Sheldon wrote:
> On Sep 29, 8:22�pm, DK > wrote:
>> Sheldon wrote:
>>> George > wrote:
>>>> Declan's Dad wrote:
>>>>> My wife and I plan to buy this chest freezer:
>>>>> http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...Name=Appliance...
>>>>> The reason is because we plan to join BJ's Wholesale club and start
>>>>> buying in bulk. And start freezing more so we can buy/use wisely. And
>>>>> our current regular fridge's freezer just can't handle.
>>>>> So just wondering if anyone here owns one and has any advice to share?
>>>> Like most things like this I would look at the bottom line cost assuming
>>>> there were no other circumstances. If you buy in bulk you need to break
>>>> things down into smaller sizes. So that involves extra wrapping or
>>>> containers you need to buy and your time to do it. Then you need to
>>>> track what you have or things will get lost which will be ruined and
>>>> need to be discarded negating your savings. Then you need to figure in
>>>> the cost to buy the freezer plus the cost to operate it.
>>>> We used to have a separate freezer and we decided to stop using it about
>>>> ten years ago mainly because it made little sense for us. Sometime after
>>>> that my brother mentioned that they were gone away during the summer and
>>>> lost a bunch of stuff they had in the freezer when it failed. I offered
>>>> to give him ours for free but they also decided it wasn't worth it.
>>> I once owned a chest freezer, just not any advantage... agreed on all
>>> your points... plus I'd much rather put my pesos into an interest
>>> bearing savings account than stash mucho dinero worth of food in a
>>> freezer... it's easy to amass over a thousand dollars worth of food in
>>> a chest freezer, a good deal of which will be discarded due to
>>> spoilage... just one major power outage and you won't live long enough
>>> to catch up. �In the US there is no shortage of food and there are
>>> sales every day, there is no valid reason to stock up on perishables,
>>> not unless you live like over a hundred miles from a stupidmarket.
>>> Folks who stock up huge freezers were deprived of food as a child and
>>> so have a phobia about starving, there is no other logical
>>> explanation. �Aside from all the other associated expenses of bulk
>>> freezing you'll never amortize the cost of the freezer.
>>> And with the high price of electricity today don't kid yourself,
>>> running a freezer is not cheap, a large chest freezer (12-15 cu ft)
>>> costs at least a dollar a day to run... $365 still buys a lot of meat.
>>> It makes a lot more sense for a family to have a second refrigerator
>>> freezer. �I have a small fridge freezer in my basement, I make more
>>> use of the fridge portion than the freezer. �Right now that fridge is
>>> chock full with fresh veggies from my garden. �And that few cu ft of
>>> extra freezer space is more than enough for the times when I need it
>>> for bulky items. �A second fridge freezer is far more versatile than a
>>> big ol freezer.
>>> And before buying either consider where you'll keep it. you cannot
>>> keep a fridge or freezer in an unheated space that goes below 60F, or
>>> a space that gets overly warm without it costing a lot more energy and/
>>> or damaging the unit... out in a garage or porch that goes below 60F
>>> and/or above 80F is not a good idea.
>>> http://www.geappliances.com/search/f...e/10000320.htm
>> Shelly, you live with...six cats! �Why do you need another refrigerator
>
> I have a huge vegetable garden. Right now the fridge portion is
> stuffed with cabbages, winter squash, peppers, and other home grown
> produce. Soon that freezer will be full of veggie laden soups. It's
> a rather small fridge freezer (15 cu ft), so costs little to operate
> but comes in very handy all year.

How many people are you feeding from that garden? If you found a way to
get a cat to eat vegetables, let me know!

-dk