It’s officially a week into the new year and many people are well into their new food plans and fitness routines. With all the planning, meal prepping, new commitments to workout, and catching up from all of the work we put off during the holidays, we have less time than ever. But if you’re trying to stick to your resolutions and finally get healthy, you need to prepare in advance in order to be successful.
Believe it or not, the way your fridge is organized can make all the difference. Having quick, convenient, HEALTHY food ready to go is exactly what you need when you’re running late but you’re supposed to eat a yogurt parfait for breakfast or some overnight oats. And we don’t all have those beautiful, large, luxurious fridges that will fit whatever you put in them. We have to maximize our fridge space to make the most of our meal plans and finally be successful in our weight loss. Let’s take a look at how you can use these cheap, dollar store ideas and make your fridge at least somewhat resemble the fridge of your dreams.
Why Should You Organize Your Fridge?
I know it may seem silly to some, but organizing your fridge will help you eat healthier. Have you ever bought a bunch of salad or other health foods and simply forget you bought them? You get all excited to try a new recipe and then get busy, forget you were going to make it and the ingredients get shoved to the back of the fridge, not to be seen for a week when they’re moldy and you’re doing the weekly clean out before garbage day.
If you organize your fridge and have everything in a place where you’re not only looking for it, but can easily see and access it, you can actually eat the food you bought.
NOTE: The whole “out of sight, out of mind” concept works here. If you buy healthy food you want to start eating, make it readily available and in an easy to see place in your fridge. Otherwise, you will completely forget about it and might as well just throw your money down the drain.
Organizing your fridge also helps you keep track of when you buy things that you buy regularly. For example, you may buy yogurt every week. Say you get to the end of the week and you haven’t eaten all the yogurt from the week before, but you buy more for the upcoming week. If the same yogurt container keeps getting pushed to the back and hidden under other food, you will end up having food that is spoiled and wasted.
On the other hand, if you keep your fridge organized, you’ll be able to see everything in it and be able to use it in an appropriate time frame.
Containers Are Your Best Friend
That being said, containers are and will become your new best friend. I love containers. I also love to organize and I love the look of clean lines and categorized bins, but even if you don’t share my obsession, I promise containers will still make your life easier.
It may seem pointless to keep containers in other containers, but when you have a place for things in your fridge, just like things in your house, you don’t have to wonder where it is. Most people already do this with a lot of things in their fridge. For example, you may keep your milk in the same spot on the door, or your condiments and dressings in another spot. Your eggs probably have a spot, as well as your deli products. Aside from the produce drawer, the rest of your fridge is likely a free-for-all for the rest of your groceries to fight for the limelight.
It only makes sense, if some things in your fridge have a dedicated spot, why not give them all a dedicated spot. That’s where containers come into play.
On the plus side, many dollar stores have really cheap options for small containers from the size of a shoebox to long, narrow trays. You have to take into consideration the size of your fridge and how your shelves are situated.
Dollar Tree has these awesome bins for $1.00. If cost isn’t an issue for you, Amazon does have a few different groups of bins you can order just for your fridge. For all of you one-stop-shoppers, this might be a better option. You can get the one below by clicking here.
Consider Vertical Space, Too
When your looking at your fridge, you’re probably not thinking about how much square footage you have to work with, but rather, how much shelf space you have, but you should!
You can easily maximize your fridge space using stackable shelves. Think how much more you could fit into your fridge if you could stack it.
Shelves like these can make it super easy to stack multiple things on each fridge shelf itself. You can get these at Dollar Tree for, you guessed it, $1.00.
SIDE NOTE: These work really well around the holidays when you really need to maximize your fridge space. Store large plates, casserole dishes, pies and more on these to get more room and keep everything nice and cold!
Don’t be afraid to reimagine containers to fit your needs.
For example, these are actually paper trays, but you know what they work really well for? Yogurt, fruit cups, you get the point. I really like them for yogurt because, depending on how much yogurt your family goes through, you can stack them up and put a different flavor on each tray, utilizing your vertical space and making more room for other things.
SIDE NOTE: These work really well in your cupboard as well for pastas, rices, etc.
You also want to make sure that the containers you choose are accessible. Yes, it might make sense for you to use regular clear tupperware that stacks on top of itself with lids, but if you have to move 3 containers out of the way every time you want to get something out of the bottom container, it will get old, fast!
Make sure you can easily grab and go with everything you put in your fridge.
Keep It Clear
I know, I know, I just showed you awesome colorful containers that you can use to organize your fridge, but I really want to urge you to keep your organizing containers clear. Why? Because you’ll be able to see what’s inside. When your containers are stackable, that may not matter as much, but with small bins, especially, you want them to be see-through.
I love these containers from Dollar General. They work great for shallow, open bins for salad dressings, condiments and more. Plus, they’re big enough to hold what you need, but small enough that they don’t take up a lot of space.
NOTE: Although this container is great and I love it, try to find containers that aren’t tapered if you’re going to use them without the lid. I know from experience, if you use containers that are bigger at the top and smaller at the bottom, you’re more likely to throw everything in it instead of keeping it neatly stacked because condiments, bottles, etc. don’t stay upright as well in tapered containers.
Use Your Labelmaker!
As someone who just got my first labelmaker this Christmas, I’m more than excited to use it, well, EVERYWHERE! And the fridge is no exception.
Even if you use clear containers in your fridge, labels are great for KEEPING your fridge organized. For example, say you’re out of yogurt and there’s just an empty plastic bin in your fridge. You may know what goes in it, but your family may not. Soon, it gets full of random objects and your fridge becomes just as messy as it was before, only now you have 5 plastic bins adding to the chaos.
Labeling your containers indicates what is supposed to go there and gives you a heads up of what you need to put on your shopping list.
Don’t like the look of labelmaker labels? Glam it up! Use cute chalkboard stickers and paint markers like these to make your labels cute and functional.
They also work really well in your cupboards/pantry.
I got these on sale at Pat Catan’s, but you can also order them online through Amazon for a way better price.
The best part is that they’re reusable. So don’t worry about committing each sticker to something you may not want to keep in your fridge or pantry forever.
Meal Prep
Another key to having an organized fridge is to keep everything you’re going to need ready to go. EXAMPLE: When I buy string cheese, instead of leaving the bag in the fridge, I pull apart all the separate pieces and put them in a plastic deli meat container, without the lid, and then put them in our cheese drawer.
That way, when you want it, you don’t have to pull the whole row out of the fridge and rip it off. You just grab and go.
This is also another really helpful trick if you’re trying to eat healthy. Wash and prep your veggies and fruit ahead of time and then organize it in your fridge so that it’s ready to go. You’re much more likely to actually eat your vegetables this way.
I also like to plan out the week in advance on Sundays. If I want to prep lunches for myself, I’ll do all my cooking at once and put it into stackable tupperware and stack it in the fridge. I usually make sandwiches for my husband all at once and they all get their own special place in the fridge.
You can also save a lot of space and money by buying in bulk and then breaking your food down into portion sized containers. Good ole sandwich baggies are great for this.
For more tips on meal prepping and saving money, check out THIS ARTICLE.
Map It Out
Ok, so now that you know some of your options, it’s time to map it out. Sketch out what your fridge looks like, take a few measurements and decide how you want to organize it. Seeing it on paper can really help you visualize the types and sizes of the containers you’ll need.
Be creative! Remember you can move most of your shelves in your fridge, so don’t limit yourself on your current configuration. If you have something that would work better stacked another way, then do it! You also don’t have to keep all of your shelves in your fridge. Move it around until it works for you.
Once you have an idea of what you’ll need, you can get your containers. There’s nothing less productive than getting to the store and being all ready to organize without knowing what you actually need. You’ll end up buying more than what you need (although if you’re like me, you’ll find somewhere to use it).
Summary
There you go! All the tools and tricks you need to organize your refrigerator for the new year. Focus on these key points and you’re sure to keep your resolutions this year.
- Use Containers of Different Sizes
- Utilize Vertical Space
- Keep Your Containers Clear
- Label Everything
- Prep Your Meals and Snacks