How often do you clean out your fridge?

[MonaLyssa33]

I heard on the radio that the average person has 5 expired items in their fridge and that about half of the people surveyed for some survey haven't cleaned out their fridge in 5 months.

So I'm wondering, how often do you clean out your fridge? I don't mean taking out the shelves and washing them, just throwing out old food.

I do it once a week, the day before trash day. Growing up, my parents were awful about cleaning out the fridge so it often wouldn't be done for months. I live alone though so it's probably different than having a family but I really don't want to be like my parents in that regard.

 

[debbila]

I don't have a certain amount of time that I do it. I just throw things out that I haven't eaten in several days. Of course it's longer for things that keep well like eggs.

 

[DreamerRose]

I throw out the shriveled limes and brown apples when I see them, usually when I'm looking for something else. The last time I removed all the food and washed the shelves is a secret. I'm not telling.

 

[Willowy]

Probably around once a month or so, I'll rummage through and throw out anything that looks bad. Of course if I can easily see something that looks bad it goes out right away. Almost all of the condiments in there are "expired"; the dates are mostly meaningless.

 

[game misconduct]

gf and i shop weekly for groceries since its us two only 4we go through our food pretty fast thats including the oopsies that happen when i try cooking somthing new and it turns out badlylucky theres lots of drive thru spots near me

 

[Xraystyle]

....
I had to enlist a friend maybe 2 months ago now to throw away food trash (has to go in a special machine in my building that I'd been too scared to use on my own since it's in a very public place). I haven't been cooking much in the past year, so I think all of the condiments have expired now.
...
My favorite episode of the anime Cowboy Bebop is an episode where the main character realizes he left a lobster in a hidden fridge over a year prior, and it had obvious gone bad...so bad that it had sprouted sentient alien life forms, one in particular was sliding around the spaceship stinging people. At the very end, the main character manages to jettison the fridge into space and give us all the lesson: Don't leave things in the fridge. I actually have plans to get the original Japanese script for that line tattooed on me XD because as much as it's literally true, it's also...A METAPHOR for feelings. And neither meanings am I very good at.

 

[Norachan]

I usually clean out the fridge once a week, the day before I go grocery shopping. I'm pretty good at keeping track of what is in there as I work from home and live way up in the mountains. No shops or restaurants near here.

Mr Husband has his own shelf in the fridge where he keeps weird alien life forms and the kind of condiments you only use if you are cooking Japanese food with those life forms. Occasionally I get scared of it and tell him he has to check all the dates and throw expired stuff out.

He's weird about his cooking. We've had......conversations about jam. Home made and store bought. I don't like sweet things. He rarely eats bread. Why would you need jam?

At the moment there is a large glass jar of sliced fruit stewing in sake in my cupboard. Why? He doesn't drink. I'm certainly not going to drink it. Is it for science? Who knows

 

[Lari]

Not near often enough! I'm pretty good with making sure there's no bad produce in there, but I can't think of when I looked at the jars of stuff in the door (especially things like my husband's ketchup and mustard I don't eat) to see if that's still good.

 

[Winchester]

Once a week on trash day. And even then, some things escape me.

 

[goingpostal]

I usually make an effort to go through it every week or two, either before garbage day or when I get home from grocery shopping and have to make things fit. My husband will leave things in there forever, but also won't eat anything questionable or expired, sigh.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Once a week for leftovers. Things like condiments I don't usually check very often though. DH will go through stuff on his own sometimes. He's more of a "tosser" while I'm the one who resists wasting.

 

[susanm9006]

Things get tossed every few days if it’s some kind of leftover or old stuff. Shelves get washed maybe every few weeks. Every nook and cranny cleaned a couple times a year.

 

[Mia6]

almost daily

 

[Elphaba09]

At least once a week, I check through the fridge for vegetables and leftovers. I go through condiments about once a month, just to be sure nothing has expired. I try to go through the freezer at the same time.

 

[Mia6]

Occasionally I get scared of it and tell him he has to check all the dates and throw expired stuff out.

ha!!!!

 

[Beholder]

I never really have to clean out my fridge. It's very rare that I have anything that goes bad because I usually keep a mental note of what needs to be eaten first. When something has been in there too long I either eat it or freeze it before it goes bad. Occasionally I'll have a piece of fruit or a bell pepper go bad, but even that is pretty rare. The last time we went out to eat or got fast food was pre-covid, so in cooking our meals everyday I also get a pretty good idea of what's in there. Guess that's one of the perks of being too poor to afford a lot of food

Now for the fridge itself, I probably wipe it down once every 2-3 months. I really should do it more often though.

 

[AbbysMom]

I usually go through produce and leftovers right before trash day. I go through condiments, etc once a month.

 

[Jem]

I've been meaning to clean out my fridge for quite some time now...I noticed a while ago that I had a few expired condiments and a couple of containers of leftovers shoved in the back. I removed the containers (it was an interesting science experiment ) but I still have to go thru all my condiments.
Normally I just go thru my fridge when I take it all out to clean it...a few times a year. Tossing any leftovers usually gets done weekly for garbage day....but of course, sometimes things get lost and I don't see them....then it's a game to figure out what it used to be when I actually do get to it!

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Once a week, on trash day. Throw out any old produce, eggs that never got eaten and are past the carton date, questionable leftovers. We also don't keep our fridge jam-packed like a lot of people do.

My mom's fridge is the worst. She will go weeks without throwing things out and then be totally shocked when the stuff she pulls out is sustaining its own ecosystem...

 

[margecat]

Once a week, I go through it, and trash old stuff or use it up, if it's still good or put suitable food out for the wildlife.
Once a month, I takr everything out and wipe the interior down, wash the drawers and removable shelves.