Our fridge and freezer have always been a struggle for me.  I like them to stay organized so I can find food quickly, but our fridge is super narrow with limited space to store things and our freezer is even smaller with less space because of the ice box.  I have tried many different things to keep the fridge and freezer organized.  Some of my systems have been far better than others, but every time I reorganize the space, I find a new way that helps.  This has been a really crazy process, but I think I might have some tips for keeping your fridge and freezer organized!

Fridge And Freezer Organization

Bins

I have been using bins to store food in the fridge and freezer for a while now.  They are really helpful to keep like items together.  I use Linus Deep Drawer Binz from The Container Store to store yogurt, fruit and veggies.  I also use these big bins to store my baking supplies and breads.  I also use the Linus Deep Drawer Binz to store my frozen meats in the freezer.  By using bins to keep foods together, I am able to find foods quicker and not lose a loose apple rolling around the back of the fridge!

Categorize:

I try to keep items on my shelves with similar categories.  I have a shelf for drinks; two shelves for fruits and veggies; a shelf for baking products and breads; a drawer for dairy; a shelf for left overs and yogurt; and a shelf for meats in the fridge.  The doors on our fridge store our condiments.  I like keeping some of the condiments the kids like on the bottom so they can grab them if they would like to use them for our meals.

In the freezer, I have a shelf for frozen chicken; a shelf for frozen turkey and other meats; a shelf for frozen foods like waffles and veggie cakes; and a shelf for popsicles and other goodies.  Our door shelves hold ice packs and frozen fruits and veggies.

Clean Out Regularly To Ensure Fridge And Freezer Organization:

Another thing I have learned is that I have to clean out my fridge every week or things get really bad, really fast.  Every Monday night, because it’s garbage night, I clean out the fridge.  I will wipe down the shelves and go through all of the food that is being stored in there to check expiration dates and if my product has gone bad.  By making sure that I am cleaning out the fridge every week, I am making sure that I don’t loose food in the back of the fridge either.  Things can easily get lost in the back, so I make sure that I find everything that was stored in the fridge for the week.

Prep Food:

I try really hard to get as much of the produce washed and ready to eat by putting it in glass containers as soon as I get home from the grocery.  I try to cut the strawberries, wash the blueberries and cut and store the watermelon.  I’ll try to cut up the cauliflower for making some delicious cauliflower rice and make zoodles so I don’t have the food sitting in the fridge, waiting to be used.  But this doesn’t always happen right when I get home from the store, as there are always time constraints or I am just too tired.  Getting all of the food out of the packaging, washes, prepped and into containers has helped immensely by allowing us to use up all of the food that I have purchased.  It also makes meal prep much easier as most of the food is already ready for me to use as I am getting dinner ready.

If Your Fridge And Freezer Organization Is Not Working, Change It:

Organization is an ever changing process.  If something isn’t working for you, change how you organize it, instead of trying to make another person’s way of organizing your own.  I have learned that this will never work and you will become even more disorganized if you continue down that path.  You need to find a system that works for you in keeping your home organized.  Once you find that system, tweak it whenever you need a little bit of a change.  As you have seen, I have been tweaking and retweaking our fridge organization for a while now, and am still working on more efficient ways to organize!

Now that I shared how I have managed fridge and freezer organization, are there any interesting ways you have your fridge or freezer organized?  Any tips you have learned from organizing your foods?