Prior to selling all our stuff and moving to Panama, our fridge was always full on Saturdays. Packed! I could barely fit six beers in there.

Shopping was typically done on a Friday after work, or Saturday morning. Groceries would be bought for the week, and for the most part, fruits and veggies would last that long.

By the time Wednesday rolled around our minimalist fridge would start to look minimalistically bare. And that’s really how it should be, shouldn’t it?

As North Americans, we fill our fridge with snacks, condiments, sauces, juices, milks, pickles, I can’t believe it’s not butter, fruits, veggies, hot dogs, leftovers, you name it. Many people even have a second fridge. Even more have a beer fridge. Hey, I don’t judge.

We stock our freezers full of everything we can, and many people opt for a deep/chest freezer and load up on meats, frozen pizzas, breads, frozen concentrated orange juice, bags of corn, peas, carrots or a mixed bag of all three. And sometimes you accidentally get the frozen bag of veggies with Lima beans, and rather than eat those you keep it forever because you may need to ice your knee, shoulder, ankle, or other body part and everyone knows frozen veggies work great for this, especially Lima beans. Digressed a bit there, sorry.

But what I’m trying to say is…

We don’t need to shop for the apocalypse when it comes to food.

I know, I know, when frozen pizzas are on sale for $2.99 you want to buy like, 10 of them, but do you really need to? For starters, processed food isn’t exactly the healthiest choice. Secondly, you’ll probably need to have a chest/deep freezer like the one mentioned above to store said pizzas, which costs money to buy and money to operate; moreover, it takes up space.

We value our time, and these quick eats often help minimize said time, but at what cost – both to your wallet and to your health? And what are you in such a hurry for anyway? Jones-ing to see the next episode of The Walking Dead? Really? Dead people walking? Wait – high paid actors pretending to be dead people…walking? Hey, I don’t judge.

If you want a minimalist lifestyle, it helps to have a minimalist fridge. Not sure where to start? Check out these 7 things that can be minimalized from your refrigerator from becomingminimalist.com.

And here’s a question for you. Do you have ketchup and horseradish in your fridge? If you do, guess what, you need not buy seafood sauce, because that’s what seafood sauce is. Horseradish and ketchup. Oh sure, you can spruce it up with lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce, but that’s basically it.

Here’s another minimalist fridge freebie. Do you have garlic powder, mayonnaise and milk (dairy, rice, or soy) ? If you do, guess what you don’t need in your minimalist fridge…Caesar Salad dressing!

There are so many things that can be made with the condiments you frequently use. Give it a try!

So toss out those expired bottles of barbecue sauce, use up whats in your freezer, and transform your packed-full fridge into a minimalist fridge!

Now go sell all your stuff!