Instagram: @realkrissymarsh / Photography: Hannah Puechmarin / Styling: Hayley Jenkin
There are two types of people in this world: those who know exactly what is lurking at the back of their fridge and those who would really rather not find out. Krissy Marsh is firmly in the first camp, and she’s a big believer in the fridge audit.
The Real Housewives of Sydney star recently took her Instagram followers along as she investigated the contents of her fridge, checking expiry dates, pulling out forgotten food and questioning exactly how long certain items had been hiding on the shelves.
But it turns out Krissy’s fridge audit isn’t simply entertaining social media content. It’s a ritual she takes very seriously, and one she does every Monday.
Speaking to Home Beautiful editor-in-chief Elle Lovelock on The Edit, Krissy revealed the surprisingly strict rules she uses to organise her fridge, reduce food waste and make sure the people in her busy household can always find something to eat. And while your fridge might not look quite like Krissy Marsh’s, her fridge audit makes a lot of sense.
Listen to the full episode of The Edit
Why Krissy Marsh audits her fridge every Monday
For Krissy, keeping a well-organised fridge isn’t about creating perfectly styled shelves worthy of social media. It’s about preventing food, and money, from going to waste.
“Food waste to me is just the worst thing ever,” she told The Edit. “I’d prefer to stick it in a freezer for later.” Krissy says she will “reuse, rehouse, repurpose” even a small amount of leftover food, revealing that her children have also been taught to take leftovers for lunch the following day rather than throw them away.
“It’s a massive waste of money,” she says. “So I’m constantly fridge auditing. Like, that is what really gets me excited.” Her system involves taking stock of what is already in the fridge, identifying what needs to be eaten and organising everything so food is less likely to disappear into that mysterious abyss behind the pickle jars.
“The fridge audit is basically looking at what you’ve got, what you need.”
KRISSY MARSH
And unlike her pantry, which apparently only receives an audit when Krissy goes searching for something and “the whole pantry gets audited,” her refrigerator is checked every Monday.
How to do a fridge audit like Krissy Marsh
So, what does a Real Housewife-approved refrigerator actually look like? According to Krissy, the secret is surprisingly simple: everything has a designated place.
Here are the rules she follows.
1. Create a dedicated shelf for leftovers
One of the cleverest parts of Krissy’s system is also one of the easiest to recreate at home. All leftovers are stored together on one designated shelf.
“Leftovers are always on one level,” Krissy explains. “So everyone knows on that level you can always get a meal.”
The idea is that anyone opening the fridge knows exactly where to look when they’re hungry. “Any time of the day you come to my house, you can go to that level and there will always be a meal,” she says. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a fully prepared dinner, either. Krissy says the shelf might contain something as simple as ham or turkey that can quickly be turned into a sandwich.
The system also solves one of the biggest problems with an overcrowded refrigerator: leftovers being pushed behind newer food, forgotten and eventually thrown away. By giving ready-to-eat food a designated and highly visible home, it becomes far more likely that someone will actually eat it.
Inside real housewife Krissy Marsh’s impossibly pristine, dog-filled Double Bay sanctuary
2. Group similar foods together
Krissy’s next rule is all about knowing exactly what you have. “I always have all the dairy together,” she says. “And all the cheeses in one section, so you always know. Then all the sauces.”
Creating designated zones for different food categories can make it easier to find ingredients and identify what you’re running low on before your next grocery shop. It also means you’re less likely to buy yet another block of cheese only to discover two unopened packets hiding somewhere in the fridge when you get home. Depending on the size and layout of your refrigerator, try grouping together dairy, condiments, drinks and ready-to-eat foods.
The goal isn’t to create a picture-perfect fridge. It’s to make everything you own easier to see and use.
3. Never open two of the same thing
This may be Krissy’s strictest fridge rule. While she admits to loving a well-stocked supply of food, she cannot stand having multiple containers of the same product open at once. “I hate having two opened,” she says. Krissy revealed that finding multiple open jars of the same chilli oil or several sauces scattered around the fridge is a major no-go. It’s an incredibly simple habit, but one that could help reduce both clutter and food waste. Before opening a new jar, bottle or packet, check whether there’s already one in use.
And if your family members are serial offenders? Consider creating a designated “open first” section in your fridge door.
4. Put older food in front of newer groceries
Krissy also follows one of the simplest food organisation principles: use the older food first. “With the eggs, once you get the old eggs, the new eggs have got to go underneath the old,” she explains. She uses a similar system for vegetables, shifting older produce to one side when fresh groceries arrive. It’s essentially the first-in, first-out method used in commercial kitchens and food businesses, adapted for the family fridge. Before putting away fresh groceries, check what you already have and move older food into a more visible position. New food can then be placed behind or underneath it.
It only takes a few extra seconds, but it could save a forgotten zucchini from meeting a very sad end at the bottom of the crisper drawer.
5. Wash and prepare food before it enters the fridge
Krissy doesn’t only organise her fridge once the food is inside. Her system begins as soon as the groceries arrive.
“I hate shopping. I go online. I have it all delivered.”
KRISSY MARSH
She then washes everything before putting it away. “Everything’s washed before it goes into the fridge,” she says. Krissy admits the process requires an initial investment of time but says it makes life easier for the rest of the week. “If everything’s washed and it’s a chore before it goes into the fridge — and it’s a big chunk out of your time — but then that’s it for the week.”
With food already prepared, she says anyone in the family can grab an apple or pull together a salad without needing to wash everything first. While not every type of fresh produce should be washed before storage, preparing appropriate fruit and vegetables in advance can make them easier to see, grab and eat during the week.
6. Take absolutely everything out when it’s time for a deep clean
While Krissy’s weekly audit is about taking stock of what she owns and needs, every refrigerator will eventually require a more thorough clean. When that time comes, take everything out.
Yes, everything. It can be tempting to shuffle a few jars around, wipe the most visible shelf and declare the job complete, but completely emptying the refrigerator allows you to properly check expiry dates and see what has been hiding at the back. If you’re tackling the job on a warm day, keep an Esky or cooler nearby for perishable items such as dairy, meat and seafood. Once the fridge is empty, clean the walls, drawers, shelves and door compartments with warm, soapy water. Pay particular attention to spills, crumbs and sticky residue hiding underneath drawers and in corners. Allow everything to air dry or wipe surfaces with a clean, soft cloth before returning your food.
7. Check every expiry date
Here’s where things get interesting. Before automatically returning anything to the refrigerator, check its use-by or best-before date. Be particularly ruthless with the collection of sauces, marinades, pastes and condiments that tend to accumulate in fridge doors. Then consider the things that may technically still be fine to eat, but that you realistically aren’t going to use. If you bought an ingredient for one ambitious recipe six months ago and haven’t touched it since, is it really worth the valuable fridge real estate?
Take a quick photo of the inside of your fridge before going grocery shopping. It’s an easy way to check what you already have and
Top Tip
avoid buying doubles.
8. Take stock before you shop
Perhaps the most useful part of Krissy’s Monday ritual is the simplest: knowing what you already have before buying more food. An overcrowded fridge makes it difficult to see what needs to be eaten, which can lead to unnecessary double-ups at the supermarket and more food eventually ending up in the bin. Before your next grocery shop, take a few minutes to inspect the contents of your refrigerator. What needs to be eaten soon? What are you running low on? Is there a meal you can create from ingredients you already own?
It’s exactly what Krissy means when she describes the process as “looking at what you’ve got, what you need.”
The real reason Krissy Marsh’s fridge audit works
The genius of Krissy’s system isn’t that it requires expensive storage containers, a professionally organised kitchen or hours spent meticulously decanting groceries. It works because it creates habits.
Leftovers always go on the same shelf. Similar foods are stored together. Older groceries are eaten before newer ones. Open food is finished before starting another packet. And once a week, Krissy checks what she has and what she needs. It also reflects the broader approach to running a home that she shared on The Edit: keep things simple, break household jobs into manageable chunks and accept that a home is never going to remain perfectly finished.
“Don’t try and do it all at once,” Krissy says. After raising three children, living with five dogs and regularly welcoming friends and family into her home, she knows there will always be another household job waiting. “There’s always going to be another dirty sock. There’s always going to be another dirty shirt. There’s always going to be something else.”
Her advice? “You’ve just got to really be relaxed about that and try and stay organised.” And perhaps that’s the real appeal of the Monday fridge audit. It’s not about having the perfect refrigerator. It’s about starting the week knowing what you have, what you need and — most importantly — what needs to be eaten before it disappears behind the pickle jars for another six months.
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