I hate learning a new refrigerator. You know, learning where the best place is to store things, how to make it functional, where to place shelves {if they are moveable}. This is what I have so far but am still moving things!

Freezer Zones:

1. Frozen Bread & Cheese
2. Frozen grease in emptied cans {freeze it so doesn't spill all over the trash}
3. Frozen Beef {divided into 1 lb bags}
4. Ice Dispenser that needs to be cleared of any blockage & has to be un-clogged all the time
5. Frozen Potatoes {hash browns, tots, fries}
6. Frozen Veggies/Fruit
7. Frozen {fast} Meals
8. Frozen Desserts

Refrigerator Zones:

1. Milk, Juice, & Large Pitchers
2. Sodas & desserts
3. Dairy & Breakfast
4. Leftovers
5. Fruit & Veggies
6. Cheese and Meat
7. Frosting & Tiny Items
8. Condiments
   • Cooking & Salads
   • Sandwiches
9. Salsa & Toppings
10. Water

Deep Freeze Zones:

1. Bread/rolls
2. Meats
3. Meals/casseroles
4. Ice Packs
5. Fruit/Veggies
6. Pizzas

Organizing in your fridge can be just like any other space in your home. Some times using organizational tools can make it that much more efficient.

• I love using the Lazy Susan to store things like yogurt, biscuits, Cinnamon rolls, and other larger containers that seem to stack up and get in the way of accessing other items.
• Plastic racks {like I use in my pantry} work good for winter stocking of the deep freeze. It will allow you to stack more items deeper in the freezer. I would recommend only stacking like-items so you don't forget what you've got.
• Other tools that work well in fridges and freezers are plastic box-like containers. Ones with handles {like I use in our medicine cabinet} are also great for storing smaller package items like fruit, veggies, cheeses, and meats that seem to stack up.
• You do have to be careful not to use containers that would take away from the cooling of items {especially if they are not already cold/frozen}. You always want them to be open-air or slotted so things don't heat up or get blocked from the coolness of the fridge/freezer.

Organizing the fridge/freezer is important for saving money, time, and sanity! If the refrigerator is disorganized, you don't know what you have you will

• buy excess leading to things going bad
• have a much harder time meal planning & preparing meals
• end up with WAY too many leftovers and you have to declare Multiple "leftover day(s)".

For more tips on organizing your fridge or storing leftovers, you can click HERE to read an older post on the topic.

Remember, organization is basically grouping like items. Functional organization is grouping like items & storing them in the most practical place for easy usage.

Happy Kitchen Organizing!

find other post in this series HERE