Who has second freezer to save on groceries?

 Hi

We are considering buying a second side by side refrigerator/freezer
to take advantage of meat/fish/frozen veggies sales.
Also wife needs more fridge room.
I have calculated that it could pay for itself in 1 year(Including
electricity) as we can't take advantage of grocerie store sales right
now as we would want to.
Example chicken cutlets most of the time regular at $4.99 lb but they
do go on sale for $1.99 lb but we can't stock up.
To buy 30 lb of these would roughly be $150 at $4.99 lb and $60 at
$1.99 lb, that is a saving of $90 just on that.
A month ago the wife came home with packages of salmon on sale for
$1.99 lb regular was $8.99 lb, she bought 4 packages but she would
have stocked up if we had the freezer.
Frozen veggies do go on sale too.
We are looking at a Maytag, energy efficient with ice maker, 26 cub
feet.
Does anyone here do that and what has your experience/savings been?

Thanks a lot

Patrick

 
We have a second freezer, a chest freezer, that allows us to stock up
on during sales.  In addition to the benefit on sales, it saves us
time/money on less frequent trips to the store.

Personally, we would not go with a side-by-side for a number of
reasons.  One is the limited space on either side...some things are
just too large for a side-by-side.  Second, we typically do not need
additional "refrigerator" space and a freezer alone is less expensive
than another combo unit (are you buying something from a yard sale or
a specific deal?).  Typically, the higher-priced items that we would
want to buy in bulk are almost always freezable and if they're not,
they'd likely be too perishable to last additional time in a fridge.
You mentioned buying a side-by-side with an icemaker...why would you
need a unit with an icemaker?

We save quite a bit...we manage a spreadsheet of local grocers that
takes maybe 5 minutes/week to update (we only track what we buy
frequently) and we take advantage of the sales when they appear.
Interestingly, the spreadsheet has provided us with other information
such as trends in the cost of certain items so that if we see an item
historically rises during certain times of the year, we know when to
stock up or when to wait an extra week or two before buying it again.

The freezer that we bought was much larger than I had anticipated
buying, but it was a floor model that I could buy at the same price as
a much smaller unit so we did it and have not had any problems.  When
not full, to maintain energy efficiency while we're waiting on a sale,
we simply fill plastic jugs with water and put them in the freezer to
maintain mass and lower the energy expenditure of the freezer itself.

People sometimes ask what happens if a storm knocks out power.  In our
case, we lost power for 9 days last year following a early (and heavy)
snowstorm.  Simply do not open the freezer more than necessary and the
mass of the contents should maintain temperature for at least a few
days, which should get you through most issues unless you're in a high-
risk zone like a hurricane path...in which case, just manage when you
might be likely to lose power and take the appropriate precautions.
In our case, we went 4 days before there was any indication of
temperature degradation on the surface of the freezer (we consumed
perishables first).  The health resources were also commenting on the
radio that at that time, people had at least 3-4 days before they
needed to be concerned.  Incidently, because we buy in bulk, the
actual cost of the contents was very low...surprisingly low.  Keep in
mind that we buy frugally and if we do splurge, it is normally for a
treat that is consumed rather quickly.  In your post, you indicated a
huge savings in salmon...but losing say, 10lbs, of salmon bought at
$1.99 is not as bad as 10lbs at $8.99.

It also depends on what your chances are of losing power for multiple
days vs. the benefits overall...or your insurance policy.  A colleague
in the same storm reported to his insurance that he lost his freezer
contents and combined with his other loses (due to water damage), they
basically wrote him a check for the food.

Good Luck.

 
tom_sawyer70@yahoo.com wrote


reasons.

Tom we want a side by side because we also need extra fridge space. We
want to place all drinks and bottled sauces that take a lot of room in
the extra fridge.


We wanted to buy new but posts here made us change our mind. We are
going to be looking at used.


need a unit with an icemaker?

Our old side by side would go in the basement as the spare unit and
the new one would go in our kitchen this is why we need an ice maker.

Thanks for all the answers!

Patrick

 varois83 wrote:

Have you also considered what would happen if the power went off or the
freezer failed while you were away?

Also you might want to consider other stores that can't afford to spend
all of that money to tell you how good they are. For example in my area
there is a locally owned store that has really good meat that is cut in
house (not the Walmart embalmed stuff) and their prices are always good
  so there isn't even a point to try and stock up.

 Hi

I appreciate the 2 answers so far. We don't have any other grocery
stores that offers cheaper meats that I know off but I will ask
around, that's a good idea.
Buying another freezer is a big purchase so I don't want to make a
mistake.

Thanks a lot

Patrick