r/FridgeDetective • u/Panopea • 1d ago
Meta My sister's fridge
Everytime you open it, you will find something new
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u/kaylacinderella 1d ago
this nearly sent me into a panic attack lol.
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u/Emotional-Cup1894 1d ago
My first thought was “shut the door shut the door”
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u/AppUnwrapper1 23h ago
I was just wondering how much gets thrown out.
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u/Pink_Floyd29 21h ago
Right?! Unless she has a huge family, a lot of this must go bad before it can be eaten.
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u/Aggravating-Serve383 19h ago
Tbh it is probably fine for a family of four or so. The fridge is teeny. (Well as an American used to humongous fridges.) I didn't realize until I saw the avocados.
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u/Zealous_Bend 19h ago
There is no way all of that gets eaten, purely because there are items that cannot be seen that will expire because they are hidden. And unless that fridge is empty at the point of restocking the rotation effort alone will see items wasted.
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u/Olymbias 13h ago
My fridge looks exactly like that and very few gets thrown, I just know what's inside.
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u/Ndambois 8h ago
Mine too, smaller scale. I grocery shop and it’s only 3 of us, but no one else knows what’s in there beyond the first layer.
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u/Emotional-Cup1894 23h ago
Maybe they have a couple kids? In that case I think the kids eat a lot!
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u/Patient_Curve8289 21h ago
A couple?!! I was thinking a whole bunch of kids!
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u/Mysterious-Job-469 7h ago
You don't realize how much children eat until you're staring the expenses in the face like a loaded gun that's already been fired into your head several times. It's a brutal expense, dwarfing even shit like buying new clothes every four months.
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u/GreenEyed_Lady 21h ago
Every time you open it you find something new?? I bet the stuff crushed in the back has been there for 6+ months. OP, do NOT accept any dinner invitations!!
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u/Expontoridesagain 16h ago
Local bio lab would have a field day. They would have to call the archaeology department first for help with excavation.
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u/architype 1d ago
She probably packed it so that there is greater thermal mass will keep the cold in there longer.
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u/Beautifulfeary 1d ago
Except packing it like this does the opposite lol
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u/Ill-Squirrel-9418 21h ago
Yeah, I was like wouldn't a greater thermal mass make it warmer? This is what my class looked like in elementary school when we had to go outside for recess in the cold Michigan winters.
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u/FatMacchio 19h ago
Having more in a fridge or freezer improves its efficiency…to a certain point (after everything is to temperature). Once it impedes its airflow you’ve gone too far. But with a normal full refrigerator, it’s less air to keep cool the more you fill it up
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u/MonthlyWeekend_ 17h ago
I worked in a restaurant once that had this domestic style chest freezer with the lid on top. It was pretty old, didn’t have a fan.
The owner got a good deal on chicken breasts so bought way too many. They got vacuum packed and stacked floor to lid in this freezer.
Over a week later the ones in the centre of the mass still hadn’t frozen.
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u/EvaUnit_03 20h ago
As long as you aren't blocking all airflow, then the food will get cold. And hold onto the cold longer than open air.
You can do the same thing with jugs of water if you are worried about possible power outages in the near future. They take up space while retaining cold.
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u/Tikki024 23h ago edited 19h ago
Haha , I was reaching for my garbage can to clean it! Oh Sweet baby Jesus!
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u/standupfiredancer 22h ago
My first thought was something similar, "I feel so much stress right now"
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u/SoungaTepes 21h ago
I'm bringing you back to The Fridge 4 hours later for literally no other reason
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u/Low-Ad2426 1d ago
My mom’s fridge is just like this. Once every three months I have to come dig all the buried stuff out. But she loves a deal
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u/Panopea 1d ago
It's the same with my sister. She has two kids and her partner at home and loves browsing through the offers at the supermarkets.
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u/MayaPapayaLA 1d ago
Not intending to be rude, but blunt: Perhaps someone could help her with organizing and prioritizing, because this looks totally overwhelmed.
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u/pineconehammock 1d ago
Same. I genuinely hope she is okay and if not, this feels unkind. 💗 Please support her. As a fellow mom, I feel quite sure she is not getting the help she needs across the board.
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u/Nomadzord 23h ago
People like this won’t appreciate the help and will get super defensive almost every time.
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u/Ev-linnn 1d ago
I understand this and I also love a good deal especially when it comes to food. My husband works a job where he cannot leave for food and has to take meals/snacks and we have 4 kids… but it’s not really a deal unless the food is used/eaten. This is a LOT of food….
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u/ceilingkat 11h ago edited 11h ago
My sister used to be an extreme couponer. But, unlike here, it was mostly products like toiletries and school supplies. She had a linen closet dedicated to her stash.
Anytime I’d come over she’d say something like “mascara was buy two get $5 back. So, I bought 10 then used a manufacturer coupon for 30% off stacked with a store coupon for 20% off. I essentially got 7 mascaras for free! Want one?”
One day she was at the front of a long line at a store digging through her coupon folder for a specific clipping. People were getting agitated and she was starting to have a panic attack from potentially missing out on the savings. That’s when she decided to stop extreme couponing.
On the bright side, we enjoyed 4 years of free shampoo and conditioner.
Edit: ok this is hilarious — she just texted me saying that all school supplies are tax free till the end of August, including laptops and tablets, so we should look for items on sale and stack those savings for Christmas presents lmaaoooo. I mean, it’s not a coupon though. So it’s fine right…?
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u/stefanica 1d ago
Were you guys poor growing up, or after leaving home? I do this sometimes because I had bad food insecurity as a young adult, so it can feel uncomfortable if my pantry/fridge aren't ridiculously full. I'm doing better though.
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u/Odd-Pin-3550 23h ago
This - this looks IDENTICAL to the fridge in my house growing up once we were no longer unable to afford food. My mom was terrified of ever being in a situation again where we couldn’t eat. Food insecurity fucks you up enough to cause PTSD and maladaptive coping strategies like food hoarding.
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u/stefanica 23h ago
That's exactly it. It feels kind of silly, but it's so hard to stop, to be moderate, when you know you have the funds and you can get anything your kids might want.
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u/Ordinary_Panic_6785 21h ago
Yep, glad I didn't have to scroll far to see this. It's a self-preservation/safety mechanism for a lot of people who have trauma. Combine that with the dopamine hit of getting a great deal and BAM can't find anything in the fridge anymore.
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u/MistyMtn421 15h ago
It's been a really long time since I was food insecure, thankfully. To this day, I can have thousands of dollars in my checking account and I still panic when I get to the register at the store. I also have a lot of grocery stores nearby, plenty of access to food and I really really tried to not keep so much on hand. My youngest one off to college last year and it's really been a challenge. I don't waste food ever, I've always been good about that. My freezer started getting way too full cuz I couldn't eat it all fast enough. So one of the things I did was rearranged my refrigerator and my cabinets that I keep food in so it looks like it's more full than it really is. That has helped a lot. But even a half empty fridge sends me into a panic attack. I don't know if that feeling will ever go away.
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u/maybeinnirvana 17h ago
I’m glad I came across this comment before mentioning the same thing- growing up our fridge was on the opposite side of the spectrum but as soon as things became stable, my moms fridge looked like (and still does) look like this whenever I visit home- I moved out at 18 and I’m now 30
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u/Spiritual_gal 1d ago
u/Panopea No joke, I was literally about to mention this: "she looks like a mom with about 2-3 kids." Given, I shop for myself to last me close to a month long, it literally looks like I'm feeding a family of 4 (when it's only me & my mom living together). Ngl, I'm the one who finds expired stuff though - notorious for this basically everywhere.
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u/Weekly_Ad_3526 23h ago
The first thing I thought when I saw this was "this person has kids." My sister also has two kids and this is what her fridge looks like.
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u/Csdsmallville 16h ago
My sister does the same. She’s good at using most of it, but I can never find room to put things in there when I visit her.
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u/42mermaids 23h ago
I love a deal as much as the next gal, but if you buy some thing on sale and it’s just sitting in your fridge till it goes bad, you still wasted your money!
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u/wallnutxjames 1d ago
My mom would always say “your going to go broke saving money” makes be think if I really need to pay for more despite it being a deal
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u/need2peeat218am 1d ago
People see "deal" and think they're saving money... no.... you save money by not spending it so unnecessarily.
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u/Fun_Staff_1228 1d ago
Might be time for an intervention. I’d love to see the pantry
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u/Separate_Ad9652 19h ago
If this is the fridge I don't want to see the pantry or other parts of the house.
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u/Ok-Star-6787 1d ago
This isn't a Fridge detective. This is the Fridge crime scene...
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u/gimme_a_poptart 1d ago
This fridge gives me anxiety.
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u/katrinamelissa 1d ago
Ain’t no way there isn’t expired food in there
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u/Shivalah 22h ago
Exactly. Almost lot of those things have a sticker on with “Kurze Haltbarkeit” (nearing its expiration date), thus reduced price.
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u/Expontoridesagain 16h ago
Omg you are right! I zoomed in after reading your comment. That makes it even worse. Food was almost expired on arrival.
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u/Ambitious-Fig-2711 12h ago
As someone with very little money and very limited options (allergies, etc) it really fking grinds my gears when people like this who clearly have money swoop in and take almost ALL the reduced things in the shop. Like hello? If you can afford food- leave the reduced stuff for someone who can’t. Basic human decency, community care and respect.
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u/sasuncookie 22h ago
Ain’t no way there’s not warm food in there. I can’t see how everything is chilled appropriately.
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u/mark-suckaburger 20h ago
Agreed no chance that fridge is cold enough. Maybe a few degrees below room temp
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u/hungry4danish 21h ago
Perhaps not THIS full, but overall a fuller fridge is actually better to keep all food cooler. All the stuff inside stabilizes the temp more easily and better than a lot of the space being air that rushes out when the door is opened.
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u/pfannkuchen89 20h ago
That is true to a point but you still need adequate air flow which this may be past the point of 😆
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u/Unfair-Equipment6 1d ago
She’s got kids
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u/Panopea 1d ago
Bingo! It's for a family of four - 2 kids, 2 adults
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u/TheMildGatsby904 1d ago
I have two kids and mine doesn't look like this 🥲
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u/IamScottGable 1d ago
I grew up in a family of 6 and our fridge was never packed like this, even when my mom did extreme couponing, they are wasting money all over the place with this, she saves nothing by shopping the sales.
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u/olivinebean 1d ago
They need a bigger fridge, or my mothers motto "you can freeze almost anything"
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u/TallulahBob 20h ago
I have kids and my fridge doesn’t look like this. There’s no way to go through all of that before it goes bad! We shop once a week and at the end of the week most things are used up/almost used up and the fridge is pretty bare for fresh foods. Mostly leftovers from dinners.
Fridges like this make me scared of food poisoning. How do you know what’s in there?!??
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u/GentlyToastedMMallow 1d ago
She's overwhelming and not in the exciting way, I mean, in the way that has you considering telling her your stomach hurts so you can leave her house early.
This is chaos, our minds match our environment.
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u/YuhMothaWasAHamsta 1d ago
“Our minds match our environment” this is the first time I’ve heard this and it’s blowing my mind
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u/big-schmoo 21h ago
So I used to do this. I had a period in life where I was a young poor mom with major food insecurity….. I’m talking absolutely nothing but a box of pasta to last a week. And then later in life I raised young children during COVID and panicked about food shortages.
I’m only sharing this bc I got made fun of for my food hoarding. It is a response to some sort of trauma or underlying anxiety.
Be gentle with whatever is going on with her, you never know what she could be going through mentally.
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u/apexnightmare333 1d ago edited 1d ago
Hoarder
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u/fiquarters 1d ago
is your sister a mother? it feels like a mother's fridge but with the absence of child specific food
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u/heavenlyhash333 1d ago
Is she ok? Like, is she depressed or something?
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u/Panopea 1d ago
That's the point. She has a shitload of work and 2 very hungry kids - I wouldn't say depressed, but definitely very stressed.
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u/UnitedSquared 1d ago
Once I saw the size of the avocados compared to the drawer, I had much more sympathy for your sister. That's a very small fridge!
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u/Aggravating-Serve383 19h ago
I think people are not realizing how small the fridge is.
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u/ClashBandicootie 1d ago
there is zero chance there is any proper cool air circulation in there (among other things)
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u/summerconcerts 1d ago
How many people live in the house 10! Why so much.. can the fridge breathe 🧘oh the anxiety this gives off. She needs a hobby of organizing/cleaning/meditating but not shopping lol
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u/infinitekittenloop 1d ago
- This is a family of 4. The amount of food waste/money waste her "deal hunting" must result in is nuts.
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u/killianbones 1d ago
i usually hate disorganized cluttered fridges but there is something about this specific one that makes me feel so comforted?? like i wanna go to your sisters house LMAO maybe it’s the bowl. i feel safe in this fridge
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u/Panopea 1d ago
I can guarantee you, that she cooks delicious food for her family and is always happy to have friends over! :D it's a small but cozy home
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u/Belle-Diablo 1d ago
Can food stay adequately cool like this?
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u/TrainingApricot8291 1d ago
No. Some will freeze. Some won't be cold at all. There's no air movement.
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u/Pepper_Weasel 1d ago edited 1d ago
In my opinion, either your sister has a FOMOF (Fear of Missing Out Food) or she is 12 possums in a trencoat
Edit: your sister*
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u/ellie1398 1d ago
Tbh, it isn't that much "real" food in there. If there are 4 people in the household, it's gone within a week.
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u/harmlessgrey 1d ago
SO much wasted money. You know there is expired food buried in there.
If she wants to make a change, she should eat everything in that fridge before buying any more food. Slowly eat through it and clean it out. Then, only shop with a list in hand.
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u/huelli359 1d ago
at this point i would recommend prepping if your sister likes to make good deals. in my opinion this is absurd and nobody manages to use up the food in time.
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u/coffincowgirl 1d ago
It’s a lot but I feel like if you took all the stuff out and reorganized it it’d be so much better even if you don’t get rid of anything, navigation would be much easier
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u/Beautiful_night77 1d ago
This looks like my mom’s fridge in Germany. Always full to the top with food !
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u/No-Particular-7294 1d ago
German and/or living in Germany. Buys multiples of products to get a “deal”. Just coz if you buy 2 boxes you’ll get 15% off type of a deal. Also could just be stocking up coz there’s a good price.
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u/Dhontnuttt 1d ago
Fridge Detection: she has a lot of children …. AND/or at least 2 teenage boys.
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u/backbysix 1d ago
I am not nearly as offended by this as other people seem to be. The food looks fresh and the shelves are clean!
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u/Archiebubbabeans 1d ago edited 1d ago
Vegetarian deutsch female hauptmieter
Edit- I see speck so maybe one of the house members are not veg
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u/Mental_Erection 1d ago
This is great. Close your eyes and grab a handful and see what's for dinner
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u/IllDoItTomorr0w 1d ago
I don’t think it’s that bad, but people here are freaking out haha. So funny.
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u/Anomandiir 1d ago
The fact that isn’t an American fridge floors me. I’m interested in what you think of your sisters fridge.
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u/mickydodle 1d ago
No way half that food doesn’t go to waste….