What Do the Contents of Your Fridge Say About Your Personality Style?

When you know DISC, it's incredible how many ways you can see personality reflected in human behavior of everyday patterns, habits, and routines. Just for fun, let's take a look at how the contents of your fridge can reveal important characteristics about your personality type.

Personality Style "D" = The Deliberate Shopper

If you have a "D" style personality, chances are your fridge has a very minimalistic look to it. Many people with "D" style personalities tend to be what we call "need-based" grocery shoppers. They have a particular item in mind that they need, and they go to the store to pick it up with no fuss, no comparison shopping, and no dilly-dallying. For need-based shoppers, going to the grocery store is something that only happens out of sheer necessity. The idea of popping into the grocery store to "see what looks good" is total craziness to a high "D."

In most cases, they don't like to shop because it's a distraction from other things that they would rather be doing. They tend to only go to the store to buy what they need the moment they need it. If you open someone's fridge and it's virtually empty except for the necessities, they likely have a "D" personality.

That said, there is another grocery shopping possibility for deliberate "D" style personalities. If grocery shopping is one of the primary household responsibilities of a "D," they're probably crushing it. Many extreme couponers tend to be "D" personalities. It makes sense, though coupon clipping is often attributed to the hyper-organized "C" style personalities, "D" personalities are incredibly competitive. They love the idea of "winning" at shopping. For these kinds of "D" shoppers, it's not necessarily as much about saving money as it is about walking away from the store knowing they got a better deal than everyone else. If this is the case, their fridge might be packed and chaotic, filled to the brim with bargains.

Personality Style "I" = The Imaginative Shopper

On Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day, an "I" style personally has their work cut out for them. Not ones to typically have the patience for meticulously organizing their refrigerator or planning meals ahead of time; they are drawn to buying whatever looks good at the moment. It's not necessarily about need; it's about want. They love to try new things. Colorfully packaged, stylish, and unusual food items are all attractive to a person with a type "I" personality. "I" style personality types love to entertain, too and like to have lots of food on hand just in case a spontaneous get-together breaks out.

"I" styles have fun, charismatic, and exuberant personalities. Their fridge reflects this and will be full of colorful fruits, veggies, and unique foods you've never heard of before. "I's" shop without lists, putting together creative meal ideas on the fly as they roll through the aisles. They're also suckers for chic or unique grocery shops, farmers' markets, and splurge-worthy items. They're great people to visit because their fridges are always chock-full of delicious and exciting food options. (Downside: They're also likely to have a bunch of expired products jammed in the back, mostly things they decided to try on a whim but either didn't like or forgot about.)

Personality Style "S" = The Sensible Shopper

A person with an "S" style personality likes to keep to a familiar routine. They prefer to shop at the same store every week. They know what they want, tend to gravitate towards the same brands, and rarely deviate from their shopping lists.

The fridge of an "S" personality can often be identified by the presence of bulk products and multiple leftover containers. People with "S" personalities like to make sure there's enough food for everyone, everyone is happy, and no one leaves the table hungry. A good portion of their fridge is usually devoted to leftovers and condiments: meals they've already made and things that will help them make meals in the future.

Type "S" personalities also tend to have very crowded refrigerators, but they look a bit different than the fridge of an "I." The "I's" fridge is full of fresh and unique products—things they were drawn to in the moment. An "S" tends to stick to the same things and is more likely to buy one giant bottle of ketchup than three different bottles of artisanal flavored ketchup. An "S" personality knows what they like and goes back for the same things very frequently. People drawn to warehouse club shopping, like Costco and Sam's Club, are often "S" personalities.

Personality Style "C" = The Coordinated Shopper

You know the person that throws a bottle of ketchup into the crisper because it's the only place they can find room for it? That's something a person with a type "C" personality would NEVER do. Here are a few things that a "C" will do:

• A "C" shops from a list.
• A "C" has a plan for how to move through the grocery store. They've planned their route ahead of time and already have their coupons loaded onto their grocery card.
• A "C" knows what everything should cost and will rarely buy something at retail price. They may keep a running tally of the toll in their heads while they shop and are accurate in predicting the final total.
• A "C" puts meats in the deli drawer and veggies in the crisper. They only have one bottle of mustard, as opposed to three half-empty bottles.
• A "C" has a clean fridge, with no expired products or past-edible leftovers hidden in the back. Similar products are stored together—olives next to pickles and mustard next to mayo. If someone goes into the fridge and puts the milk on the wrong shelf, the next time the "C" opens the refrigerator, they'll move it to its proper place.

A person with a "C" personality type is organized, analytical, and meticulous, both when it comes to planning out a shopping trip and putting groceries away in the refrigerator. Just open up their fridge door, and you'll see this reflected at you. They don't have a crowded fridge. They only store what they will reasonably use and put everything away neatly with a clear sense of order. They don't need National Clean Out Your Fridge Day because they've already cleaned out their fridge. Heck, they probably even have a monthly fridge clean-out schedule that they already adhere to. They're that organized.

Final Thoughts…

Of course, if you have a roommate or a partner with a different personality type that shares in the shopping and stocking of food, that changes things. If you have a DISC personality style blend, that will change your grocery shopping and refrigerator personality slightly, too. For example, last week, I went to Costco with a friend who has a "CS" personality blend. She saw a package of retro sodas on the shelf she knew her family would love and stood in front of the display for five whole minutes trying to decide if she could bring herself to buy something impulsively that wasn't on her shopping list. Eventually, she walked away without the sodas, and her inner "C" won out. It was quite a battle.

If you have a DISC style blend that's reflected in your grocery shopping style or by the contents of your fridge, we'd love to hear about it in the comments below.