I also keep a notepad on the fridge door for us to list the fridge staples as we use them up. No more memory work when I make the next grocery list. The list is already started for me.

I had a new fridge delivered 1 hour ago! How did you know!

I was standing there, scratching my head and trying to figure out how to organize it ( I've gone from side by side to French door type) and I thought I'd take a break and read AT.

This was an excellent article. Thanks!

After reading this, I'm off to buy a couple of plastic bins.

One thing I already that works very well is using a lazy susan for jams, salsa, pickles etc.

Timely post.

I use my ziplist app to scan the barcodes of grocery items as they become empty. (21st century, as opposed to the list stuck to the front of the fridge) thanks for the reminder that not everything needs or wants to be refrigerated.

I have a neat trick for filling the refrigerator which also works for dishwashers. I tried several different efficient ways to fill my fridge then had an idea. Look at the product photos. I looked at the manufacturers photos for the best place to put drinks, casseroles, cheese, veggies, meat, and shelf alignment. Then from there I made a few changes according to our diets, less meat more veggies. Now everything stays well organized and seems to be in the right place, veggies not to close to the refrigeration, etc. The same can be done for filling your specific dishwasher. The manufacturer spends lots of time and money developing an efficient way for the appliance to work.

I was concerned that Nut Butters and Nutella should only be left out for a week (I store them in my pantry all of the time) so I did a little research and pulled this from Nutella's website:

How should Nutella® be stored?
Jars of Nutella® should be stored at room temperature. Keep the jar tightly closed and store in a cool, dry place to maintain maximum flavor. Do not refrigerate Nutella®, otherwise it will harden and become difficult to spread. Excessive heat will accelerate the loss of fresh flavor and may cause the oils found in Nutella® to separate.

Anyone have any good suggestions for organizers to put in your fridge? I recently moved into an apartment with a fridge that has no built-in boxes; it's all rack, except for the door shelves. I find it rather frustrating, as my last fridge had a lot of pull out drawers, and I'm used to having very organized sections.

This is a really great article. I replaced a standard refrigerator earlier this year with an apartment-sized Energy Star compliant refrigerator (freezer on bottom). My mother had doubts, but I am a single man and I know my habits/patterns. As is usually the case, the reality is somewhere in the middle but I will say making it work hasn't been stressful at all. In fact, it's only a minor challenge when I have overnight guests and need to "stock up." Since I don't buy canned drinks, the biggest waste of space/function is the can dispenser, which is located on the door of the refrigerator. If anyone has ideas on how to redirect this design element into something more practical, I'd appreciate hearing them.

what part of a cow do the eggs come from?

@MadeCunningly: You might find Fridge Binz helpful. The Container Store has some of the larger ones: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/refrigeratorFreezer?productId=10027634

I reorganized our fridge a few months ago. We had 6 BBQ sauces. We poured some into each other and I took stock of all the condiments (too many, husband loves them) and then reorganized. Duplicates went in the back of the bottom shelf (we have an old-fashioned, freezer on top model). Regularly used stuff in the door. Then there's a tray with all our "other" (tubs of miso, jars of - stuff) on it that I can pull out if needed. The higher shelves have more regularly used stuff and the top shelf is for leftovers. It's the nearest to eye-level and the best lit shelf so it proudly displays the eat-this-first-before-it-goes-bad stuff. So far it's been a really good system. I also pushed all the salad dressings in a cardboard beer six-pack caddy (recycling!). It's handy for putting on the table and I won't buy anymore until a space opens up.

Nutella lives in a cabinet with other breakfast stuff. I've never refrigerated it.

I don't understand how going grocery shopping less should save you money- I rather think the opposite should be true! If you're going only once a week you have to buy so much vegetables and fruits at once, you have not enough space in your fridge and probably a lot of it will go bad. If you're going more often you can buy exactly what you need and eat it while still fresh and adapt more easily to daily life.

This might sound like an ad but my aunt sells tupperware brand and the fridgesmart boxes are awesome! They come in all different sizes and keep veggies fresh longer! @madecunningly this might be something to look into!

My fridge has one large crisper drawer, but I don't use it because it does not track well, and the sides are all opaque so I forget things are in there. I don't have any other drawers, but I do have several clear plastic shoe boxes that I can use to corral the cheese and other small items.

great tips. we try to keep our fridge organized and just enough.
I hate tossing or wasting food.
pve

Coming from chocolate spread (Nutella & other) country Belgium, we never put this in the fridge. How would you spread it on bread? Jam also does not have to go in the fridge, unless it is low sugar. And if it grows mold, just scoop it off. Same with cheeses: if they grow mold: just cut it off. You can eat cheese weeks after the sell by date without any worries! (not talking about processed cheese which I know nothing about, I'm talking about real cheese). Cheese like Camembert, Brie, Roquefort should ideally be kept in a cool place like a cellar, that has no odors (like fuel) which could contaminate the cheese. If I know the cheese will be eaten within a week, I will store it in the cellar. And yes, this goes for RAW milk cheeses! We never get sick. It is safe. The flavour is so much better. If I have lots of left over pieces of cheese or hardened pieces of cheese, I use it to make a quiche. And any other leftovers (meat, veggies) can go in that too :)

Speaking of organizing condiments, I like to use leftover six-pack containers for this and really geek out and match the beer brand to the condiments.

For instance, I'll use a PBR box to corral ketchup, mustard, steak and barbeque sauce. For items like soy sauce, sesame oil. fish sauce, gyoza dipping sauce, and siracha I'll use Tiger or Kirin. And Peroni boxes are great for jars of sundried tomatos, roasted peppers, balsamic vinegar, and pesto.

It makes it easy to grab everything you need for whatever your cooking. Grilling out? Reach for the PBR box. Making stir fry, that's the Tiger box. Cooking burritos? Grab the Coronas box.

These are good tips! It's super hard to organize your fridge when living with 2 or more other people...especially if one is always eating your food. Do you have any tips on that? Maybe labeling of some kind...

I use these stacking bins in my fridge, they keep me from forgetting about items that might otherwise get pushed to the back of the fridge. I also use them in the pantry, and stack them with things like tea, onions, etc.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/storage/stackingBinsBaskets?productId=10025920&N=71232&Nao=20

My new freezer has pull out drawers but in my other apartments I've used these for separating frozen veggies from meats, etc. The medium size works really well and its the right depth.

http://www.containerstore.com/shop/office/fileStorage/portable?productId=10022942&N=74545

I keep a small dry erase board on my fridge and list all the produce and some other perishables that are inside. It cuts down on me staring at the shelves with the doors open, and less food goes bad because I'm regularly reminded of what I need to use up--salad mix, open package of tofu, half a cucumber, etc.

I agree that onions don't need to be refrigerated (they often get damp which makes them go bad faster). HOWEVER, I do find that if they're cold when I cut them, they don't make me cry, so I tend to keep them in the fridge if I know I'm going to use them in a day or so.

I like the small lidded round glass containers from Crate and Barrel for organizing leftovers in the fridge. They're a convenient size, stack well, and have the benefit of being see-through. They're weaning me off an old, cheap-ass habit I have of folding a piece of foil over the lid of half-used cans of things and sticking those in the fridge. (Classy, right?)

The one drawback to the C&B containers is that, because the lids are generic looking, you might accidentally toss one out during a quickfire kitchen cleanup, mistaking it for a lid off a grocery product you just used. (Gee, who would do that? Blush. Easier than it sounds, though. Luckily, you can buy additional replacement lids separately from C&B.)

Some reviewers on the C&B site have also said the lids don't stand up to dishwasher cleanings (that they warp over time). I haven't found that to be true yet, but I alternate between dishwasher and hand-cleaning for them just in case.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/organizing-and-storage/food-storage/set-of-12-storage-bowls-with-clear-lids/f33113

If a nut butter wants to go in the fridge, it will usually say on the label. (Nutella is mostly sugar, so probably not, but a TJ's peanut butter I bought that probably has no additives or anything and is super-runny says to put it in the fridge after opening.)

Nutella is supposed to be kept at room temperature - it says so right on the jar.

Leftover habit from my Mother is reusing glass jars instead of buying plastic. Prechopped garlic and ginger jars are a great size for minileftovers. Before there was green it was called frugal.

" If you use up eggs relatively quickly and buy them pretty fresh (especially if you purchase them from the farmer's market), they can stay on the counter piled in a pretty bowl. "

Don't do this with store bought eggs. This is for the nice ones you buy from a farmer, and even better if they have never been refrigerated. When the battery eggs sold in the supermarket are packed, they are washed and pasteurized. When you wash a raw egg...you remove the protective barrier which keeps the egg from rotting.

You can use regular old trays on your wire shelves. They're easy to pull out and access things in the back. Moneywise tip! Buy them used, help the environment.

I recently figured out how to keep from freezing salad in my counter-depth fridge. I keep it in a compartment in the door. If I use the one that was designed for gallon jugs of milk, I can fir the Costco sized salad box in there and it stays cold without being so close to the cold air vents that it freezes.

I like my milk to be really icy cold, so this works really well. I can keep the fridge temp fairly low and have salad :)

Good tip, above, from ENGINEERCHIC on the salad, thanks! I often seem to have ice crystals on my pre=bagged salad mixes .... I'll try that in the future.

I did this 2 nights ago! I use old colored pyrex and anchor hawking bowls to liven things up.

Check out my posted photo on instagram under @raspberryjane.

To avoid the problem of burning dinner while you search the fridge for sesame oil (which I've never refrigerated, btw) just gather all you need before you start cooking.

We have four people in our household, and the counter-depth French door refrigerator's doors don't hold all our condiments, so the kind of organization referenced in this post never holds up. Everything gets moved around as it is used. Still, with regular fridge cleanouts and a teeny bit of effort given to using up what we have before opening new, we don't have many problems.

I like to use a plastic shoe box from the dollar store to put all of my sandwich fixins' in. It is so easy to pull the whole thing out and slide it back in in one swoop, rather than gathering up the mayo, half a tomato, head of lettuce, cheese and lunchmeat and making multiple trips to get it out and put it all away. My husband and I were just discussing starting a home salad bar- prechop all of our favorite salad toppings and put them into some kind of divided container to encourage easy, fast salad lunches. We are looking for the ideal type of container for this. I envision a big square tupperware type of thing divided into 9 sections in a grid. Anyone seen such a thing?

I read an article (on here, if I'm not mistaken) that said that fresh eggs right out from under the hen do not need to be refrigerated, as long as they have NOT been washed. Once they've been washed they have to stay chilled. Eggs from the grocery store have already been washed and chilled so they have to stay that way. At least, that's what I got from the article.

@madecunningly: Forget the expensive organizers. I use rectangular plastic dollar store baskets both in the fridge & freezer. In the fridge, they corral items by category & stop things from toppling over on wire shelves. Functions like a drawer making it easy to locate items, no more shuffing around. Also, the medium sized baskets perfectly fit a shelf in a side by side freezer with just enough headroom left to 'file' frozen soups, stews & veggies upright in the basket. No more losing stuff in the back.

@KDA123: give each roomie a different brightly-colored basket. Add a white basket for anything that is a free-for-all & ok to be shared. 'Course, you must still depend on the *honor system* but I found the visual reminder meant less missing food less often. Good luck with that. (hey, i once resorted to storing my breakfast yogurt in a small plastic toolbox & a tiny padlock. sad but true).

Don’t put a French door refrigerator in the corner. I upgraded my small kitchen with a cabinet depth fridge and the door by the wall only opens halfway. Anything on that side is forgotten. So much for organizing things I can't see. Oh, forget about using the rollout tray.

Despite the label, ketchup doesn't need to be kept cool either.

(I've consumed room-temperature bottles of it my entire life without problem.)

Sesame oil in the fridge? I would put that on the list of items for the pantry. At least that's where I keep it. Down below the onions, near the eggs. I agree that herbs are best kept in a glass of water, they smell so good - especially basil.

My mom had a good fridge organizing plan: if anything was on the bottom shelf of the fridge, we were not allowed to use it, she was planning meals with it or it was for company. Simple rule: bottom shelf = don't even touch it.

I did the same thing with one of the crisper drawers. I would catch the little ones standing there gazing, holding the door open of course, talking about the party to come.

In my first apartment I had opaque crisper drawers, so I was always forgetting about stuff that had to be eaten... I started using one drawer only for fruits/vegetables that last a long time (onions, apples, garlic, carrots, sorry if I shouldn't refrigerate those things, I like cold apples and onions...), and I use the other drawer to hold bottles/cans of drinks because it's not a concern how fast I use those up. The fruit and veggies that need to be used within the week go in storage containers up on a higher shelf where I can see them.

Timely article; I've almost completed my pantry cull. A fridge cull/sort is next on the agenda.

Like other posters here, I never refrigerate sesame oil, peanut butter or other nut butters. They all live in the pantry, open, for months at a time, even in the hot Australian summer.

I also have tp sing the praises of Tupperware Fridesmart containers. Even though I would like to cut down on my use of plastic, it's hard to go past those.

I never refrigerate fruits/veggies that aren't refrigerated in the store. That was a good rule I learned somewhere. So broccoli goes in the fridge, but onions don't. I also never refrigerate my nut butters, even after opened, and they've lasted a good long time. The only thing I make sure with those is that I ALWAYS use a clean knife. My mom refrigerates almost everything, but it's nice to gain back some of that space!

I read (here on AT) that you are not supposed to store medications and vitamins in the fridge.
Some condiments keep almost forever (mustard comes to mind). Not sure how tossing condiments that can still be used is guaranteed to save me money?
I keep my apples in the fridge because they stay crisp longer. They go into one of the crisper drawers and are usually in there alone. Other foods don't seem to spoil faster.
I keep carrots, onions, garlic, and potatoes in the fridge unless I plan on using them within a few days. They never get damp. Wrapping them in paper towels helps. The best way to store root veggies is actually in a box full of sand in your root cellar, which keeps them cool, has the right level of moisture and they are not exposed to air. I wish I had one....

Buy less stuff. It's easy to find what you need when your fridge isn't overflowing.

The author's first sentence says it all: "I'm always surprised by how much money I can spend at the market." Why?! I grew up where still to this day hardly anyone has a fridge. Even now I still shop or barter daily for things that will be consumed that day/night, and into the next day's lunch. And many things will keep for a few days in the cupboard or pantry. I am intrigued with the US phenomenon of shopping & stuffing one's fridge as if there will be no food in the stores next week or ever after! (Like when I see news footage of people scrambling at supermarkets trying to "stock up" because a major storm is coming. Like, how the heck are you gonna keep & cook those frozen chickens & pizzas if the utilities go out or you have to be evacuated?!) If you only buy the few things you need for today & tomorrow then there is NO WAY you can over-shop & spend too much money! Just buy what you need. Bring cash- not the credit/debit card. And exercise some god-given will power to stay out of the dessert section! The house we are renting now has a huge fridge! (Unplugged, turned on it's side, & settled on the curb it would house an average size family back home!) We hardly keep anything in there! There's a couple ice cube trays in the freezer (super indulgence!) and I usually just store in the fridge the big pots of beans, rice, tamales, etc because there's not enough storage space on the counter. If people are worried about there not being any stores open during a hurricane then keep a few extra jars of peanut butter, jelly, some boxes of crackers & granola bars, a few bottles of fruit juice & water in the cupboard & a few loaves of bread in the freezer. There is almost no one in the US who is in any danger of starving to death if they put off shopping for a few days. This country throws into the garbage so much food it's insane! Just like the author of the article says " If you've had a condiment in the fridge for over a year, chances are it's time to toss it." Well, why the heck are people buying food that stays in the fridge for a year anyway?! Eat it! Or give it to someone who will! And don't buy another bottle of fancy mustard because obviously you don't like mustard enough to eat it within a year anyway!

I know how to organize my fridge, thanks, BUT I need to know how to exert mind control over my family--really just one command: "Put it back where you found it." I might actually hypnotize them some weekend afternoon and implant this one, simple directive. Can Apartment Therapy post a how-to? Thank you.

@Ecuadoriana1,

I like to eat fresh too- I'm sure most people would if given the choice. My guess would be that it's a matter of convenience. Some cities are not walkable, and it might not be reasonable to drive to a grocery store every day for fresh food. Some people save money by buying food in bulk- much cheaper than buying every day. You mentioned beans and rice, which are both cheaper when bought in large bags.
Your comment about hurricanes seems a little insensitive. Imagine your area being completely flooded, and without power, etc. now for days (weeks?) you have nothing but a few crackers and some PB and J to eat. Actually the tone of your comment seems judgmental. Different customs in different areas, right?

Bed, Bath and Beyond has great refrigerator bins. They are a little pricey but they are sturdy and nice looking. The egg bins have lids so you can stack them.

Our County Health Department has good guide lines for commerical refrigerators, which I use in my home refrigerator as well.
Raw poultry & other raw meats should always be stored on the lowest shelf with cooked foods, leftovers, & ready to eat foods on the top shelf.

This post was full of tips I didn't know. Thanks, now I have another project to work on in my nest!

Don't trust that farmers market eggs can be left out unless you ask - almost guaranteed they've been washed to some extent. My family used to sell eggs and we definitely had to wash them so they were presentable.

I moved from Massachusetts to Alaska for a couple years, and was happily surprised to learn that butter, if it was going to be used up relatively quickly, didn't need to go in the fridge.

In my case, I was teaching at a boarding school and ran the cafeteria. Kids would go through pounds and pounds of butter for their toast, and we never refrigerated it - just left it out to stay soft, and replaced it when it was used up.

Since then, if I have butter that I'm going to use on toast, I always leave it on the counter to stay soft, and just eat toast with it every day till it's gone. I've never had anything grow on it.

(Not fun if it's really hot, in which case you have liquid butter.)

I think Ecuadoriana is correct about our overbuying/overstocking/underuse. We do buy way too much stuff, and lose it inside our fridges. I have the luxury of summer vacation (teacher), and find myself hitting the store every few days, just buying what I need. It's a much better system, with much less waste. However, during the work year, I find it really hard to get an extra 45 minutes or hour in a day to drive to the store, shop, and then come home. So, I end up doing the weekly shop, which means I often buy too much and end up throwing it out .

Oh my god, thank you for this. I reorganized my fridge last night. I can't stop opening the door to gaze on its organized beauty, but i really need to because the milk is going to go bad. Since I moved into my first apartment, I've always organized my fridge the way my mom organized the fridge when I was growning up. But it didn't fit the way I eat. For example, I kept jars of jelly in the door of the fridge, but I rarely eat jam and jelly on my toast. And I always had to dig through a shelf to find the pickles and olives even though i eat them almost every day. Switching the two made sense. I've also had problems storing all the produce I get from my CSA each week. I made more room for vegetables and gave them a more prominent position, which hopefully will encourage me to eat more of them. The best suggestion, however, was leaving room for leftovers and food I prepare. I was always cramming it in on top of other stuff.

Like the poster who said that her mom designated the bottom shelf as a "no-touch" shelf for items planned for use in recipes... I've found that when I buy nice soft cheeses or other specialty things I am free to "hide" them in the fruit drawer. I know my husband will NEVER. EVER. look in there for any reason unless I ask him to. However, if I store the specialty thing on a regular shelf, he will eat it without thinking.

Then when I ask him, "Did you eat ALL that $12 worth of _____?!" he yells at me about "why are you buying $12 cheese? it didn't taste like it was worth $12" etc. Men.

WONKYONE15, the Lock & Lock brand has several options with dividers, so hopefully they are available to you in a local store or on the internet. Here's a link to one example: http://bit.ly/MK6sSs (from the locknlockplace.com site, shortened link)

Eggs: Y'all may want to research this a bit but it is my understanding that our eggs are processed in a different way and therefore cannot be left out as they can in Europe. Real fresh eggs can be handled differently, I believe.

@ecuadoriana I go shopping once a week because the Farmer's Market I like is once a week. I buy everything I need for that week, come home, wash it, chop it, put it in separate containers, and have everything ready to cook or eat. If the power were to go out, I'd just preserve it or ferment it; I don't think that's much of an issue. But I can't imagine buying my groceries every few days- everything's so much more expensive at the grocery store, and I don't want to spend any more time there than I have to.

@ mjr: Ypu wrote: "Imagine your area being completely flooded, and without power, etc. now for days (weeks?) you have nothing but a few crackers and some PB and J to eat." Most people who are in that extreme situation have already been evacuated, or should have left when warned. If you are living on your roof for a month, because of extreme flooding, then a fridge stocked with frozen pizzas & such won't be doing you a bit of good anyway- as you are trapped up on the roof with no way to cook the stuff anyway!

People who eat a normal amount of healthy food on a daily basis will not starve to death if forced to live on crackers & peanut butter for a while. Seriously. Fresh water. THAT'S what we need. I did mention in my original post to keep bottles of water & fruit juice stocked up. One CAN live for several weeks actually with out food. Can't live without water.

eggs aren't dairy. good suggestions! working on cleaning up my boyfriend's yucky fridge now...

I live in Europe and there are many things I don't refrigerate.

Someone else mentioned that the Nutellea website states Nutella should be stored at room temperature. I agree, and my Nutella lasts months and months (I'd probably throw it away after a year though).

Also, I keep my eggs out for a few days/ a week, but only if the eggs have not previously been refrigerated (they are sold unrefrigerated in Europe). Once you stick them in the fridge, keep them there.

Another thing I think nobody has mentioned is mustard. I keep my mustard out for months (again, after a year I would probably toss it).

Vinegar, wine, asian sauces such as soy sauce, teriyaki sauce are never in the fridge. Although I have figured out that wine doesn't last very long outside of a fridge. Not sure how long but after a month or two it's vinegar. And NB: I would probably keep Asian fish sauce in the fridge just because it's hard to tell when it's gone bad. It already smells like rotten fish.

I also keep pasta out for a short amount of time: if I make it at night and will eat it the next day at lunch it doesn't go in the fridge. I'll even keep it out for 24 hours sometimes (depending on how cold your place is)

ah, and also jam/jelly. Lasts for at least 3 months outside of the fridge

I'm appreciative of this organizing advice. With regards to the post from Ecuadoriana--I rented an apartment in Jerusalem a couple of years ago, and the shopping culture there was as you describe it. The thing is--Jerusalem was set up to accomodate that sort of shopping. There was a makolet (small neighborhood market) very close by (several in fact). It was easy & delightful to walk out and shop every day. Alas, here in the states, my grocery store is a 10-minute drive, and it takes much longer than that to navigate the huge store. The store owner likes that because we will buy more products along the way. I prefer the experience I had in Jerusalem, but it doesn't exist in my city. By the way, none of the shops in Jerusalem refrigerated the eggs they sold.