Have you ever thought about buying a chest or upright freezer or a second refrigerator/freezer? If you are single, the freezer space in your refrigerator/freezer may be adequate, but if you’re a couple or family or like to entertain, having extra freezer space makes a lot of sense and can save you money on your food budget.

For some people, it may be a second refrigerator/freezer in a garage, laundry room or basement. Many people will purchase a new refrigerator/freezer for the kitchen, move their old unit to a storage/utility area, and use the extra refrigerator space as a beer/soda fridge and the extra freezer space for long-term storage. Other people may opt for a chest or upright freezer to have even more freezer space. Some may want or need both.

With additional freezer space, you can buy in bulk and divide the food into smaller meal-size portions. Buying a whole beef tenderloin at your local wholesale club and cutting it into steaks yourself is a lot cheaper than buying the same number of filet mignon steaks at your grocery or meat market. If there is a hunting/fishing enthusiast in your family, the same thing can be done with game birds, venison and fish. You might consider buying a whole side of beef. It can be cost effective if there are serious meat eaters in your family. Imagine having frozen berries or peaches for pies in mid winter, space for that 5-pound bag of shrimp, or an extra supply of your favorite frozen meals from Trader Joe’s. You even have the flexibility to cook and freeze meals in advance for unexpected guests or busy weeknights.

Additional freezer space also provides room to initially freeze new items individually on aluminum sheet pans to make your own IQF (individual quick frozen) foods like berries, cherries, steaks, homemade cookies, rolls, etc. Once the IQF items are fully frozen they can be bagged for long-term storage and individual portions can be taken out and used as needed.

Just keep in mind that a chest freezer will typically be more economical to run than an upright model or a refrigerator/freezer, but may take up more floor space. A manual defrosting freezer that will protect better against freezer burn and be more economical to run than a frost-free model but will need annual maintenance; i.e., manual defrosting. An upright freezer may be easier to access and organize than a chest freezer. And, newer energy-star models will be cheaper to run than older and/or less energy-efficient models. So, it might be time to retire that hand-me-down fridge or freezer in your basement that your parents gave you.