Do you find yourself wishing you didn’t have to go to the grocery store as often?
Or would you like more storage space for frozen foods than the freezer above your fridge gives you?
Buying (and stocking) a deep freezer has allowed me to save money and reduce my grocery store dependence at the same time.
This post addresses common questions people have about buying a deep freezer, as well as my favorite things to keep in stock in yours to be able to cook nourishing meals for your family.
What are the benefits of buying a deep freezer?
As stated in the title, a deep freezer can help you reduce your need to go to the grocery store as often.
It can also help you save money by cutting down on impulse buys since you won’t be grocery shopping as much, and by preserving food that might otherwise go bad.
With the space a deep freezer gives you, you can preserve your garden’s harvest and stockpile other foods as well.
If you ever get to the point where you can’t get to the store, or it’s not open for whatever reason, you’ll know you won’t run out of food!
Which is better, deep freezer or refrigerator?
Really, this depends on what you want to store.
For short-term cold storage of most foods, you’ll use a fridge. For long-term storage, you’ll need some sort of a freezer.
If you’re wondering whether the freezer on top of your refrigerator will be enough, that will depend on how much food you want to store and how easily accessible it will need to be.
If you need foods to be easily accessible in your kitchen, you’ll want to go with the freezer above your fridge. Unless you can fit a mini deep freezer in your kitchen like my grandma has!
If you want to store larger quantities of food and don’t need to access them as often, a deep freezer can be a great investment!
Which is better, a chest freezer or an upright freezer?
This comes down to your preferences. Both are good options, so you’ll have to figure out which is best for you.
Here are some “pros” and “cons” (or really, just differences) of the two types of freezers.
Chest Freezers
- Can hold more food
- Less worry about door not getting shut completely
- Harder to keep organized without containers
- Takes up more horizontal space
Upright Freezers
- Easier to organize
- Have built-in shelving
- Take up less horizontal space
- More likely to not get shut tightly
We have a chest freezer in our basement. Mostly that is because that is the model we found on our local swap group (see below) when we were searching for a freezer. I feel like my husband also had a reason for preferring them to uprights, but I can’t remember why that was.
Do deep freezers save money?
This will depend on multiple factors, including:
- The type of freezer you get
- The age of your freezer
- Your electricity cost
- How much you use the freezer
- How full you keep the freezer
- Whether you actually use the food you store in it
I think that, yes, deep freezers have great potential to save pretty much anyone money, if used well.
However, if you fill a freezer with food and never use it, you’ve wasted money instead of saving it. How much you save will depend on how you use the freezer. It may also depend on your family size.
If you want to start eating healthier but don’t know if you can afford it, deep freezers can help you save money on real foods by allowing you to buy in bulk and freeze the extra.
Do deep freezers use a lot of electricity?
In my experience, not really.
We don’t have an overly-new, energy efficient freezer, but we haven’t seen a noticeable change to our electric bill.
If you have an older freezer, it will most likely use much more electricity than a newer “Energy Star” freezer.
On the flip side, newer appliances (especially if you buy brand new) tend to cost quite a bit more up front. Because of this, even though it might take a little more electricity to run a slightly older freezer, you’ll probably save money overall because new appliances tend to be so expensive.
How can I find a deep freezer on a budget?
My favorite place to find used freezers that are still in good condition is local swap groups, such as those on Facebook.
Often, people are either selling their freezers because they upgraded appliances, don’t need the freezer space anymore, or are moving and don’t have somewhere to put the freezer in their new place.
Since people selling deep freezers in these groups often want them gone pretty quickly, you’ll usually be able to find a good deal!
If you’re not on Facebook, you might also have some luck with the ads in your local newspaper. Sometimes people who aren’t as tech-savvy will list items in the classifieds section or as part of a garage or estate sale.
If you choose to buy new, here are some things you can do to get the best price on a deep freezer:
- Check sales (especially around holidays like Memorial Day or during Black Friday sales)
- Shop around at different stores
- Make sure you’re not paying for extra features you won’t use
Is buying a deep freezer worth it?
Like I mentioned earlier about whether or not deep freezers can save you money, this will depend on the freezer you get and how much you use it.
It can definitely be worth it to help you build up a stash of food so that you’re never less than a week away from being out of food.
If you buy foods in bulk and can use the freezer to store the extras, having one can also help you save money.
What should I stockpile in my freezer?
Some of my favorite things to keep in our freezer include:
- Meat
- Fruits and Vegetables
- Dairy (depending on the kind, if it’s something that freezes well)
- Flour
- Premade Foods (check out my post on make-ahead breakfasts, most of which you can freeze)
With these things, I can make tons of meals using almost exclusively things I’ve pulled from my freezer plus maybe a few pantry staples.
If I can’t make it to the grocery store for some reason or want to go less often, being able to make lots of different meals with things I have on hand is a blessing!
