prepare, should be placed in a recipe file. Place other papers into a Tickler File or a filing cabinet.
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by Maria Gracia - Get Organized Now!
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To help keep things organized in my refrigerator, so that my husband can find what he needs, I keep a couple small shallow baskets on the bottom shelf. I put all the small containers of mustard, soy sauce, jellies, hot sauce, etc. in these baskets. They can be pulled out to check the contents. This leaves me just enough room between them to store an extra carton of eggs.
I store leftovers in the fridge in covered plastic containers. I always stick a piece of masking tape on the top and write the date and the contents on the tape. It helps avoid leftovers being forgotten until they turn green.
By Harlean
I just stumbled on a website with the coolest new idea. You can get a bunch of frames in different colored sheets that really organized the front of my fridge. I don't know if they're in stores yet. http://www.fridgeframes.com is the web site.
I take all my kids juice boxes/yogurts/puddings/etc. and put them in the crispers so that saves space.
I use cheap plastic baskets from the $1 store for all the condiments. I never use my shelves on the door because I heard food will spoil from the door being opened all the time.
And for the front of the fridge - you can find cute colored frames @ Walgreens or any other drugstore. It does make the front of yr fridge look cuter.
I just produced a video on organizing your pantry and refrigerator. You can see the video on the following link.
www.perfectlyplaced.org/
Susan Stewart
Perfectly Placed
Do you need help getting your life organized? Sign up for free tips at the Perfectly Placed website.
www.perfectlyplaced.org
I just went on this site and I can't get any sound on it. I've checked my speaker cords, the volume buttons etc and still nothing. signed 'can't read lips but pictures are good'!
No really, Ernai.
Well, it really helps if you have your speakers plugged into the correct hole doesn't it?
When I last cleaned my refrigerator, I realized that I have a problem with spills and things in the back of shelves which were forgotten. I have a number of trays and put all my items on trays in the refrigerator. That way, if I have a spill, I just have to clean a tray. Also, it makes it easy to get to the items in the back. Each shelf has a tray.
When you have too many things to fit into the fridge and then need to place a large casserole dish on a shelf, how do you arrange stacking? Any special gizmos?
Sometimes, when I need the space for just a day, I'll put all my jars and bottles.....you know catsup, pickles, relish, mustard, dressings etc., in a camping "cooler" and dump ice in the cooler. Then I can use my shelf space for my big dessert or casserole that needs to stay cold and those other items will still be fine for later use.
I use those racks that are made for cooling cookies, etc. when they first come out of the oven. Or you can use a cookie sheet.
Place one on top of a large flat casserole dish and put other things on top of it - even another casserole dish.
If it's a round dish, just put a plate on top and stack things on that. If the bottom dish has a lid that sticks up, remove it and cover the dish with foil or plastic wrap.
Almost anything flat will work.
When I get over stocked in the frig I usually sort all the small portions out. By putting them into ziplock bags. this way i can place all the small stuff in a container together or freeze them for other uses. They stack well by themselves too and won't leak onto other foods. It is easy too handle if they become out dated or go bad. No clean up just chuck out. I use the baggies when I go camping to save room in cooler or frige. Serve right out of the bag and save clean up on dishes.
I have the set of Rock and Serve from Tupperware they come in all sizes and they are square and stack beautifully.
I have had this set for many years and I use them daily from left overs to freezing to microwave to fridge.
They are dishwasher safe.
They are well worth the money. I could never live without them.
I can store lots of food in my fridge with these handy containers.
The rock and serve are on the 2nd and 3rd shelf.
I also find the bottles take up a lot of room in my fridge so I also have bought square Tupperware plastic containers for stuff like mayo,cheese whiz,relish,jams etc these are on the first shelf.
I have posted a picture to show you here.I took picture at night so it maybe is hard to see the 3rd shelf.
Here is a day time picture to show you better of the stacking Tupperware in my fridge.
I have one milk taken out now.
I always keep 2 milk jugs on the side of my door and now have been buying 3 so one goes on the shelf.
With these containers I have room.
If you should find these containers expensive then you could sell it to your self and get what you need at a cheaper price.
I know a lot of people who has done this.
I also find my sour cream etc lasts longer in the Tupperware container then a store container.
I wash and reuse the deep large plastic lids which come with ready made cakes, to store like items together. When they are all in one place they fit in concisely and free up space. Another thing is that I keep the middle part of the shelves to keep leftovers, which need to be used up immediately so I can see them as soon as I open the door. I don't push them to the back. Also I try not to block the light bulb so that I can see every nook and cranny in the fridge, helps for cleanups too.
Organizing your condiments in the fridge can not only save you time when cooking or preparing lunch for school and work, but it can help alert you to the need to replace supplies that are getting low. This is a page about organizing condiments in your refrigerator.
If you are looking for a new way to use that lazy Susan that is collecting dust in a cabinet or the garage, use it in your fridge. There are also new ones that can be used this way as well to help organize and make foods more accessible. This is a page about using a lazy Susan in your fridge.
