Save money, waste less: date your food

I used to pull a jar of salsa out of the fridge and wonder when I opened it. Was it a week or three months ago?

I ended up with two problems:

1) I had things in my fridge that were WELL past fresh. (A recent bottle of peanut oil I found had a sell-by date more than three years passed. Now I know oil stays fresh longer in the fridge, but that was embarrassing.)

2) I threw out things that were probably fine, but couldn't remember exactly how long they were in the fridge.

SOLUTION?

I keep a sharpie in the drawer next to my fridge. I write the date on EVERY item I put in the fridge before it goes in. I have much more confidence that the food I am serving is fresh and safe. I'm saving money and space. No more year-old pickles taking up space, and no more throwing something out because it *might* be too old.