There is a particular kind of guilt that lives at the back of a fridge. A bag of spinach that liquefied. Half a jar of pesto with a grey cap. Three near-identical tubs of leftovers, none of which anyone can date. It is rarely a character flaw and almost always a visibility problem: you cannot eat what you cannot see, and most fridges are organised by whatever fit when you came home from the shop.
The fix is not a drawer full of matching acrylic bins, though those are nice if you like them. It is deciding, once, what lives where — and then putting things back in the same place even when you are tired.
Learn where your fridge is actually cold
Fridges are not uniformly chilled. In most models the coldest air sits low and at the back, while the door is the warmest, most temperature-swingy real estate in the whole unit. That single fact rearranges everything. Raw meat and fish belong on the bottom shelf, in a container or on a tray, so nothing can drip downward. Dairy and anything that sulks when it warms up belongs on a middle or lower shelf, not in the door — the door is for condiments, jars, and drinks that can handle being opened eight times an evening.
If you have never checked, look for your fridge's temperature setting and give it a week at a slightly cooler notch before deciding it's broken. Milk going off early is often a door-storage problem rather than a dying appliance.
