Martin Lewis fans swear by this one freezer trick to cut food waste in half

Food prices keep creeping up, bins keep filling, and Martin Lewis fans say there’s a one-step freezer move that slashes the waste and saves the weekly shop from vanishing into the bin.

47pm, the kind of hour when the fridge hum feels louder than your thoughts. Half a loaf going stale, a lonely chicken breast, two bendy carrots, and yoghurt on its last day. You know that little gulp of guilt you swallow before you close the door and pretend you don’t see it.

We’ve all had that moment when you’re torn between doing the “right” thing and just getting to bed. In a MoneySavingExpert thread, I saw people talk about a simple freezer habit that stopped that late-night dance. Not perfection. Just a fix that fits real life.

Two minutes with a marker pen changed everything.

The freezer filing system fans won’t stop talking about

The trick is disarmingly simple: portion your food, freeze it flat in bags, then stand the frozen “pages” upright like files. You label the spine, you flick through, you pull exactly what you need. *Freeze it flat, then file it.*

Think of it like turning your chaotic bottom drawer into a neat bookshelf. Sauces become slim chapters. Mince, stews, berries, even mashed banana for banana bread — all pressed thin, frozen on a tray, then stacked vertically in a box. One glance and you know what’s there.

It’s the visibility that changes the game.

On the MoneySavingExpert forums, a dad from Kent posted that he’d cut his family’s food waste by “about half” after two weeks of “freezer filing”. He wasn’t weighing scraps, just noticing fewer furry surprises and fewer “emergency” takeaways. WRAP estimates UK homes bin millions of tonnes of edible food each year, worth roughly £700 per average family.

That’s the money side. The mood side matters too. He said evenings felt calmer: no guesswork, no mystery tubs. Pull a flat pack of chilli, snap off a portion if you froze it thin, and dinner lands faster than a delivery app can ping.

There’s a smug joy in opening a freezer that looks like a tidy record collection. Small win, big ripple.

Here’s why it works. Surface area is your secret weapon: thin packs freeze faster, thaw faster, and suffer less freezer burn. Clear labels wipe out the “UFO” problem — Unidentified Frozen Objects that linger until they die twice.

Standing things upright beats the pile-up where good intentions go to be forgotten. Your brain sees choice, not clutter. You plan in seconds because you can “shop” your own stash like a mini supermarket shelf.

Plus, portioning on day one stops you cooking for five when you only need dinner for one. Less waste at the plate, less waste in the bin.

How to do it tonight (five minutes, tops)

Grab a baking tray, freezer bags or reusable silicone pouches, masking tape and a marker. Portion your food — half loaves, single chicken breasts, handfuls of chopped veg, leftover sauces in cup-sized pours. Squeeze out the air, seal, press the packs flat on the tray.

Label the tape with the item, quantity, and date. Add a playful nudge like “use me first”. Freeze the tray flat. In the morning, stand the “pages” upright in a shoebox or organiser. That’s your freezer shelf, now a library.

One box for raw, one for cooked. Keep raw at the bottom if your freezer has shelves. Simple, safe, and oddly satisfying.

Common slip-ups are easy to fix. Don’t overfill bags; aim for 1–3cm thickness so they freeze fast and stack neatly. Cool cooked food quickly and freeze within two hours. If you’re freezing near the use-by day, you’re still fine — frozen food effectively pauses the clock.

Let’s be honest: nobody actually does that every single day. Batch a few items on a Sunday night, then top up when you notice a half loaf or spot a yellow-sticker deal. Freezer at about -18°C, labels facing out, and you’re golden.

Mixing raw and cooked in the same organiser creates fuss later. Keep them separate, and keep dairy and bread handy near the front for everyday grabs.

The best bit comes from the people doing it in busy homes. They sound relieved, not worthy.

“I stopped playing freezer roulette. Now I can see it, I eat it. Less bin, fewer takeaways, and my kids actually get a proper tea on dance nights.”

• Bread: slice and flat-freeze for easy toast-by-toast pulls.
• Milk: freeze in portions for tea runs and mash.
• Cheese: grate cheddar, freeze flat, sprinkle from frozen.
• Herbs: chop, cover with oil in ice trays, pop into sauces.
• Cooked rice: portion, cool quickly, freeze thin, reheat piping hot.
• Bananas: mash, flat-freeze for baking or smoothies.

The quiet power of a freezer that makes choices easy

There’s a bigger shift humming under this little hack. When leftovers have a destination, you cook with a lighter hand. When dinner is a two-minute browse in your own “cold cupboard”, the week feels less brittle. You spend less, you waste less, and you turn late-night guilt into small, smug wins you feel in your wallet.

And this is where Martin Lewis fans are right to bang the drum. The freezer filing system isn’t a fad; it’s a tiny behaviour tweak that meets you where you are. Raw? Bottom drawer. Cooked? Middle box. An “eat-me-first” file on the door for the lively stuff like bread and berries. Bold label, no guesswork, and no lecture.

You might start with bread and berries and find yourself “freezer-librarianing” everything from pesto to pancakes. That’s not a trend. That’s a kitchen finally doing what you need it to do.

There’s a secret social magic in this, too. Share a photo of your “freezer files” and you’ll get DMs asking how you did it. Not because it looks perfect, but because it looks doable. A nudge, a marker pen, a baking tray, and a decision to stop losing money to the bin. That’s the sort of change that spreads, quietly, across streets and WhatsApp groups.

If you try it tonight, start small. One loaf, one leftover sauce, one bag of chopped peppers. Label, freeze flat, file. In three days you’ll pull a pack, snap, and cook like you planned it all along. In three weeks you’ll notice your food shop stretching further and your bin looking less tragic.

And in three months, you might be the one saying it out loud: **this little freezer trick can cut food waste in half**. Because when food becomes easy to see and simple to use, it actually gets eaten.

FAQ :

• Can I freeze food on its use-by date?Yes. Freeze before midnight on the use-by date and the clock pauses. Cook within 24 hours of defrosting or cook from frozen if suitable.
• Is it safe to refreeze food once thawed?Raw food that’s been thawed should not be refrozen. Cook it first; once cooked, you can freeze the cooked dish again.
• What bags should I use for flat-freezing?Reusable silicone pouches or sturdy freezer bags work well. Expel air before sealing to reduce freezer burn.
• How thin should I make each pack?Around 1–3cm is ideal. Thin enough to freeze fast and stand neatly, thick enough to avoid splitting.
• What if my freezer is tiny?Create one “file” box and rotate. Even a shoe-box-sized organiser can hold a week of dinners when everything stands up.