NYT Article on famlies with multiple fridges and freezers

[Chris22]

Finally picked up the wine fridge from my buddy a couple weekends ago. Guess that makes fridge #4 for us. At $0, price was right.

[Cranky]

We are increasingly desperate for a basement fridge - I don’t want to go to the store more than once/week.

[Roadrunner53]

I do curbside about once a month and I load up so I don't have to shop much. I buy 3-4 dozen eggs and keep a watch on expiration dates. I buy cheese, sour cream, and other dairy products. I load up on sauces in glass jars. I have tried ordering them and total disaster. Walmart is the worst. They throw 6-8 glass jars in the bottom of a box, throw in a sheet of bubble wrap then ship it. Too many times I had a ton of broken jars. So no more jars by mail order! I spend about $300 or more on curbside and sometimes I stop at another store and go in and buy some specials but try not to shop too often since the pandemic. I think it has changed my way of life and I may just continue my shopping methods! My hub and I have not had a cold in about a year and a half and thank God we didn't get covid. We are both vaccinated but I am still leary of covid and know it isn't over yet even though a lot of people think life has returned back to normal.

So two freezers and one fridge in the garage and tons of shelves full of shelf stable foods!

[Dreamer40]

Growing up, my parents had an extra freezer in the garage that was mostly for bulk junk food from Costco. Bagel bites, hot pockets, popsicles, etc. Costco wasn’t a convenient drive so they couldn’t pop over any old time.

In my suburban life now, I just have a regular fridge/freezer in the house and a small wine fridge for wine storage. It’s not as cold as a regular fridge and holds about a case and a half of wine. I’m a wine snob and will be annoyed (but polite) if you serve me a room temperature glass of red wine. Gross… 😁If I was into long-term wine storage, I would put a big one in the garage. But I actually prefer younger wine that isn’t aged.

My neighbor has a garage deep freezer because he’s a hunter.

Many of my girlfriends have a freezer in their garages from when they pumped milk at work. Bags and bags of baby milk.

[onehair]

I just bought a small chest freezer for the new place(shamefaced look).  But once I got it running it's been useful for my extra Impossible Burger which everyone has on sale right now and spare chocolate I found unpacking.  It's only 3.5 cubic feet I didn't want a huge one.

[sonofsven]

I just picked up a 7 cu ft chest freezer at Costco for $170.
Salmon and berries filled up my other small upright freezer.
"Need a new freezer" is my new humble brag (re: fishing).
Even better than "damn this cooler is HEAVY!" when you get back to the dock ;-)

[Alternatepriorities]

I just picked up a 7 cu ft chest freezer at Costco for $170.
Salmon and berries filled up my other small upright freezer.
"Need a new freezer" is my new humble brag (re: fishing).
Even better than "damn this cooler is HEAVY!" when you get back to the dock ;-)

Yeah, I filled both of my chest freezers with salmon this summer. Some went to family so I have room for the berries coming in now.

[LaineyAZ]

Best Buy had a sale on mini-fridges for $110 so I just got one as a back-up.  This thread actually prompted me to do that because I realized my main fridge (a smallish 18.6 cu ft Maytag) is already 14 years old.

So although the original intent was to query why households had so many refrigerators and freezers, I guess I'm being anti-minimalist by getting a spare!

[Sanitary Stache]

We got a chest freezer for free earlier this summer.  It is full of berries and frozen chickens now.  We fit a goat into our kitchen freezer.

Now we are looking for a second full size fridge/freezer to store root veggies, apples, quick pickles, and cheese in one half and fill up the freezer with more meat and berries and hold out ice cream making bowl.

[Fomerly known as something]

I bought a upright freezer for my garage when I first got a garage in 2008, because we always had one when I was a kid.  Then I realized I really didn’t use it when I never plugged it in for a year after I moved to a new garage.  It got a $150 donation to the local cat shelter garage sale the next year.

Strangely enough, my lease for my new CA place specifically says no extra large appliances, (fridges, dish washers, dryers,etc). I’m interpreting it not to apply to my wine cooler or treadmill.

[Cranky]

My new basement refrigerator was delivered today and it is glorious.

[iris lily]

We got a chest freezer for free earlier this summer.  It is full of berries and frozen chickens now.  We fit a goat into our kitchen freezer.

Now we are looking for a second full size fridge/freezer to store root veggies, apples, quick pickles, and cheese in one half and fill up the freezer with more meat and berries and hold out ice cream making bowl.

careful, my dude.you are going down the path of no return…

[i_have_so_much_to_learn]

I have 3 freezers at home:

1. Our normal fridge/freezer. This is for regular food.
2. Our covid "Extra" freezer. We got this during covid b/c we started cooking a LOT and freezing food.
3. Our breast-milk freezer, for my wife's 1-year stache for our baby.

the reason 2+3 are not 1 freezer is because during the beginning of covid it was hard to find appliances.

[GuitarStv]

I have 3 freezers at home:

1. Our normal fridge/freezer. This is for regular food.
2. Our covid "Extra" freezer. We got this during covid b/c we started cooking a LOT and freezing food.
3. Our breast-milk freezer, for my wife's 1-year stache for our baby.

the reason 2+3 are not 1 freezer is because during the beginning of covid it was hard to find appliances.

Why do you save a whole year's worth of breast milk?

[talltexan]

Having more children?

[i_have_so_much_to_learn]

I have 3 freezers at home:

1. Our normal fridge/freezer. This is for regular food.
2. Our covid "Extra" freezer. We got this during covid b/c we started cooking a LOT and freezing food.
3. Our breast-milk freezer, for my wife's 1-year stache for our baby.

the reason 2+3 are not 1 freezer is because during the beginning of covid it was hard to find appliances.

Why do you save a whole year's worth of breast milk?

My wife frequently donates it to babies who a) don't have moms or b) mom's can't produce milk. She wanted our baby to have a 3-6 month stash (for when she stops producing) and the rest is for donations. She figured, if she's producing it, she might as well share it with those that need it (there's a much larger demand than you'd think, your local Doulas network will know).

[moof]

I have 3 freezers at home:

1. Our normal fridge/freezer. This is for regular food.
2. Our covid "Extra" freezer. We got this during covid b/c we started cooking a LOT and freezing food.
3. Our breast-milk freezer, for my wife's 1-year stache for our baby.

the reason 2+3 are not 1 freezer is because during the beginning of covid it was hard to find appliances.

Why do you save a whole year's worth of breast milk?

My wife frequently donates it to babies who a) don't have moms or b) mom's can't produce milk. She wanted our baby to have a 3-6 month stash (for when she stops producing) and the rest is for donations. She figured, if she's producing it, she might as well share it with those that need it (there's a much larger demand than you'd think, your local Doulas network will know).

This.  In our current "breast is best" world mothers can be absolutely devastated for being failures if they cannot to breast feed for any reason.  It is awful, and often not discussed.  While I think the advantages are very overstated (modern formula is pretty darn decent), giving mothers and babies in need a plan-B is laudable.  Good on your wife!  She is a saint and is likely alleviating much mental anguish.
My own wife, like her mother and two sisters, had production issues, so she pumped and saved to ration out as best as possible over the first ~9 months with one bottle a day of breast milk and the rest as formula.  In hindsight my advise is to just feed your kid, if breast feeding works well for you, then hallelujah.  If not, formula is just fine and there are many other far simpler choices you will make in your kids life that will have drastically more of an effect on their long term well-being.  limiting caloric intake to avoid formula at all costs is a bad plan than many mothers feel forced into if are not producing enough.

[i_have_so_much_to_learn]

I have 3 freezers at home:

1. Our normal fridge/freezer. This is for regular food.
2. Our covid "Extra" freezer. We got this during covid b/c we started cooking a LOT and freezing food.
3. Our breast-milk freezer, for my wife's 1-year stache for our baby.

the reason 2+3 are not 1 freezer is because during the beginning of covid it was hard to find appliances.

Why do you save a whole year's worth of breast milk?

My wife frequently donates it to babies who a) don't have moms or b) mom's can't produce milk. She wanted our baby to have a 3-6 month stash (for when she stops producing) and the rest is for donations. She figured, if she's producing it, she might as well share it with those that need it (there's a much larger demand than you'd think, your local Doulas network will know).

This.  In our current "breast is best" world mothers can be absolutely devastated for being failures if they cannot to breast feed for any reason.  It is awful, and often not discussed.  While I think the advantages are very overstated (modern formula is pretty darn decent), giving mothers and babies in need a plan-B is laudable.  Good on your wife!  She is a saint and is likely alleviating much mental anguish.
My own wife, like her mother and two sisters, had production issues, so she pumped and saved to ration out as best as possible over the first ~9 months with one bottle a day of breast milk and the rest as formula.  In hindsight my advise is to just feed your kid, if breast feeding works well for you, then hallelujah.  If not, formula is just fine and there are many other far simpler choices you will make in your kids life that will have drastically more of an effect on their long term well-being.  limiting caloric intake to avoid formula at all costs is a bad plan than many mothers feel forced into if are not producing enough.

Completely agree! IMHO, "Fed is best", and however you do it is fine.

[sonofsven]

I'm shopyfir another chest freezer, but for a friend.
Her partner has been on a downturn (Alzheimer's) and she's been buying lots of pre made frozen meals from a local lady to simplify mealtime. So much that she filled my new chest freezer!

[Just Joe]

We bought a chest freezer. Half a cow worth of a beef coming soon. Straight from a farmer I know. Just as we decided to cut back on meat in general. Well, at least we know the meat's origin, definitely cheaper than the grocery. Will likely last us well over a year.

[tygertygertyger]

Yeah... since i originally replied, we bought a house that came with two fridge-freezer combos, and we brought over our chest freezer. There are only two of us and a dog, so this seems a bit much to me. My partner is very pleased though.