Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

M. — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:29:54 GMT

Tongue tacos? I don't think I could do it... ;)

I'm thinking of investing in a small chest freezer. My fridge/freezer is full (a blessing), and I keep seeing amazing sales this summer! It would have to be the smallest model, though, as we live in a small apartment, but I know people who still have separate freezers in small apartments.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

Hack — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 11:20:30 GMT

There are two essential appliances in our home: Our freezer and our Foodsaver vacuum.

I also date everything that goes into the freezer, as contrary to what a number of people believe, frozen food cannot be stored indefinitely.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

H. Durazo — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:24:08 GMT

Lengua is amazing, you should have the homies hook you up with tacos after they prepare it.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

LKD — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:53:27 GMT

Always had a seperate freezer, great, also bought 1/2 beefs, specials on pork and chicken, plus other items. Frozen meats will last 6 mos to a yr.

For hamburger beef, not pork, buy boneless roasts of about 4 lbs at $1.89 to $2.49 lb and the butcher should grind it for you free! Same plain hamburger is selling for $2.99 lb! (most grinders are for one type of meat only, beef, as it has to be cleaned to do pork). These 4 lb roasts, both beef and pork, are also so delicious cooked whole, with seasonings, in a slow-cooker! LKD

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

JellyCity — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 20:01:15 GMT

My mother used her big chest freezer for years, until it finally bit the dust a couple summers ago. She used to freeze veggies from the garden and stocked up on things when they went on sale. After I moved into my own apartment, my fridge had such a dinky little freezer in it. I used to stock up on things and "borrowed" freezer space from Mom. By that time she was living alone too, and didn't need the whole freezer space for herself anyway, so it worked out well for both of us. Of course they say a full freezer is more energy efficient than one that's not full, but you can always freeze jugs of water to fill up the empty space. And, a friend of mine shared a tip with me. After her husband lost his job, they were really struggling to make ends meet. She said she would try to buy extra milk when it went on sale and freeze it. She would pour a little out into another container, to allow for the milk to expand as it froze. She said it tasted fine when it was thawed out again. With a couple young kids who drank a lot of milk, this really helped them save money on milk.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

Arizona — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:20:19 GMT

We have a small chest freezer and it is always full and its only the two of us. We freeze day old bread and buy the family packs of chicken, hamberger, etc(on sale) and separate them into smaller portions. Right now pork seems to running pretty cheap and we have alot of it. We also buy(on sale) and freeze peppers and fruit while they are in season. This small freezer has saved us soooooooo much money.

If you are going to purchase one try and get a chest freezer they use a lot less energy than an upright.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

dbellis — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 19:09:00 GMT

"Even frozen Omaha steaks are tougher and less flavorful than fresh loss leaders at my local supermarket"

Seriously, I have never found any of the meat available at the grocery store to be comparable to Omaha Steaks. They are flash frozen and awesome! They are also a little too expensive to have on a regular basis. :)

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

R.May — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:30:47 GMT

Agreed Elena - buy watching prices at the store, buying and stocking up what meat is on sale, I spend a lot less on meat then that a year.

But then I am also of the opinion that meat should be treated as a side not a main dish - lots of fruit and veggies for the main, a little meat and starch.

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

elena — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 15:11:56 GMT

Great tip, except for frozen beef is not quite the same as fresh. Even frozen Omaha steaks are tougher and less flavorful than fresh loss leaders at my local supermarket

If it is just for the hamburger, summer is great time to buy it. I lucked into $1.99/lb recently per pound it still beats the side of beef

re: Cut your food costs with a stand-alone freezer

98birdwoman — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:21:06 GMT

I have never worked out what the electric costs of owning/using my freezer because I am just so thankful for the convenience. I never have to worry about whether there’s room in the refrigerator freezer when I run across a good sale or decide to stock up at the big box stores. IMO my freezer is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made.