Expired Food in your pantry or fridge:

Organize Pantry

Let’s face it, most of us have probably got spoiled or expired food in our kitchen, pantry or store cupboard.  

Don’t beat yourself up about it, instead resolve to get rid of it, better organizing the remaining items to make the possibility of throwing out food less likely in the future.

  • Start with your pantry, remove all items shelf by shelf (if you are really inspired and have more time on your hands, by all means take EVERYTHING out!)  
  • Check the expiration dates and toss out the expired items. This also gives you a chance to see if something is expiring soon and ensure that you use it up quickly! 
  • Try and group by type before you put everything back, this will allow you to really see how much you have of one thing, helping to avoid over purchasing in the future.
  • If you already have containers, use them to store like with like (think pasta and rice together, or all savory snacks in one basket). 
  • Before you return items to the shelf, give it a good wipe down with an antibacterial spray.   

 

Bathroom & Beauty Products:

Organize Under Sink

When was the last time you properly assessed what is lurking under your bathroom sink or in your bathroom drawers?

If you are like most, you will probably find half used bottles of shampoo and conditioners, lotions and body washes, make up products that you just aren’t using, medication that has expired and more.  

 

We often start using a product, then either get given or buy something else and because we think it is wasteful to throw it away if it not entirely used up, we store it under our sinks!  It’s time to take back our precious space and assess what really SHOULD be there instead of using it as a catchall for unwanted products.  

 

  • Remove all items, immediately tossing out the ones that you definitely won’t use again.  
  • Group the remaining items by type: 
  • All shampoo, conditioner and hair treatments together
  • All shower gels, bath salts, body washes together
  • All face related items – cleansers, serums, toners and moisturizers together.

 

This will allow you to see how many of each item you have and start to really see what you are (and are not) using …and don’t be tempted to keep something “just in case”.  Unless you can honestly say that you WILL use this item in the very near future.

  • Once you have finished your assessment (and hopefully decided to toss out some more space stealing items), clean out your space with an antibacterial spray and start returning the remaining items.  
  • Place the items that you use most regularly (i.e. daily or at least once a week) close to the front under your sink or in a drawer.  
  • Those items that are used less often (think after sun lotion or specialty beauty treatments) can be placed in less easy to reach spaces.  For example, all of my daily use items (cleanser, moisturizer, serums, cotton pads, perfume, Q tips etc) are in my medicine cabinet. It is on eye level, I don’t have to bend down to reach anything and I can see it all at once when I open the door.  
  • An alternative would be having one container under your sink that holds your daily use items.  That way, rather than searching in different areas, you just bring out one basket or tote and everything is right there for you.