My roommate buys in bulk, and the savings occupy every shelf we share

My roommate discovered warehouse shopping and our apartment has not recovered.

At first it was toilet paper. The package was enormous, but we both used it and the unit price was good. Then came twenty-four cans of sparkling water, restaurant-size cooking oil, duplicate cereal boxes, frozen chicken, paper towels and a bag of rice that could support us through several winters.

She pays for her own groceries and never asks me to split them. The problem is physical. Her purchases fill most of the pantry, half the freezer and the shelf above the washer. I keep coffee, pasta and three cans of beans in a narrow strip that now feels like rented territory inside the home I already rent.

When I raised it, she said I was welcome to buy more and use the remaining space. That answer treats storage like an open race. I do not want to fill the apartment merely to defend my share of it.

The moment that made the conflict unavoidable was a grocery delivery. I opened the freezer and found no room for one bag of vegetables because three family packs of meat were stacked across both drawers. I asked whether we could divide the freezer vertically. She said fixed zones would waste space whenever one person had less food.

She is right that perfect halves can be inefficient. I am right that “flexible” currently means the fastest shopper controls the shelf.

I proposed a base allocation plus a shared overflow zone. Each of us gets one freezer drawer section, two pantry shelves and a defined amount of utility storage. Overflow can be used temporarily if the other person agrees and there is a date for the space to return. Communal supplies need agreement before arriving in industrial quantities.

She thinks labeling shelves will make the kitchen feel like a dorm. I think it will make the kitchen feel like a place where I can put groceries.

Would you divide storage physically, set quantity limits, or create a one-in-one-out rule for bulk items? How do shared homes preserve useful flexibility without rewarding whoever occupies space first?