Hellobee Boards

Haha, I was just thinking this weekend I need a better system! I have this one section that is too tall and it wastes space, then everything else is just random!

My fridge is spotless inside, but it's not organized.

@irene: I am constantly cleaning it and I use cloth kitchen towels on the shelves under things like milk containers and inside the drawers. I do have a cleaning lady, but she doesn't touch the inside of the fridge.

I also wipe the surfaces down regularly. I am really weird about smells and there is nothing that turns me off more than to open the fridge and have it have weird smells.

You should check out the blog http://www.iheartorganizing.com she has GREAT ideas and always links the items she is using. I use the plastic file boxes she raves over in my fridge and pantry.

I go through my fridge every week on the day I grocery shop. As I move new things in, I take out old stuff (we unfortunately waste some food regularly.) I wipe down the glass shelves at this time, too. Its not perfect but I try to make it so that everything in the fridge can be seen and ready-to-grab. So I wash all the fruit before I put it away in the fridge. I'm always trying to improve because I don't like visual clutter. I try to keep the little shelfs on the inside of the fridge door organized with the types of things I put in them. I dont use my freezer regularly so its just whatever is thrown in there. Usually ice cream, some chilled beer mugs and a few pieces of meat I bought in advance. No real organization, but its not packed. I'd love if people with greatly organized refrigerators would post pictures! I don't even use the drawers properly, but might start doing so now!

My fridge is not very organized except for the things we always have that go in generally the same spot (milk, eggs, etc.). We are redoing our kitchen and getting a new fridge shortly so I'm hoping it will be easier to organize that - the one we have right now is just the barebones apartment-style fridge with wire shelves and two bins at the bottom.

However, I am good about knowing what is in the fridge and its rare that I find something like gross and hidden in the back. I think the biggest thing is to not overbuy so that you have plenty of room for things and you don't waste food. I think no matter what you do if your fridge is stuffed to the max it is not going to look organized and things will get lost in there.

@agold: We use kitchen towels a lot in lieu of paper towels and keep a container under the sink for dirty ones. Usually I let things dry first before I put them in there bc I only need to wash them every other week or so.

My refrigerator is pretty organized, but it’s all because of necessity, not because I’m a naturally organized person or type A or anything. On Sundays I make ahead snacks for LO for the week (5), lunches for my husband and I (10 lunches, often 1-3 Tupperwares each), AM snacks (10; mostly yogurt), PM snacks (10) and assorted grab and go options like cut fruit and whatnot. Then I also make some batches for LO’s dinners during the week (rice, pasta) and some meal prep for our dinners too. Things have to be organized to fit everything in.

I clean out the fridge every week; again because of necessity. I need ALL my Tupperware back every Sunday lol

Here’s my fridge

Mine is fairly organized. For loose items like yogurt pouches I like to use the fridge bins from Container Store.
It’s definitely always clean though - I can’t stand spills or anything on the shelves. I don’t have a set schedule I just wipe as I see messes.
My old cleaning lady did empty and clean the fridge out every 2 weeks and that was wonderful.

@agold: Haha, ok so we literally just use a small open cardboard box To dry things I have an island/cart that has a towel bar on each side so I put the dirty ones on one side (which is above the trash can so clearly the "dirty" side). We also don't really eat meat at home so that reduces a bit of the ick factor (if I did I would prob use paper towels for anything raw meat related).

What about a couple hooks on the side of the fridge? And I feel you on the moldy stuff! I am obsessive about recycling and so if I do find something moldy I feel like I have to clean it out so I can recycle the container and my DH is like um just throw it away. But what about the Earth?!?!

@agold: we use too many paper towels still, but we do use washcloths to wipe the kids faces after meals. In our tiny condo the tiny laundry closet was next to the kitchen, with a stacked washer and dryer. We got a small plastic crate (like a mini milk crate) and kept it on top of the dryer. We would put the damp dirty cloths hanging over the side of the basket until dry then leave in it and put those in every load of laundry we ran.

Our fridge isn’t awful but not terribly organized or clean. I’ve been making a bigger effort lately and got a few of the clear plastic bins to keep certain things organized- like all the yogurts are in one. I bought a couple more and need to figure out how best to use them!

I think my fridge and freezer is decently organized. How so?

- Each shelf's "category" is labeled with dry erase marker on the side. Categories are things like like milk, drinks, kids, adults, meat & cheeses, sweets, spreads, etc. In the freezer, we have shelves for frozen veggies, fruit, pizza, and prepared meals.

- I generally don't "let" my husband put away groceries, that's my job bc I care about its organization.

- NOTHING gets stored in bags or covered plates. EVERYTHING goes in CLEAR plastic or glass rectangular or square storage containers. This includes bags of frozen veggies, fruit, meat, etc. This allows for better stacking and seeing what we have, and moving items around easily.

- During every school break, I re-assess expiration dates and physically wipe down all shelves. If I wasn't on-top of this in general, it'd probably have to be every month.

- About 2-3 times a year we have a "pantry & freezer" month where we limit our grocery shopping and instead make a list of EVERYTHING we have, and meal plan based on that. These months usually are after a month where we've overspent on groceries.

As for cleaning cloths... I keep a box of dishtowels in one of our cabinets, and we use those instead of paper towels. They're sizes small, medium, and large, and they're white so I can bleach them. When they get used, I throw them in a small laundry hamper in our laundry area, which is connected to the kitchen.

Eh, it's not that clean and not that organized. DH does most of the cooking/grocery shopping, and I go in about once a week to fish out expired things, and clean it up a little bit.

I would love to get bins & all and go into super organizing mode, but as I'm not the one putting the groceries away in the fridge daily, I know DH will hate me haha!

Okay, I’ll post so other people don’t feel so badly. Our fridge is not organized other than meat in the meat drawer and produce in the produce drawer. LO1 has a shelf she can reach that in theory has healthy snacks but right now just has a cold pack since she is in a boo-boo phase. Everything else is pretty haphazard. I have no routine to clear things from the fridge other than when it gets smelly or we run out of space. I routinely discovered moldy mystery items. I can remember one time in the past 6 months that I scrubbed out the entire fridge. I also do not meal prep in coordinated efforts. Whew! I wish I was like all you ladies but this is my life

Oh no, my fridge is a freaking disaster. Both fridges actually. (We have one in the laundry room too). I have a fruit and a veggie drawer and a drawer for cheese and sliced meat. All drinks go in the back fridge. Other than that, it’s a free for all! Would I like to be more organized? I guess. But is it worth the time to me? Not really. So, messy fridge it is!

@gotkimchi: Yep, I use Frys, which is a Kroger affiliate. I did the 3-times-try and by then I was hooked. It is SO much more efficient and cheaper. I've cut my monthly groceries/personal care budget from $650 down to $500, and I'm getting a lot more fuel points to save on gas.

- I can see a running total of my "cart"
- I can compare prices with amazon
- I can notice trends over time
- The "sale items" and "coupon" section learns your preferences and shows you most common items first
- In the coupons section, you add the coupon and it shows you the items that match so you don't pick out the "wrong" item (you can "add to cart" directly from the coupons section)
- The produce has always been fresh and good-looking
- The few times items have been unavailable, they usually take off the $5 ClickList fee or add a small discount to the order