To have or not have a freezer

[JanH]

When growing up, we had a freezer locker in another city that stored our beef and a freezer at home that stored a smaller amount to use and our garden vegetables. It sure was handy. But, Hubby and I have to empty our small chest freezer every year for hurricane season because it is such a big mess. And, we don't like to keep meat in there during the season either. We love having one to store meals in or specials on meat the rest of the year. But, like you, we don't eat as much meat anymore. I'm going to try to use the fridge freezer more efficiently this year and see what happens. I guess our fridge freezer is easier to use than most because our ice maker never worked well and is discarded, and we have the extra room in there. I guess it depends on lifestyle and what you use it for. I think we probably waste electricity on our chest freezer since it never fills up very far.

[Homebody]

A freezer was our first purchase after getting married. We just bought a brand new one and our electrical bill has actually gone down, but that also coincided with spring summer when it goes down anyway.

We eat a lot of meat, but a lot of beans and also eat tofu. We just like to eat! I thought tofu was something you didn't want to freeze so that is something for me to remember.

I think only you can answer the freezer question. It depends on how you shop and cook. I freeze lots of stuff. I cook from scratch and freeze pestos, tomato sauces, cookies, nuts, oatmeal pancakes, mini loaves of bread. Cooked soups. Leftovers.

We purchased an upright. Our first freezer was a chest freezer and we found it was difficult because I am darn short and had a hard time even reaching down into the bottom areas and we "lost" more stuff. The upright does cost more to run and does not hold as much, but for us, an upright is just easier to deal with and at this point in my life, that is important!

Good luck on your decision.

[disneysteve]

A freezer was our first purchase after getting married.

Us too. It was the first appliance we purchased while we were still renting. We didn't buy anything else until we moved into our house 2 years later.

I thought tofu was something you didn't want to freeze so that is something for me to remember.

Yes, tofu can be frozen. Not sure there is any reason to freeze silken or soft, but firm and extra firm become more porous and "meatier" (I hate using that term when speaking about vegetarian food, but you know what I mean). If you marinate your tofu, the frozen and thawed stuff will absorb the flavors better. It does get a little darker in color once frozen so don't worry about that.

[marvholly]

Personally, after my hubby passed away 5 years ago I thought I could live without a frezer, However, I have found out just how wrong I am and am thinking about replacing mine.

Let me count the ways:
1. I hate to cook after work
2. I batch cook one dish/week & save in single meal containers. After a few weeks I have multiple choices for quick, healthy lunch/dinner daily.
3.With prices going up daily I can cherry pick sales/clearance items and keep to my budget.
4. I have started to buy my bread at the outlet store which is a bit out of my normal travel pattern so freezing is a must

Like many have said mine is in the basement and a bit of a PITA to keep going to. Thus, I can keep candy type items there and "control" myself.

[marvholly]

Another point I forgot:
At this time of year I stock up on berries and freeze them. Then when $$$ are high I can just grab from the freezer to mix w/ my yougurt for breakfast a couple times/week

[Gailete]

I'm disabled and never know when a flare-up will through shopping plans out the window. I try to keep the big freezer stocked and with prices going through the roof, I'm trying to stock it back up as it got really emptied out during the winter when I felt the worse. It is great to know that I have things on had and don't need to make a 9 mile round trip to the nearest store, much less the 25 mile round trip to the cheapest store. The nearest store had Minute Maid concentrated OJ for $2.49. Same size at Walmart $1.79 I stocked up even though I still think that is a high price, but a 70 cent savings per can. I plan on stocking up on ground beef this week too as it is on sale this week at a price we don't see very often.

As much as possible I think we should keep stocked up with food and necessities as you never know when a problem will happen and you can't get to the store or the store isn't available to shop at.

Gail

[eisor]

DH and I purchased one a few months ago and we love it. I've completely filled it up. It's a mid-size chest freezer. It didn't really increase our electricity bill much either, but it is a newer model. I'm sure since yours is older, it uses more electricity.

I use coupons frequently and I'm constantly getting food for free. Without our freezer, I wouldn't be able to stock up on a lot of things like I do. I love ours!

[antiver]

I buy a lot of family style portions from the grocery store, which end up costing 10% of what it would cost to buy an individual frozen portion. For example, a family size thing of lasagna can feed me for 6-8 meals, and only costs about $11. An individual portion of the same brand of lasagna costs ~$5. It adds up