What a relief it is to have our power back on! Our county was hit by a major storm. Many were without power for days. That brought up some very interesting reactions to food waste and management. We were lucky, we had a generator and all of the frozen foods and refrigerated goods were kept at optimal temperatures. Yet, several of my neighbors and friends ended up dumping out everything in their home.
Needless to say, when I attended coupon club this week, we had lots of people looking for coupons for frozen foods. Many were also concerned about "If" their food kept. This is when keeping a full freezer can actually help. A freezer full, and frozen solid will keep longer than one with empty space. It's also a good idea to keep a thermometer inside your freezer. A cheapy one will do, our cost $2. Should you power go off-do not open to check for the first 24 hours! You'll let in warm air. After that, keep an eye on the temp. When it rises to 32 or over, start to look for thawing. If you do not have a full freezer now, you can easily add ice blocks or water bottles (filled 80% full) to the freezer space.
Should you endure a power outage, and you have your freezer full and also have some frozen blocks of ice, you now can keep your food cooler longer. After 48 hours, you'll need to generate power or supplement ice for cooling.
Fridge loss is a bit different. It tends to go bad faster. If you've just thrown out all your cool items, the best way to restock is the coupon way. Restock in steps. Stock the items you use most, first: High usage Condiments, dairy, and produce. Then pick up your other items over the next few weeks. Start doubling your coupon stash. You'll need more items over the next few weeks, having more coupons will help.
The best scenrio, be a coupon shopper all the time, and have a nice little stockpile of replacement items to move right in once the power comes back on. Ah-the sweet feeling of being a saver! One of my friends told me it cost her $700 to replace her fridge contents. If I had lost all my goods, it would have only been a fraction of that amount because I'm a saver every week. Maybe it's time to start talking to more of my pals about saving everyday with us.
