I share my bedroom with a freezer
Posted
Sep 24 2008, 01:43 AM
by
Donna Freedman
Rating:
It's surprisingly easy to get used to the sound of a compressor, or to the noise that refrigerant makes as it circulates. For the first couple of nights I was startled awake as I heard clicking, humming or bubbling sounds. Now I generally sleep through it. When I do wake up, I smile as I drift back off. To me, it sounds like money.
Back in June I wrote about wanting to buy a chest freezer. The Labor Day sales finally got me off my dime. Or, rather, off 1,800 of my dimes: I paid $179.99 for a 5.5-cubic-foot chest freezer from Sears. And I'm absurdly happy with my purchase.
Maybe 5.5 cubic feet doesn't sound like much space, but here's what I have in it now: four whole fryers, three pounds of bacon, one pound of ground beef, two steaks, seven pounds of butter, two containers of soft margarine, two gallons of water, approximately 20 pints of blackberries (I lost count) and 15 pounds of plain frozen vegetables. All of this was bought on sale, sometimes deeply discounted -- except for the blackberries, which in Seattle are free for the picking.
And there's still room left. Bread outlet, here I come.
Why I wanted this
Since I live alone, some people are surprised I bought a freezer. But I think it's a good investment. For example, those frozen vegetables are normally $1.69 a pound; I saved $10.35 by buying them on sale. One bag holds four to five servings, so I'm probably covered until the next time they're $1 a bag.
When I find really good meat sales, I'll be able to buy several months' worth at a time. Those whole fryers were 97 cents a pound, so I bought five: one to eat right away and four to freeze. When turkey and ham go on sale around the holidays, I'll likely stash one of each. And if I see any Certified Angus steaks in the "used meat" bin, marked down to $1 or $2 apiece, then I'd like to put some away for later.
Still not convinced? Well, Amy Dacyczyn is on my side. In her 1995 book "The Tightwad Gazette II," she wrote that a small freezer is a swell idea for singles. Dacyczyn noted that freezers allow us to store bulk grains, shop less often, prepare and freeze meals in quantity, and eat "a healthier, more varied diet," especially by accepting garden surplus from others.
Over at the Life As I See It blog, at-home mom Jessica Morris goes even further: She says that a freezer is "essential to maximize your ability to save money."
She's an avid couponer and sales-watcher, which is why her freezer is stuffed with bargains: "tons" of packages of shredded cheese and deli meats, six half-gallons of milk, a baker's dozen of bread loaves, eight bags of M&Ms, 10 bags of organic vegetables, and some entrees she made and froze "for lazy days."
The sandwich meat, bread and M&Ms were free with coupons. The cheese cost $1.50 a pound, and the milk was 95 cents per half-gallon. The organic vegetables were 50 cents a bag. Morris practices "stealth stock-up;" she obtained these things as part of her regular grocery shopping.
"If we didn't have that freezer, we couldn't have all that stuff," Morris writes. "I like having the ability to stock up."
The ice age
Morris got her freezer on Craigslist. However, it's important to note that really old freezers are energy hogs, and that not everyone is comfortable with buying secondhand appliances. Morris also suggests checking out the "scratch and dent" section at major retailers.
I did that. Every week I called the Sears Appliance Outlet to see if they'd received any slightly battered chest freezers. Sometimes they had, but always in a larger size than my apartment could handle. That's why I finally bought one from the Sears showroom. At least it was on sale.
According to the bright-yellow U.S. Government Energy Guide card, this model uses an estimated 242 kilowatt-hours per year. At the current local rate, that translates to about 78 cents a month.
Of course, that's only an estimate. Your mileage may vary, especially if you open and close the freezer a lot, or put in hot or room- temperature items that make it work harder. That's why I will first put new purchases in the freezer atop my refrigerator. Once I get a lot of things I'll put them into the chest freezer all at once, rather than opening it every time I shop. Those whole fryers were solidly frozen before I relocated them.
I know that a freezer that's full runs more efficiently; I put in those two gallons of water to help fill up space. But this is a manual-defrost freezer, so the fewer times I open it, the less frost will develop. I'd rather spend a few more cents upfront on energy than have to defrost it any sooner than absolutely necessary. (I can still hear my mom yelling, "Close that freezer door!" any time we kids were too slow in retrieving bread, garden produce or freezer jam.)
Keep a lid on it
I don't plan to open mine and stare into it, wondering what's at the bottom. In addition to making an inventory of my nonperishables, I've made one of my frozen foods. Before I loaded the freezer, I created a list -- on an old envelope, of course -- that I will consult when I plan meals in the coming months.
To make sure I use the oldest meats first, I put the packages in brown bags (recycled from bagel purchases) with the dates written on them in big letters. As one Smart Spending message board reader noted, freezers are "great places for food to hide."
Posting as "yogi_and_bubu" on a thread called "What's in your pantry?" the reader said it's a good idea to keep a list right on the freezer door. "As I use things I'd adjust the quantities, so I have a really good idea of what's in there at all times."
That's my plan. I'd hate to have to toss out freezer-burned meat, even if it were marked-down meat. Waste is still waste, even at a discount.
