Day 20: Fridge and Freezer

Here we are Day 20 on our 31 Days of Decluttering and Organizing!! There are usually things lurking in our refrigerators and freezers that need to be tossed (or used up soon). This is one of those that I usually dread, but it nearly always goes faster then I expect. And if I take time to clean the shelves I really like the results!

Today, when I started this project, I cleaned the outside of our stainless refrigerator first. So shiny! That got me motivated!

I started with the fridge. I had thrown some items out on Saturday before we went grocery shopping so I only found the jar of used up jam, dried carrots, and a opened jar of tomato paste. I moved containers of like condiments together. Make sure to check expiration dates. I didn't since we just moved and everything is less than three months old. Our milk, eggs and yogurt were all current too. 

We have two drawers for our freezer. I only found one old package of strawberries...freezer burn got to them. And I decided to take out the cardboard packaging for the fudge pops, since there were only a couple left. I did a little rearranging, putting all microwave meals in one drawer. 

I have a little trick...although you may do it also. That blue round container (above) has a piece of tape on it. I wrote on the tape with permanent marker. This helps me know what is in there (in this case it is crushed tomatoes). The tape comes right off, with no damage to the container.

If you aren't sure about what something is in your freezer, you probably should toss it. At least I would! Of course, you could always thaw it too and find out. And if you aren't sure about how long to keep something frozen, I would suggest doing a search online for the type of food you are wondering about. There are plenty of resources to answer those types of questions.

My freezer and fridge decluttering was pretty quick. It seems like a good decluttering project to do this time of year when you might have extra time. And getting the old food out now before the holidays is a good idea. I know I usually need more space for the double batches of soup I like to make during colder months. I also need space for holiday baked goods too. 

Don't forget to do any extra refrigerators and freezers you may have food stored in. It doesn't have to all be done on one day either. You can do one section each day, which probably only takes 3 minutes maximum. And if you are extra motivated you can clean as you go along. 

Did you find anything you forgot you had and plan to eat soon? Did you have a lot to toss? How many items were expired? Are you pleased with the results?