Most fridges are set colder or warmer than they should be, and most people never check. The fix takes two minutes and changes how long everything inside actually lasts.
Check the actual temperature, not the dial number
A fridge should sit between 1°C and 4°C. The numbered dial isn't a thermometer — it's a compressor setting, and it drifts depending on how full the fridge is and how often the door opens. A cheap fridge thermometer left on the middle shelf for a day tells you the truth in a way the dial never will.
The door is the warmest part of the fridge
Every time the door opens, the door shelves warm up faster than anything on the main shelves. That's fine for condiments and drinks, which don't spoil easily, but it's the wrong spot for milk or anything that needs to stay reliably cold. Keep those on a middle or lower shelf instead, where the temperature barely moves.
Raw meat goes on the bottom shelf, always
Not for flavour reasons — for drip reasons. Juices from raw meat or fish can run down onto whatever's below it, so the bottom shelf is the only safe place for raw protein. Cooked food, leftovers, and anything ready-to-eat belong above it, never underneath.
What doesn't actually need to be in there
Potatoes, onions, garlic, and whole tomatoes keep better in a cool, dark cupboard than in the fridge — cold actually changes their texture for the worse. Bread goes stale faster in the fridge, not slower; freeze it instead if you won't finish it in a few days.
Dates are the exception worth knowing
Dates don't need refrigeration at all — a sealed container in a cupboard keeps them fine for months, which is exactly why pemborong kurma ajwa sell them dried rather than fresh. But in a hot, humid kitchen they last noticeably longer in the fridge, where the sugars on the skin stay firm instead of turning sticky. If you buy in bulk and won't get through a box within a month or two, the fridge (or even the freezer) is worth the shelf space — just bring them back to room temperature before serving, since cold dates taste duller than they should. The homepage has current stock if you're buying enough to need that kind of storage plan.
Clean it out on a schedule, not when it smells
Wipe shelves down once a month with warm water rather than waiting until something spills or something starts to smell. A fridge that's never cleaned accumulates old spills in the door seals, and that's what actually causes most of the smell people blame on "old food" that isn't even old. More storage and buying notes like this are on the blog.