Shelf 1: milk; juices; & water. Shelf 2: sour cream; cottage cheese; cheddar, mozz. & string cheeses; margarine; yogurt; lunch meat. Shelf 3: leftovers & deforst for tonite's dinner. Shelf 4: raisins; mayo; pickles; (I cannot think what else; am @ work so I cannot check.) Door mustards; jams, p.b. (Jon likes natural must be fridged junk); bbq sauce; salad dressings; etc. Veggie trays, of course veggies & sometimes I hide something do not want Jon & Randall to find & eat before me. Oh, 1 BIG thing I just realized I forgot. The most important thing on shelf 1, while I am @ work is Mary's milk (I pump & freeze for her while @ work); Jon would not be a happy daddy if I forgot to mention that.
I take everything out about once a month & give a baking soda scrub (love baking soda). Sometimes I am not good @ once a mo. sometimes (w/a 4 yr. old & Jon home during day, they go wild & I find some mystery spill that no one did).
Ok, now freezer. Gosh, we have the freezer above fridge, big chest freezer (could fall in & never be found type) on front porch & small chest in basement. Anyway, above fridge t.v. dinners (not very frugual, but that is another subject) so no marking needed. Big chest Mary's milk, they are in ziploc freezer bags, each marked w/sharpie pen, w/ounces & date. Frozen bagged items, ones from store pre-packaged; I put an avery label & write the date purchased. For items from farmer's market or store that I chop, shred, etc. I use both freezer bags & gladware type containers. For things like mushrooms, green peppers that I chop and freeze I put in ziploc, for crockpot pasta sauce I put them in gladware containers. I write directly on the freezer bag & containers I use avery labels.
Gosh I kinda went on and on. Hope this is some help. Sorry so long.
1) I generally put things in the same place all the time.
Fridge:
Top shelf: milk, tea, kool-aid
Second Shelf: egg box, leftovers
Top drawer: cheese, lunch meat
Bottom Shelf: bread
Left crisper: Veggies
Right Crisper: Fruits
Door: anything in a bottle or jar, butter/margarine
Freezer above Fridge:
Fast Foods (i.e.. pizza, hot dogs, pre-cooked meals etc..), ice, bread flour, yeast, extra cheese
Chest Freezer:
Bags of Ice, meat, bread, popsicles, ice cream
2) I clean out the fridge once a week, usually on Wednesday (day off), Clean out the freezers once a month.
3) I generally use both bags and containers. I freeze meat in bags and foil both. I freeze leftovers and precooked meals in containers. I like the new glad and ziploc freezer containers. I can get them pretty cheap at the dollar store and they last a good bit but if I lose one I don't sweat it!
4) As for labeling this is where I could definitely use some help. I forget to label stuff a lot and then we end up with mystery meat night! Can anyone tell me where to find labels?
1) Do you keep things in the same place in the fridge - do you have certain shelves designated for certain items?
I always keep the drinks on the first shelf, my margerine and larger containers on the middle shelf and eggs, veggies (that do not fit in the bins) on the lower shelf. Then I place what ever else where it fits. I do use my veggie. fruit and meats containers for those items and use the door shelves for condiments and things like that.
2) How often do you clean out the fridge?
I find that I am always straightening it out and wiping it down, but as for taking everything out and cleaning it well,. I do it 4 times a year and more if it needs it.
3) Do you prefer freezing in plastic containers, or bags?
Depending on the item I like both. II will freeze my meats and poultry in bags, sauces and soup like things in containers.
4) What works best for labeling freezer containers?
I do not label containers but I do use a permenent marker on bags.
Good Questions.... now I need to go back and read everyones response
Do you keep things in the same place in the fridge - do you have certain shelves designated for certain items?
I have a fridge with the adjustable shelves on the door, so I keep two gallons of milk on the door, the kethup bottle that won't fit in the other door slots, and the oversized jar of applesauce. Also on the door I have a smaller shelf at the top where I keep pickles, jelly, and mayo. There is another shelf just below that that is not as tall, so I keep smaller jars there like marischino cherries, pickle relish, hot peppers, and small tubs of spreadable cheese.
On the bottom door shelf is where I keep flatter bottles such as salad dressings, mustard and if I had a smaller kethup bottle I would keep it there LOL I use the dairy door for margarine sticks. There's a small compartment below the dairy compartment where I keep all my block cheese and American slices.
On the shelves: top shelf is kind of seperated down the middle, left side is a shelf with a drawer below it and the right side is just a shelf. The right side I keep any juice or bottled pop and a loaf of bread. On the left I keep refrigerator rolls (canned) and I have a little white wire rack shelf that I bought from WalMart, on that I keep my cream cheese and cottage cheese, sour cream, etc. The canned refrig rolls I slide underneath that little rack. Then next to the little rack I keep my margarine, i buy the big monster tub so it takes up a lot of room LOL In the drawer I keep lunch meat, tortilla, and any deli cheese I may have.
On the second shelf I keep eggs, bagels, english muffins, and any leftovers or precut vegies and meat for two nights worth of dinner. On the bottom shelf I have a bag of oranges, a bag of apples, celery, and usually 12-24 cans of pop and any other vegies that won't fit in the drawers below.
In the bottom drawers I keep the vegies on the left, and then the drawer on the right I usually dump a big bag of potatoes in there and toss in my onions.
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2) How often do you clean out the fridge?
Whenever it gets dirty LOL I don't really have a set schedule, I wipe it out whenever it looks icky and I probably only remove everything 3 times a year. I hate cleaning the fridge :P Every time I do a big grocery shop, I go through and dump any mystery foods and get rid of anything that went bad.
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3) Do you prefer freezing in plastic containers, or bags?
Mostly I use bags or foil. I put broth, sauces, and gravies in gallon ziplocs, then I lay them flat to freeze. Once they are frozen I can put them wherever I want as they stack nicely. I also do this with stew meat, chopped up leftoever ham, etc. Dum them in the bag and flatten out any air. Spread the meat throughout the bag to flatten it then freeze. Come to think of it, I don't think I use any plastic containers to freeze, probably just for lack of available containers.
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4) What works best for labeling freezer containers?
Hmmm, well I am not very consistent with this. However, when I do label things, I use a simple Avery address label and a black ball point pen. I write what it is and the date I froze it. I stick the label to the foil and then put the foil wrapped food into a plastic ziploc freezer bag.
I read somewhere (probably here LOL) that someone uses milk crates in their chest freezer. What a great idea! I will be implementing this idea this week, thanks for the tip!
Myy frige is pretty much like everyone elses I put like things togather on there on shelf. I have a meat tray and 2 vegetable bens. One shelf I can keep 3 flats of eggs on. (I do a lot of baking. One shelf is adjusted to hold #10 cand and large containers. One for margrine, 3 lb. creamcheeses and cheese of sorts. Bottle items and the gal milk are in the door of the frig. As for the feezer thats were I need to work on. No order at all ).
I clean my frig at least everyother month and will clean one shelf at a time when there a spell. Igo thru my frig once a week for unwanted items.
Have a nice day.
This be Tree
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A Smile is a touch of sunshine in one's life
There is *a little* method to the madness that is my refrigerator.... I have a medium-sized fridge with a freezer on top. There is one shelf in the freezer and two shelves (besides the door) in the fridge...
In the fridge, beverages (besides cans of soda) go on the top shelf. Then, anything that is large and won't fit anywhere else, goes on the top shelf. Also, small things that we use frequently, usually end up on the top shelf, too...
The second shelf has a small drawer on the left. In the drawer, I put as much lunchmeat and cheese as will fit. Did I mention that I buy food in bulk? Grocery day is horrible! Nothing fits anywhere... Moving on... On the shelf next to the drawer, I put small things like containers of sour cream, yogurt, and such...
The next shelf is where I keep things like canned soda, bags of fruit, meats for dinners... Generally, large, bulky things that don't go on the top shelf...
In the door, I have two compartments at the top... One I use for butter, the other for cheese... Going on down the door, you will find many varieties of condiments... We have different jellies, mustards, relishes, olives, and just general weird stuff... Sometimes you will find yogurts, cheese, and butter on the door shelves...
In the freezer (it is a scary place)... In the door, I have small bags of vegetables... As for the rest of the freezer... It's whatever will fit-goes there.... Generally I'll put boxed items on the right, and large bags of veggies on the bottom....
I use ziplock bags to freeze meat. I don't date it, because we eat all the meat before the next shopping trip... I don't freeze in containers because they are too big to store the amounts that I need...
How do you store items in your fridge? 
Can anyone tell me where to find labels?
I don't really have a set schedule, I wipe it out whenever it looks icky and I probably only remove everything 3 times a year. I hate cleaning the fridge :P Every time I do a big grocery shop, I go through and dump any mystery foods and get rid of anything that went bad. 
My Frige 
There is *a little* method to the madness that is my refrigerator.... I have a medium-sized fridge with a freezer on top. There is one shelf in the freezer and two shelves (besides the door) in the fridge... 
