A disorganized fridge can speedily become a big problem. A messy fridge can unavoidably threaten your health and budget, from forgotten leftovers to missing ingredients. The good news is that you can handily suppress these potential problems by using one or a number of simple organizational strategies. Keeping your fridge organized makes the most of your available space and keeps everything fresh and ready to eat.
Clean and Sort
The first step to organizing a fridge is cleaning and sorting all your items. Properly take everything out of the refrigerator, observing for expiration dates, mold, or other signs of spoiled food as you go. Throw out anything that is past the expiration date or looks awful. For leftovers or food in plastic storage containers, if you’re not completely sure how long it has been in there, throw it out. Towards your food, it’s best suited to err on the side of caution.
With everything out of the fridge, take the time to clean its interiors scrupulously. Wash and dry all surfaces, including inside drawers and bins, taking advantage of hot, soapy water or a mild bleach solution. Thus, you will set out with a clean fridge for your new organization system.
Label Everything
The next step to an organized fridge is to keep an inventory of how long your food has been there. As much as most pre-packaged foods will come with an expiration or sell-by date on them, for fruits and veggies or food that you bring home or that is leftover from meals, you’ll need to have a system to keep track of when it was added to the fridge and when it will need to be thrown out.
One useful and easy tip is to use a dry-erase marker to write the dates of meals and takeout on the container. You could accomplish the same thing for other perishables inside of your fridge. By noting both when you brought them home and when they need to be used, you can always keep in mind that you are using up the groceries you buy before they spoil and avoid eating leftovers that can make you sick.
Use Containers
Keeping loose items tidy in a fridge, such as fruits, vegetables, and even small condiment jars can be seriously difficult. Look at using clear storage bins to group loose items together to prevent clutter and see to it that you have everything you want. Similarly, evaluate acquiring quality reusable food storage containers with tight-fitting lids. This can help you store food safely and reduce waste by reusing your containers on a regular basis.
You can additionally use a dry-erase marker on the bins and storage containers to keep track of the date things were purchased. Using bins and storage containers in your fridge will free up space for more oversized items elsewhere and make tracking the expiration dates of perishable items uncomplicated.
Develop a System
As you get started with replacing items, it’s beneficial to develop a system for storing everything. This has two benefits: first, you will systematically know where things are, and second, it can make your food last longer and be safer. To cite an instance, remember that certain items should definitely be kept in certain places.
Meat should often be kept on the lowest shelf to avoid dripping and contaminating other food. On top of everything, never store milk in the fridge door – it can spoil hastily when exposed to warm air all too often. You can further separate your fruits and vegetables and use trays for all messy items to prevent spills.
Plan Ahead
Once your fridge is clean and organized, the key thing you can execute is a plan to keep it that way. Even the most organized fridge will need to be thoroughly, and old items thrown out every now and then. Seriously think about creating a cleaning schedule to always make certain that your fridge stays organized. By way of example, you could select a day of the week or month to go through everything, rotating and updating your fresh produce and wiping down fridge surfaces. By doing this on a regular basis, you can avoid the dreaded deep-clean and purge of your fridge (and freezer), a job very few want to do.
By implementing these simple but proven tips, you can keep your fridge clean and organized week after week with less work than you thought likely!
Are you in the market for a new rental home in Charles County and nearby? Let Real Property Management Gold help! You can, without hassle, browse available listings online or speak to one of our professional local property managers today.
Originally Published on Nov 12, 2021
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.