NewlyWoodwards

an unconventional home

The deep freeze

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If you are anything like us, your freezer is always jam packed. If you are anything like us, when you open your freezer, things fall out. If you are anything like us, you consider making freezer meals but know there is no way in the world you have the space for it.
Until now. Hello, gorgeous.
Ryan and I now have an upright freezer, which I am ridiculously excited about. (You know you are an adult when a new appliance gets you so darn excited, you even dream about it.) It’s hanging out in the basement, which works out well for us.
I’ve been wanting a freezer for a while, but Ryan finally agreed and we jumped in. Why?
Because it was part of a promotion – we were able to get $200 of free freezer food coupons and gift cards from the grocery store by purchasing this bad boy. It was $199, so it evened out.
Can you believe it?
Well, believe it. Because it’s true. I was tipped off to the deal by a local newspaper blog, The Working Mom. Because I knew the deal would go fast, I went first thing in the morning to pick up the freezer before work. There were only about 15 of them at the store. I heard they were gone later that day.
Ryan and I spent much more time than usual at the grocery store on Sunday, making sure we used as many coupons as possible. The majority were freezer items – like pizzas, potatoes, chicken breasts, breakfast sausage, lots of ice cream, freezer meals and more. But, there were also wild cards, like Ziploc bags, milk, bread, lunchmeat and spices. These were not .10 off or buy one get one, these were 100 percent free items.
(See those Girl Scout cookies? Those were not coupon items. Those are just extras, for a rainy day. If you and your husband each buy a ridiculous amount of cookies from coworkers, you could do this, too.)
While some items with coupons were not available, we ended up saving about $145 with the coupons. I’ve stashed away those coupons we haven’t used, and will go back soon to redeem them.

There were also a few things that we knew we wouldn’t eat – like bacon or Hungry Man dinners. We gave these to others, in hopes they could still go to use. It wouldn’t have been prudent to purchase items we didn’t like or knew we wouldn’t eat.
With that said, many items were not things we would have purchased regularly, because of price or freezer space. However, having them will allow us a little luxury of having things like Klondike Bars and Snickers Ice Cream bars (yum). We’d better savor it. Plus, things like lunch meat, chicken breast and pizza will make good lunches and dinners. We also wouldn’t typically buy freezer meals, but they may be handy when Ryan travels.

The goal for the rest of the month is to go without buying anything outside of perishables – fruits, veggies, milk, eggs and OJ. This way, the purchase of the freezer will fit into our monthly groceries budget. Purchasing perishables on Sunday was around $15.

I also made a list of what is in the freezer and hung it on the fridge. I want to make sure that I don’t forget what we have. This system may morph, but this is it for now. When we eat anything, I’ll mark them off, similar to our grocery and meal-planning system.

Now, I need to figure out some freezer meals. Any suggestions?


Does anyone else have a freezer?

Comments

  1. What an incredible deal. We have a freezer also. It’s great but you have to keep it organized or you end up over buying certain items. I just an A-Z form to list all the items we have in the freezer, when it gets used it gets crossed off.

  2. I hate our upright, because things get buried. However, you are adorably organized and you have A List, so you will have no problem here…

    Great deal!

  3. I know what you mean about being an adult and getting excited about getting new appliances! My fiance and I were super stoked when we got our chest freezer! We quickly filled it up!

    The best advice I have is to make sure to keep it as full as possible to save on the electricity. It costs more to run it when it’s not full.

    We also have a basket like yours does, but we store some other smaller like-items inside plastic bags inside the freezer. For instance we have one plastic grocery bag filled with frozen vegetables. It makes it easier to keep it organized when you’re looking for things, and when you need to add more items to the freezer after grocery shopping!

  4. We have one. My mom got rid of hers since all the brothers moved out, she didn’t really need it. Our deep freezer and regular freezer are always piling over with food now. Ours is more square shaped. Mark is dying to get a bigger one with an organizer (like the one you scored).

    I love making things ahead and freezing and I’ve recently found quite a few new freezer recipes I want to try out. I’ll email you a list 🙂

    High five on that fantastic deal!

  6. Nice find!

    We’re big freezer meal people. Usually, we buy bulk proteins from Costco or the grocery store and use them in meals a few times a week. If I had an extra freezer, I’d probably stock it with stir-fry veggies, smoothie fruits, and protein whenever it goes on sale.
    Remember, fruits and veggies keep all of their nutrients even when they are frozen!

  8. I am the the cook and then freeze it queen. We have been talking about a deep freezer for over a year and I want one badly. I think you got an awesome deal. Now I am going to be on the look out in my area.

  11. Oh I’m so jealous. I would love love love an extra freezer. One more thing on my wish list. Thanks for sharing your fantastic deal.

  12. Holy cow! Color me jealous because that deal is AMAZING!!!! I have been DYING for a freezer and that promotion is out of control! Congrats on your new addition!!

  14. What an awesome deal!! We just got a deep freeze, too. Although we just bought ours, we didn’t get any coupons with it. Enjoy your food and freezer!

  16. You are going to love your freezer! We don’t have the overflow freezer problem because I don’t buy a lot of frozen food, but freezer meals make this SO appealing.

  17. We have 3 freezers…yes 3! We are a fam of 5 and freeze tons…cheese, bread, meat, meals, etc. A deep freezer can save you so much money…We are constantly stocking up on meats, veggies, ice cream etc when its a good price 🙂

  18. Sooo jealous! I immediately went to the Hyvee Website only to be told that they are in the Midwest. Big bummer!
    Great post though!

  20. That is a great deal. We don’t have the space right now but when we get a bigger house and have a garage I am thinking about getting one. Most all our meals consist of some kind of meat and so it would be nice to buy in bulk for meat.

  21. Woo Hoo!! I am right there with you about getting excited about new appliances! A deep freezer is on our wish list! Love all the food you can fit in!! What fun! Congrats 🙂
    Wendy

  22. The in-laws gave us a similar freezer for Christmas a couple of years ago. I bet they stole my coupons. 😉

    I can’t believe the amount of coupons you got…that’s amazing!! It definitely has helped me with meal planning to have a freezer. There are some great freezer meal cookbooks out there. I haven’t tried mine yet, but it’s on the list. 🙂

  23. There’s not much better in this world than free food. However, I’ve realized that apparently I’m nothing like you. When I open my freezer, I hear echoes. We have a regular and a deep freezer and they’re both fairly empty. Nice wastes of space we got. Oh and you don’t like bacon? Where did we go wrong Kim? Where?