do I need a freezer?

stellata

I really cant decide if I need one or not. I have a very small undercounter fridge with a small freezer bit at the top, but this just says something like "frozen food storage" so I dont actually freeze things in it. I keep reading threads where people freeze YS things or eat half freeze half, and I just dont know if I would benefit from having space to do this. Itd have to go outside the kitchen but thats not a problem.
Mostly im thinking I live on my own so what would I get for the cost of buying and running it which I dont get now?
I have "come in to" a bit of money which would stretch to buying one from what ive seen in Currys.

GreyQueen

stellata wrote: »

I really cant decide if I need one or not. I have a very small undercounter fridge with a small freezer bit at the top, but this just says something like "frozen food storage" so I dont actually freeze things in it. I keep reading threads where people freeze YS things or eat half freeze half, and I just dont know if I would benefit from having space to do this. Itd have to go outside the kitchen but thats not a problem.
Mostly im thinking I live on my own so what would I get for the cost of buying and running it which I dont get now?
I have "come in to" a bit of money which would stretch to buying one from what ive seen in Currys.

I'm a singleton in a small flat and have been running a tabletop freezer since early in 2007 - 50 litre capacity. It's very energy-efficient and my entire household uses 46p of electrictity per 24 hours. Although the freezer's arrival coincided with one of the many leccy price hikes, I still couldn't see the difference in consumption for having it. But the initial outlay was £150.00.

I would say that if you have doubts about needing something, it's telling you that you really don't need it. Don't feel that because others batch-cook and freeze, or stash YS bargains, that this is something you have to do yourself.

At any given time, my wee freezer is three-quarters full of allotment produce, which allows me to extend the seasons I can eat my own stuff. For me, it's worth it. HTH.

pm2326

Unfortunately only you can decide if you need one.

Like GreyQueen I'm a singleton but I have a stand alone 7 shelf freezer hidden away in the cupboard under the stairs and it's always full!

I don't necessarily fill it with YS goodies but I love to cook and as most things make more than one portion ie chilli, curries, spaghetti Bol, cakes etc I freeze the extra's for another day.

It also means I can take advantage of special offers if I see them.

PasturesNew

They can be handy - but you do need to eat what you're putting in it or you'll end up with a freezer full of food just because you can ... and still nothing to eat.

If you're getting along without one and don't wish you had one, then you don't need one yet.

I use mine to: make a loaf last 3 weeks instead of 5 days; oven chips; frozen peas; fish fingers; the ability to occasionally buy something YS (if I ever do see anything, but rarely do) without having to commit to eating it that day.

I think the biggest "gain" from my freezer is being able to buy a packet of crumpets and freeze them, to eat them over the coming month. Before, in a shop, I had to choose if I were buying crumpets or muffins or bread or pitta - I could never choose two. Now I can.

Also, I used to buy a loaf of bread, then have to eat 4-5 slices a day every day, without fail for the next 4-5 days. Now I just freeze half of it and a loaf lasts weeks. So it's enabled me to eat other foods rather than sandwiches/toast.

The running costs are negligible - and can easily be "saved" just by freezing bread and having oven chips alone The question is whether you want to make the capital investment and give up valuable space.

Spendless

stellata wrote: »

I really cant decide if I need one or not. I have a very small undercounter fridge with a small freezer bit at the top, but this just says something like "frozen food storage" so I dont actually freeze things in it.

Yes, that's your freezer part of the fridge. If you're not sure about it, put some water in it in a small container and see if it freezes.

calleyw

I now live alone. But have a three drawers in a fridge freezer and a 175L chest freezer. I know but was bought when there was two of us here.

I eat a lot of frozen veg, chicken and salmon. So open packets are in the fridge freezer and the extras go in the chest freezer. The chest freezer is about half full.

I use to buy a lot of ys items. But don't bother now I am on my own. As I eat a lot salad and fruit. So no need to freeze.

That reminds me need to go and put some bananas in the freezer lol!!!!

Yours

Calley

SailorSam

I live on my own and i don't know how i'd manage without the freezer.
I've got a Fridge/Freezer in the kitchen and a bigger Freezer out in the porch and they're both full. I never have to worry about getting to the shops and know there's always plenty to eat in the house.

carriebradshaw

when I lived alone I only had a fridge with a small freezer compartment, I always wanted a stand alone freezer,but there wasn't anywhere I could put one as my flat was teeny tiny.Now I look upon ours as kind of 'rainy day' storage,for times when we don't have much time or money to spend.It's like a food savings bank in your house. IYSWIM.Also having a bigger freezer encouraged me to learn to cook more of our own food and not waste anything so even with the running costs factored in we definitely save money,because we can also take advantage of bulk buys & things that are marked down on special offer.We don't buy takeaways now either as I can make my own curries and freeze in portions, ditto soup, chilli, bolognese cakes etc,etc.Now we have a small fruit & veg patch in the garden,so we freeze some of that as well.There's only two of us in the house but now we have two under the counter upright freezers in the shed and one double size upright in the kitchen .At the moment the two in the shed are empty and switched off but I'm about to do an online shop so that will refill them and once the garden starts producing again they'll stay topped up for a while.I know having one really helped us to start with and we just went on adding more as we felt we needed them.It just depends on your lifestyle & where you live really, if you live very close to shops and don't really like cooking that much you might not want to bother

Spendless

When I was single and lived alone. I started out with just a fridge with the freezer compartment at the top and found it enough. But I worked long hours commuted to the nearest city and had my breakfast and lunch at a subsidised canteen, so it was only my evening meal that I had to have the items in for, and coming home I often wanted something quick and easy so ate a lot of stir frys, jacket spuds and things like gammon steaks.

Ilona

I live alone and the freezer part of my fridge freezer (3 drawers) always has something in it. Yellow stickers get put in there, bread especially, and I make a batch of stew/soup and freeze it in margarine tubs. Every so often I eat everything in the FF, clear it out, and start afresh. I can see no point in stockpiling tons of frozen food.
Ilona

Mr_Singleton

stellata wrote: »

Mostly im thinking I live on my own so what would I get for the cost of buying and running it which I dont get now?
I have "come in to" a bit of money which would stretch to buying one from what ive seen in Currys.

I'm single and I've got a Miele half and half. Properly used a freezer is in my opinion indispensable to modern life. Unfortunately too many people use it as a place to put food that they don't know what to do with and then end up with a freezer full of rubbish.

btw I hope you "washed that money" before passing it on