The knives weren't as bad as I thought. There were only 2 that needed to be stored. The rest was composed of rubber spatulas I don't ever use, some wooden spoons and miscellaneous items. All but one of the spatulas went into storage. If I don't use the one in six months, they may all get tossed.
With the two gadgets out of the way, enough space was freed in the overhead cabinets to store some more of my overflow. Two boxes of tissues, some chewing gum, and my commercial sized roll of aluminum foil, which will come back in use after I use up the regular roll I have had for - well, since before I bought the commercial roll of aluminum foil, and I've had it since last fall!
I can actually see progress now. There is a large empty space on the top of the refrigerator, hooray! All the top contains now are the onions, the plastic wrap, and the small roll of foil. The papers attached to the front of the refrigerator are now placed in my binder for storage, where they look much better. I need to go through that clutter trap attached to the side of the fridge, but I'll save that for another day.
Dinner tonight will be leftovers. I have some chicken salad from the other day that needs to be eaten. My daughter will not be pleased, but it is a shame to waste good food. Found my freezer bags, so some chicken thighs and legs will be placed in the freezer before the day is through.
I am really beginning to believe that Gregory Paul Johnson is onto something when he talks about outsourcing our lives more. Read his book "Put Your Life on a Diet" to see what I mean.
Think about it: I'm a single mom of one, and when I cook, a lot of times a lot is wasted. Is there a way to have food at home for just the two of us that is not only economical, but not so wasteful of time, resources, storage space, and energy? I don't want to eat out every night, but most meals are for at least four people, and our two is just not cutting it. While I don't mind leftovers they do get old on a regular basis.
While I could get a larger refrigerator or a small deep freeze and freeze the leftovers, that does not seem like a frugal solution to the issue. The goal is to have less to care for, not more - and this small refrigerator helps me to control my spending on perishables. I can't purchase it if there's no place to put it! This also gives me incentive to use up what my refrigerator or freezer contains rather than shop for more.. encouraging me to save money...
Some things that I use a lot of like flour, butter and bleach may be good to keep a surplus of, but I honestly do NOT need to keep so much of EVERYTHING!
It will come with time.