Organize Your Refrigerator On The Cheap!

This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Cooking Light and Real Simple, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FreshandFab http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

There is nothing worse than getting ready to go to the grocery and doing inventory of your refrigerator only to find that you have let tons of food go to waste.  It's happened many times in our home, and it's just ridiculous.  Today, I'm going to show you how to stop the madness and save some money too... let's organize your refrigerator on the cheap!

Last week I headed to Target and grabbed the latest issue of Real Simple and Cooking Light.  These two magazines together inspired me to get organized and also gave me the push to eat healthy.  The best way for me to do that is to know exactly what I have in my fridge.  Part of the problem for me is that I am busy and when I get hungry, I automatically grab and eat whatever is the most convenient.  To make eating healthy more convenient, I wanted to have my healthy snacks in one place.  By organizing my refrigerator and freezer, not only am I eating better, but wasting less too!  Let me show you...

I started with these stackable bins that I bought for $1 each.  I labeled each of them... one for breads, one for cheeses, one for meats and one for healthy snacks that we can just grab and eat when we are in a hurry.  Just looking at these makes my heart smile...I know it is making a difference for the kids as well because instead of looking in the fridge and proclaiming that we have nothing to eat, they can actually see what we have and grab what they like!

I decided to use the crispers for more than just veggies and fruits, but also drinks.  This keeps them from rolling around the refrigerator and getting stuck behind larger items.  I labeled these as well...I just love that you cans see where everything belongs.  This helps me out because now the kiddos can help put groceries away too!

We are also now keeping like things together in the fridge door.  This keeps me from buying multiples of condiments.

We are a sauce loving family, but never knew what we had. By keeping them all together, everyone can quickly grab their favorite sauce and move on.

Now this is my favorite tip, and I've actually been using this for years!  Because our freezer is very narrow, things can get lost in there.  I simply take a dry erase marker and write the contents of my freezer on the ice maker.  You can also write with an expo marker on the inside of the refrigerator.  It wipes right off, so you can update your list when you take anything out or add new freezer items!

I also keep all of our meats together, then frozen breakfast items and kiddo food down at the bottom so they are easily accessable for them!

I am telling you, having our refrigerator and freezer so orgazined really does make a difference.  We are actually eating all of the food we buy now instead of throwing things away because they were hidden and went bad.  The kiddos are putting things back where they belong instead of just throwing things back in!