Deep freezers or as they are sometimes called chest freezers are a huge blessing. We have a large freezer and I recommend that to everyone that can possibly afford one buy one or ask for one as a gift. It literally saves you money and is the gift that keeps on giving. You can order them on amazon for less than $200. While that’s not exactly chump change if you’re on a budget, it might be worth stretching your credit cards for when you realize how much you can trim out of your grocery budget! Here’s my top 5 reasons to own a deep freeze:
1. Less impulse buying on ‘junk’
Knowing you have a freezer at home, you can adjust what you buy on store trips to what you need or might use instead of just what will keep for a few days or fit in a small freezer. That means more good quality foods and less ‘junk’ that you get just because it’s shelf stable. Fewer trips to the store also = fewer chances to snag pre-packaged cookies.
2. Planning ahead saves you money
Writing out a month’s budget can be time consuming, but even having a general idea of what you need can help you pick up items that will work for several different recipes at once at the best price. Example: family pack chicken. While you’re saving only pennies per lb. over smaller packages those pennies still add up to dollars when done on every freezer worthy item! Cuts out on ‘lazy take out’ nights when you can have items pre-prepped and ready to thaw as well! Separating into more useful sizes does cost something in freezer wrap, re-usable containers or plastic food storage bags, but in the long run you’re still saving green!
3. Less food wasted
Every week, stores post ‘loss leader’ advertisements, things they literally lose money on to get you into the store. Without a freezer, you might lose some of that to spoilage before it can be used. When you can pay 99 cents for an entire pineapple, cut it up, eat what you want and then freeze the rest, you’ll have the equivalent of 2 or 3 cans of pineapple that could sit on a shelf for $1.50 apiece in your freezer for let’s say 33 cents instead. Not bad! Summer is a good time to stock up on these inexpensive items and have healthy, fresh, ready to eat snacks and desserts all winter long, at no further cost to you. Bonus: it was already on sale!
4. Garden your heart out
While some things like squash just don’t freeze well, other things like cooked down tomatoes, fruit, and diced peppers do really well. You could also make jams out of the fruit and save even more money and have better tasting peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in a pinch! Seed money is tiny compared to what you use all year long on fresh fruits and veggies!
5. Room to grow
Ever passed up on a great opportunity for free food because you don’t have room to store it or time to deal with it? Free turkey with purchase, but have no place for it? Buy one get one deals you normally pass up even though it saves you money? A deep freeze can solve many of those problems, allowing you to go beyond the ‘family pack’ to buying from co-ops, family farmers selling large quantities or ‘sides of beef’ for example, and never worry about grocery store pricing again. We buy from family farmers and never have to think about steak being $7-12/lb. because we pay one flat rate typically around $3.50 a lb. for every lb. of meat, no matter what cut it is. Whether it’s summer time grilling with a steak or hearty casseroles in the winter, we’ve already got it paid for and stored, the price only fluctuates from year to year and not week to week or cut to cut, and while it does go UP a little bit each year, it’s still a discount on even the cheapest cuts of meat.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this frugal foodie post. Find more by clicking the Frugal Foodie tag at the end of this post. Even more great ideas under recipes and post-partum meals!
Great post. I will be facing some of these issues as well..