A few trips to the refrigerator by various members of the family and finding something in that fridge can become like a hunting game.

Organizing your refrigerator shelves can help to keep things orderly so you can find what you need and know what you have.

In addition to regular cleaning of your refrigerator (a couple of times a year) an organized fridge can prevent food mishaps and spoilage.

• Know which areas of your fridge are best for specific foods.
  
  • Store meats and eggs on the bottom shelves where it is colder and chance of contamination will be less.
  • Use the door for items least likely to spoil like your condiments and juices.
• Keep apples away from your veggies as they give off a gas that can make your vegetables go bad faster.
• Use an onion keeper for a cut onion.
• Store things like olive oil, maple syrup, and flour in the fridge after opening (flour in there before opening). 
• Use small plastic (washable) baskets and tubs to organize like items. This works very well for condiments and small containers that would otherwise get lost. Don't overspend on these you can pick up many at the dollar store.
• Label your leftovers. As much as we try not to we all have them. There are ways to deal with them but eventually one or two may have to be tossed. Know what you have and it makes it much easier to utilize them. Use a roll of masking tape and just write on there what the leftover is and what day you put it in the fridge (learned this from Cook's Illustrated).
• Keep all of your leftovers on a particular shelf. Enough said. You can always see if this shelf is becoming overly burdened and take action.
• Toss old food and check what you have in the refrigerator before making your grocery list. I shop on Saturday so I toss and make a list on Thursday.
• Have a specific section of the fridge for snack foods. That way the family knows where to look when they need a quick bite to eat.
• Use the same organizing tips for your freezer. Most often a smaller space than the refrigerator we can also benefit from organizing the freezer space to make meal preparation easier.

• Here is a great video for organizing your freezer, refrigerator and pantry by Susan Stewart or Perfectly Placed
• Read Maximizing Small Freezer Storage
• Organizing Tools for your refrigerator