Filling the Freezer on a Budget
© uckyo / Dollar Photo Club
After lots of careful consideration, we bought a deep freeze last week. The two biggest reasons we did this were:
1. To be able to preserve more of the food we grow.
2. To save money by buying in bulk, on sale or in season.
Since buying our freezer, I’ve been tempted to just go out and buy lots of stuff to fill it, after all a full freezer is more cost effective than a partially full one. However, we are a on a budget and I want to stick too it. So our freezer is going to have to be filled a little more slowly than I’d like.
We bought it at a great time though since there are so many awesome deals on food around the holiday season. We already had a 25 lb bag of oats and a lot of fruit that we froze over the summer to put in it, but we still have lots of room to spare.
The four main ways to save with a deep freeze are:
1. Growing/hunting your own
2. Buying in bulk
3. Stocking up on sale items
4. Buying in season
Since the growing season is pretty much over, I’m going to have to focus on buying in bulk and stocking up on sale items until the garden starts producing again next year.
For example, I’ve been buying lots of butter @ 1.69 lb and chocolate chips @ 1.19 per bag because they both freeze well and this is probably the lowest they are going to be in my area.
I also bought several bags of onions for .69 each and a 5.5 lb tub of ground beef @ 2.29 per lb because these are great prices and they both freeze well.
I spent the morning chopping onions and cooking ground beef so now I have the prep work done for many dinners to come!
I froze 5 chopped onions per bag and 1 lb ground beef per bag. Two lbs of the ground beef I made into taco meat.
*TIPS:
1.Make sure ground beef is completely cooled before bagging
2. Put onions in the fridge 30 minutes before chopping to lesson the burning eye effect.
3. Double bag onions so they don’t make your freezer smell.
1.Make sure ground beef is completely cooled before bagging
2. Put onions in the fridge 30 minutes before chopping to lesson the burning eye effect.
3. Double bag onions so they don’t make your freezer smell.
I’m also making a huge pot of beans for dinner tonight and I anticipate having lots of leftovers to freeze for burritos, chili, soups, etc. Go here to learn how to freeze cooked beans.
I will continue to stock up on sale items and probably make some freezer meals once it gets closer to my due date. I’m so glad that we decided to buy a deep freeze. They can save you lots of money and also give you a peace of mind.
PS Does anyone have any tips for freezing potatoes? Aldi has 10 lb bags for 1.48 and I want to buy lots, but I’d like to have a plan first. 🙂
Do you use a freezer to save money?
As I have new items to stock the freezer with, I simply take out the "placeholders" as necessary and put in the new items.
Keeps the freezer fuller so it is more efficient and in a pinch, the containers work well for keeping things cold in coolers too.