As many of you know, hurricane Irene was a total jerk to our neck of the woods. Not only did it knock trees into nearby homes, cars, poles, and roads, it also took the power out for a nice long time. Three days for us. But that was nothing compared to some other areas of our neighborhood (where it was out for over seven days), and other parts of Richmond (which didn’t get it back for close to two weeks). There was even a contest for the last person to get their power back on a local website.
So yes, three power-less days were annoying, but it could have been waaay worse. The only thing it really ended up affecting was our fridge. Yup, everything spoiled. So we lost every last container of salad dressing and mustard and soy sauce and cream cheese and every other item that you take for granted because you don’t usually buy them all at once (you know, you tend to amass them over time so you’re not met with the harsh reality that you just spent $200 on condiments). Yikes.
So yup, this is a post about the state of our fridge. Because it’s house related and save-a-buck related and just something I wanted to blather on about. I actually get a surprising amount of requests for couponing updates (and you’ll see how those tie in momentarily). The good news is that we didn’t lose everything. There were some items in the fridge that didn’t absolutely need to be cold to survive, like:
- various containers of berries and other fruit
- some veggies
- sandwich wraps
- wheat flatbread
- garlic
- soda
- chocolate
So during our day-three clean out when the power came back on we were able to pull them out alive. But everything else had to go.
The weirdest casualty was a container of biscuits that actually popped open on its own from the lack of refrigeration. It was very Twilight Zone.
Melted ice cream sammies = sad ice-cream loving hubby. Especially because they weren’t just melted, they were curdled and rank. So no amount of refreezing was gonna save them.
But let’s rewind. Before the hurricane we saw a tip on TV about freezing ziplock bags of water so you could transfer them from your freezer to your fridge to keep things colder (much like a giant cooler) to hopefully save food if the power is out for an extended amount of time. Wellllll, that was a bust. We diligently filled five or six ziplock bags with water (leaving enough unfilled space for them to expand, as directed) and placed them in the freezer. We didn’t immediately want to transfer them over when we lost power around 4pm (didn’t want to open the fridge/freezer just yet), so we went to bed in our interior rooms (explained here) while the hurricane continued to loiter over our fair city for another eight hours and decided to make the switch in the morning.
I don’t know what went wrong, but by morning there was a big old wet spot in front of the freezer. You can even see the towel shoved next to the fridge in the picture above. The bags that were supposed to be ice that we could transfer to the fridge had already melted completely and were now leaking out of the fridge and onto the floor. Booo! At least two of them inexplicably punctured themselves or something during the freezing and unfreezing process (although we left lots of room for them to expand when frozen). So looking back, we wish we had never seen that tip since it made for a mess that we wouldn’t have even had to deal with had we skipped it. Oh well, it was worth a try. And it might work better for someone who could transfer them faster (when they were still ice) although I wonder if they would melt and drip out of the fridge side instead of the freezer side in that case. Hmm. Maybe our fridge just doesn’t hold cold air as well as others do, so ice melts quickly and doesn’t really make much of a difference in a power-outage situation.
There was one rescue mission that went on about 15 hours into the blackout though. In order to stop the leaking situation we realized we had to toss open the doors to the freezer and grab those bags of water and toss them into the sink (to keep them from continuing to leak/drip)…
… so although it’s totally not ideal to open any fridge doors without power (keep that cold air in, baby!) we knew we had to get in there for a sec. So we figured while we were at it we should probably quickly reach in to save a few things on the fridge side by packing a cooler and bringing them to Grammy and Tom Tom’s house (where they miraculously never lost power at all, and sweetly offered up half a shelf of their fridge). In hyper-speed, before slamming the doors shut we grabbed:
- 12 organic yogurt cups
- organic whole milk (Clara’s) and organic skim milk (ours)
- a pack o’ cheese sticks
- a package of strawberries and blueberries
- 2 laughing cow cheese wheels
All of those items made sense since Clara eats/drinks them a lot so we would have had to rebuy them right away if we didn’t save them… except for the laughing cow cheese. I have no idea why I panicked and grabbed that. Total auto-pilot grab-the-dairy madness. But at least we saved a few things (which would probably have set us back about $30 if we had to rebuy it all).
So when the power came back on during day three (I heard angels singing) we gave everything a little bit of time to firm back up thanks to the cold and bravely opened the doors. Yuck. It was staaaanky in there. So we held our breath and walked things directly out to the garbage pail outside (which stunk to high heaven until the trash truck came a few days later). But we were able to save the few items that I mentioned in my first little list o’ bullets since they didn’t need cold air to not spoil (we just kept them in the fridge for added lifespan or because we didn’t have a breadbox, etc). But everything else was done-zo. Even the bagged salad was slimy and gross. And the giant tub of yogurt. I can’t talk about that. Scarred for life. Note: after snapping this picture we realized we could compost/recycle some of the stuff in the trash so out it came and into our compost/recycle bins it went (must have been in shock from the smell at first and couldn’t think straight).
It was about this time that we realized just how much stuff we would have to rebuy. Boo.
But John was smart about it. As we tossed things he suggested that we write them down, so we ended up with a shopping list to remind us of all the take-for-granted, perpetually-stocked stuff that we’d probably completely forget to rebuy until we reached for it and didn’t find it (like ketchup, salad dressing, hummus, syrup, butter, etc).
It was handy to see all the stuff that we needed to rebuy but also kind of a buzz kill in that how-much-is-this-gonna-cost-us way. Then I decided it could become a fun little self-imposed coupon challenge since I seem to have hit a plateau with my couponing adventures (I can save around $40-55 on a big shopping trip, but can’t seem to get past that since we buy a lot of produce/organic stuff and refuse to buy stuff just because we have a coupon for it if we don’t actually need it just to see the “you saved X amount” number go higher on the receipt). But I started thinking… maybe all these common household items that we only buy occasionally could be the coupon jackpot?
There are a heckova lot more coupons for ketchup, mayo, and salad dressing than organic ground turkey and kale, so I figured that my challenge would be this: to try to save as much as possible by hunting down coupons for as many of those items as I could. Of course this big coupon idea set me back a few days while John kept saying “we need to go shopping, woman” and I kept saying “give me time to hunt coupons, man” and we just ate stuff from the pantry like pasta and cereal along with the few things we saved by bringing them to Grammy’s house (yogurt, milk, fruit, etc). Sure I had a little stockpile of coupons already laying around from before Irene, but this was before I knew my entire fridge would get wiped out (so none of them were for staples that we already had and later lost).
Then we went to the beach for the weekend so that bought me a bit more time (I reasoned with John that going shopping for a big haul before leaving town for a holiday weekend might not be that smart). But even on our mini beach vacay I bought the Sunday paper and got a few coupon inserts from John’s mom after she clipped her own stuff and went online to all of the coupon sites that I occasionally peruse (you can read more about those here in this initial couponing post from a while back).
When I got back home I printed and clipped to my heart’s content and even digitally loaded my Kroger card with virtual coupons that I could use when they scanned it at the store (more on that here). So when we finally hit The K-rogue (that’s how $herdog says Kroger), I was armed and dangerous coupon-riddled. Note: I have no idea why it took me over a week to get my act together and write this post up. Maybe it’s the same defect that made me inexplicably grab the laughing cow cheese?
Happily, we came home with a ton of stuff (we didn’t even have enough reusable bags for all of it!)…
It actually felt pretty good. The fridge went from almost completely empty to looks-like-normal-full for $257.40. It’s definitely not nothing. And if you watch those pro coupon shows (where they get 1K worth of food for three dollars) it’s downright sad. But we actually expected it to be a lot worse I think. Some of our normal grocery shopping trips can top $200 when we’re running pretty low on stuff (we usually go every two weeks or so, to avoid impulse buys that can add up when you go more frequently). And we were almost starting from zero this time (we had filled almost an entire trash can with spoiled food), so we expected that we’d have to buy a lot more than usual (and spend a lot more than usual too).
The only sad thing. I still only saved $47.51.
Can’t a girl catch a break and save over fifty five bucks for once, K-rogue? Oh well, $47.51 is still money saved. And it definitely would have hurt more to see a total that started with a three at the register (it was originally over $300 but thanks to the coupons it came down near $250). And there’s always next time. At least the fridge is full again and my wraps won’t go hummus-less while my salads go dressing-less. And the fridge itself has never looked cleaner. We scrubbed that baby to the bone when she was empty.
Of course I got a few catalinas at the checkout (not all ones that I’ll actually use, but we’re definitely suckers for yogurt, so…). The cycle continues.
And you know we love a good after picture or two, so behold… the freshly stocked fridge:
All in all, it was a nice little fridge makeover. Now I’m off to call my insurance company because someone mentioned that some of them might reimburse you for food that spoils in natural disasters like hurricanes. That would be pretty nice. Update: just realized our deductible is much higher than $250, so never mind.
Anyone else doing any fridge cleaning or restocking? Or hitting a coupon plateau? Better yet, have you broken through it and ache to tell me your secrets? Please do.
Psst- Check out this initial post all about couponing for specific deets about how I save money/use coupons – and check out a ton of awesome tips in the comment section while you’re at it. I’m totally JV but there are lots of varsity couponers out there.
Psssst- We announced this week’s giveaway winners. Click here to see if you’re one of them.
Tiffany S. says
We live in Kentucky and thankfully were not part of the damage from Irene. However, when we had multiple tornado’s here last spring, we too were without power for days. We had bought a freezer from Sear’s a year before and was heart broken when I realized we were going to lose it all. However, when we purchased our appliances we bought their warranty for the product which has and option for 3-5 years. I was so surprised when they contacted us after the storm and came to check the freezer to make sure it was still working properly. They replaced the seal and gave us $ 300 towards replacing the food. I was so excited because like you we were unable to afford it on insurance (our deductible is so high). The warranty has definitely paid off because they did not charge us a dime. I was so pleased.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, that’s so nice of them!
xo,
s
Cari says
Hi John & Sherry,
I’m an Insurance Agent and I’m not sure who your homeowner insurance carrier is but most companies offer special endorsements to their policies that have Food Spoilage coverage due to storms, etc that either have no deductible or a small deductible and don’t usually count against you for filing the claim. I would double check with your carrier because that would put more money for your loss back into your pocket.
Cari
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Cari! We’ve heard a lot of conflicting opinions (some from other agents, too). It’s definitely a lot more complicated than we initially thought!
xo,
s
Gigi says
I’m impressed that you saved almost $50 with coupons! I’m a lousy couponer and rely instead on the wonderful BOGOs offered here.
Living in Florida, hurricanes are just a part of life for us. When a Big One’s on it’s way, I pack a huge cooler with ice in case the power goes out and freeze gallon jugs of water if there’s room in the freezer (they take a long time to defrost). Even when we were without power for a week, we lost very little (but then I don’t buy ice cream, haha).
As for premiums not going up after filing a claim for a catastrophe, ha! Ours went up many thousands of dollars after Wilma. If the claim is minimal, it’s best to not file one, IMO.
Cari says
Hi Gigi,
Every state is different and every carrier is different but if you can avoid small claims that is correct. Out of the 40 plus companies that I represent, food spoilage due to a power outage is not something that will affect your rate but that’s here in New England.
That’s too bad that in Florida the Insurance Department can allow an increase that large at the next policy renewal. :(
Most of the time I don’t tell people what I do for a living as I can get evil looks :)
Tara G. says
It’s nice to have a fresh start and a clean fridge! We’re military and every single time we move, we go through the process of trying to whittle it all down as much as possible, give the rest away, and restock as soon as we have housing in the next place. All of our moves have been coast-to-coast or international- one more left! :)
Rosi says
Hmmm, HUMMUS! and ya’ll get the good kind! I buy that kind of Hummus when I don’t feel like making it by hand.
I’ve been trying to do ways to save more money at the grocery store. How do you know if those cellfire coupons have been added to your card?
YoungHouseLove says
I just click the add button and it seems to go on and sometimes when I go back to see what coupons are available and the ones I thought I added aren’t available I figure they’ve definitely been applied since they’re not there anymore.
xo,
s
Carolina says
Hi! I live in Puerto Rico and we are hurricane and tropical storm experts! Irene as a matter of fact formed into a hurricane over our island paradise! We loose power all the time, even when there are no natural disasters.. blame crappy and monopolistic (hence super expensivo) power company. So here are my tips:
1. Freeze water in liter soda (or similar) bottles, the stack better while laying flat. Place them together in different places in the freezer. Place at least one in the fridge, and make sure the vent from the freezer to the fridge is open. This has always worked for us and we have lost power for way longer than 24 hours. When we came back last time the liters were still frozen.
2. The broke ice maker is an easy fix. Literally is a few screws and the water line attachment. I’m sure handy john can fix it. My not so handy hubby did it in a few minutes. When an icemaker breaks the appliance repair man always replaces the whole thing. We fell for that once. (ok gladly paid for the service because pregnant women can’t live w/o ice in a tropical island with no central air conditioning). When it broke again (due to power surges) we DIY and purchased a surge protector for the refrigerator.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tips Carolina!
xo,
s
Sunday Grant Photography says
I am just discovering your blog from a friend and LOVE it. Bummer about all your food. I know people have mentioned abt insurance and you say you have a high deductible but I worked at state farm for 5 years in NC (I know VA could have different policies). Your regular deductible does not apply to food spoilage. The deductible for it in NC was $50 with a $500 limit on the check they would write. It does not make your insurance go up and they will not cancel you if you use it. I wrote many checks to people right out of the office when our community lost power for different reasons. Sorry if you already know all this. I did not read all the comments but skimmed them. Hope this helps.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for all the tips everyone!
xo,
s
Michelle says
Up here in our small little town in Western MA we’ve had a tornado, microburst and hurricane in the last 4 months. After the tornado (which took down every pole in our neighborhood) I ran to get a generator. BOY did that come in handy after the microburst where we lost power for another 2.5 days. The reason I’m writing this is because generators are a big purchase…. a hard purchase! But they sure do come in handy in keeping a couple fridges working some lights (for the kids), morning coffee (me!!) and technology charged (all of us!!). Don’t wait for the next storm when everyone is scrambling!!!!
Heather with a C says
We have a $500 deductible and had no problem getting $250 for our food. We just made a phone call, told them our estimate for replacing the lost food, and a couple days later we had the check in our hands.
Definitely call your insurance company!
christy says
Just the other day at work, we were talking about Sabra hummus. The daughter-in-law of one of my coworkers is from Israel. Her daughter-in-law encourages people to avoid that brand because of an apparently long, unapologic history of human rights violations in Israel. The conversation was brief because we were headed into a meeting and so I don’t have many details. And since I buy our hummus from someone locally, I’ve not made the time to delve into finding out the specifics. If its a brand that you buy regularly, you may be interested in checking it out.
Oh and yay for saving about $50. Even though you can’t seem to get over that mark, it’s still great! Just think…50 bucks could equal 2 clearance pillows and 3 cans of ORB!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow, thanks for the tip!
xo,
s
Shannon says
Break my Compost Nazi heart!!! Those bags of salad greens could have gone in the compost bin! We rarely throw away any food stuffs. If you get a chance, pick up a copy of Let It Rot from the library.
YoungHouseLove says
Check our the note above that pic! Stuff made it to the compost/recycle bin after we took that picture and came to our senses!
xo,
s
Emily Drake says
We had the same issue with Irene. We were without power for about 3 days. We had to trash most everything in our fridge and freezer. Our most tragic loss….60 oz of frozen breast milk. :-( It kills me just to think about it. All that work and all those meals for Lainey just gone. Oh well…at least we all survived and we didn’t have any damage to our home. You have to look on the bright side I guess.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no. So sad for you.
xo,
s
mimi says
My fridge is really similar to yours (except mine is stainless) and I’ve been looking for ways to reorganize it, so thanks for showing how yours is set up inside :)
I always keep an Envirosax bag in my purse too! I used them to wrap my family’s Christmas gifts a couple years ago, and that worked great!
Erin says
We lost power for 4 days thanks to Irene. We have a generator – a necessity when you live in the woods, have a well and a leaky basement – but it’s expensive to run for an extended length of time. Like you guys, we had family nearby with power, so we gathered up the stuff we really didn’t want to lose and borrowed their fridge. Everything else we had to let go. We aren’t crazy couponers, but we always keep a spare on hand – when I run out of something, I add it to a list on the side of my fridge, and watch for sales. Since we had spares on hand for fridge staples, we only had to rebuy a normal amount of food for the week- which was nice after we’d just beat up the budget by running the generator, driving all over the place to shower, buying lunches out at work, etc.
Bboss says
Two cans of whipped cream? Must’ve been a tew-fer coupon. I have two boys and I know, although don’t have evidence, that those things are sprayed directly into mouth. Appalling, I know!
Erinn says
I also did the frozen water in ziplock bags during Irene but we only lost power for an hour so I was wondering if this was something that would work. Bummer that it didn’t work as they promised on the weather channel…
Laura says
Where do you get the printed coupons in the mail from? I remember when I was young, my mom would just get like books of coupons and I can’t seem to find them anywhere. I know you mentioned the Sunday paper, is that it? I only get them online. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We get then from the Sunday paper and also get a mailer every week in our mailbox. No idea where that came from (didn’t pay for it or sign up for it). Maybe it’s just like those GreatClips envelopes of fliers? Anyone know?
xo,
s
Amy says
So I noticed the Buitoni pasta in the fridge and wanted to offer a money saving tip! If ya’ll go through that like we do (one meal a week, usually,) you may want to check out the frozen pasta isle. Our Kroger has a store-brand bag that’s half the price -or less if it’s on sale- and it cooks in about the same amount of time!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip!
xo,
s
Jen @ Domesticated Nomad says
We’ve lost all that stuff before and it is so not fun! But the funny thing is, I noticed stuff in the background of the pictures, like a little painters tape on the floor at the table. A project we haven’t seen yet? (Or maybe I missed it?) I have white ceramic tile floors in my kitchen/dining room and I hate them. But it’s too much to take them out right now. I keep thinking I might try to stain them or something, but I haven’t found anyone who’s tried it. Could it be you are about to embark on something similar?
YoungHouseLove says
We just taped out the layout of a possible kitchen banquette we’re pondering. Haha. We posted about it last week I think. Still pondering…
xo,
s
Lori says
I coupon. It took me about 5 months to make it efficient though. I have my stockpile. Enough condiments and cereal fo 6 months and enough paper products, hygene items to last for a year. Many people dont realise that even though you dont eat the processed food, some people can use it. So my rule is if it .50 or under I still buy it to donate. Do you know about Mambo Sprouts? They offer coupons on organic foods as well. Driscolls offers copuons on berries (i believe that Kroger sells Driscolls as well). Beware of electronic coupons…lots of stores do not double them like they do the paper coupons.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh thanks for the Mambo Sprout and Driscolls tip!
xo,
s
lisa says
Sherry and John, someone may have asked this already…but, maybe if you buy a generator for just in case the power goes out again one day? we have one and loooove it…we were without power for 2 1/2 days…we were able to plug in the frig…coffee pot, a light and the tv.:)
Jess G says
I’m so excited to see Turkey Hill ice cream in your freezer :) I’m such a Lancaster County girl!
Erica M says
Like you guys, I try to coupon, but also primarily buy lots of fresh veggies/meats, and as organic as possible, so it is not always easy to save as much as I’d like.
I have found a few significant deals at Costco (if that is in your area…) –
All Natural (Ecos) Laundry Detergent (about the same price as the grocery store for nearly 3x the volume)
Earthbound Organic Baby Spinach (the big box that is usually about 6.99 at the store, is 3.99 at Costco)
Organic Eggs- about 3.99 for 18 or 4.29 for 24 (they keep changing the brand)
Organic EVOO 9.99 (Fillipo Berio, 1.5 liter)
Now they are selling organic chicken, ground beef also for better prices
Organic Brown rice medley, chicken stock, and other various pantry/canned goods are a few other options that I’ve been pleased to find there.
Anyway, I find this more than pays for the membership in me getting deals on the healthier food I want to buy. Every little bit helps!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!!!
xo,
s
Megan says
Your empty post-Irene fridge is what my fridge looks like on a regular day! Right now all I have in there is wine, lemonade, m&ms, pesto, and goat cheese. (Really, what else do you need in life, though?) I’m jealous of all your groceries!
Angela says
I have quit couponing because I have discovered Aldi! No name brands, but everything I have had is de-lish! They don’t have much organic food, but I spent $127 for two weeks worth of groceries. $1.49 for a gallon of milk! Who can beat it?
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that sounds awesome!
xo,
s
Natalie says
I’ve hit a coupon plateau/food-is-more-expensive-wall. It stinks! What’s helped is really examining what I will use this week. I compare to what’s left over from the week before and try to menu plan (a constant battle). We get our meat from a local slaughterhouse and spend maybe $100 on beef and pork which lasts us three months or so. :) Good luck!
Sarah says
Wow. Sorry you lost so much food! Just wanted to say you can consider yourselves lucky on the fridge clean-out though. My husband and I once helped cleaned the home of a hoarder (worse than the tv show) and she hadn’t opened her refrigerator in 3 years. My husband got the lucky task of cleaning it out, while I stood in the background, made comments like “Is that rat poop!?” (it was) and tried not to vomit.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh my gosh- that must have been so scary to open!
xo,
s
Julie says
While spending the $ to replenish all of that is no fun, isn’t it kind of nice to have the entire thing all cleaned out and nothing close to expiring? I only wish my fridge/freezer were that empty! I clean out my freezer regularly and then make batches of baby food/freezer food and it’s stuffed once again.
Heather says
I worked a short stint for a power company. It’s possible they might reimburse you for your grocery bill. Give them a call, it doesn’t hurt to ask.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much Heather! That’s actually on my to-do list today!
xo,
s
Audra says
I have to coupon to stay on budget.
I have little time, though, to coupon and run hither and yon. A friend invited me to a coupon seminar and it was amazing…you can see the highlights on her website. I use these 2 websites, but I don’t know if they cover your area. If not, SOMEONE has a website that does.
Basically, purchase a 12 pocket file folder. Each week, write the date in large print on the front of your inserts and file them. Some of the coupons will last for nearly 12 weeks…just rotate them. The website matches the store sales with the coupons. She tells you which insert your coupon is located. That way I only cut what I need for that shopping trip, no more cutting hundreds of the little beast and losing them. You click the items you want and click print. It takes me around 45 minutes a week to plan my shopping trip (make list, pull coupon matchups, etc.) I usually save 40% off my bill, though sometimes I it as high as 60% – woot! I don’t buy junk food or stuff I won’t use.
http://www.southernsavers.com/
http://faithfulprovisions.com/
Good luck!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Audra! So smart!
xo,
s
T.D. says
My apologies if something similar has already been mentioned… but the other weekend I was looking for ice packs for the cooler (went on a weekend trip) and my pops had a somewhat genius idea already in place. He filled an empty Gatorade bottle with water (left a little room for expansion) and let it freeze. Let’s just say it was the perfect idea to re-use any bottle we would have just thrown away AND no messy water-everywhere disaster at the end of the trip.
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, much smarter!
xo,
s
Lisa P. says
Not sure if someone already mentioned this….but instead of using plastic bags, use plastic or glass containers to put water in and freeze. We did this with several containers leading up to the Hurricane and didn’t lose any food from our fridge. We took some frozen stuff to friends houses to cook and gradually transferred the containers of ice one by one into the fridge to keep it cool. We were without power for 52 hours and it worked like a charm.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart! Glad it worked!
xo,
s
Angie says
I so feel your pain! Since we are new to Richmond, we had been stocking up little by little on the condiments and such. And then Irene came! We only lost power for 1 day, so thank goodness it wasn’t all spoiled! This filling a fridge from scratch stuff gets old! :)
neena says
since someone mentioned making hummus- i wanted to throw out making yogurt. it’s extremely easy, much cheaper and tastes better, and you control all the additives. there’s lots of info at thekitchn.com
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Neena!
xo,
s
Courtney says
We have the exact same fridge…I don’t know why that makes me kind of excited…
I see that people have suggested this type of thing; but I fill a couple 2 liter size soda bottles and keep them in the freezer; no leak probs and no milk smell!
Lindsay says
See, us Canadians don’t have anywhere NEAR the amount of coupons you folks do in the U.S. Same with the grocery store saving cards, we don’t have those either, at least not in Ontario. And don’t even get me started on the mere fact that our dollar is at par or worth more than the U.S. yet we still have higher prices here for things that are cheaper in the states. Very frustrating!
jaz says
Thanks for the great coupon info! …and sorry to hear you had to re-stock the refrigerator.
I recently discovered a discount/salvage grocer nearby and now do almost all of my shopping there with discounts of easily 85% off. It’s sticker shock to go to a ‘regular’ grocery store now!
To my surprise, they carry lots of organic food, vegan options, and lots, and lots of hummus!!
You probably have already visited/researched these in your area, but just in case here is the website with listings:
http://www.extremebargains.net/store/Independent_Discount_and_Salvage_Grocery_Store_Directory.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks so much!!
xo,
s
Andrea Ross says
We have been moving back and forth from overseas several times in the past few years and have to do this every time we come back and its usually a $300-$400 bill so getting it that low is fantastic, now we usually have to do the pantry too so that doesn’t help but can usually be bought more over time. I can’t seem to do more than $50ish for coupons either so its not just you, plus do you want to spend 40 hours a week to save more?!?
Whitney S says
Someone may have mentioned this, but you may be able to list the items you lost on your taxes- I think there’s an itemizing spot for that. COndiments really do add up! (I would save the cheese too!)
YoungHouseLove says
That’s a great tip too!
xo,
s
Rad Designing says
Ok, i just have to tell you my thought process with the after picture:
Prego? They make food specifically for pregnant women? Thats pretty cool. WAIT! Is Sherry prego? So exciting!! I thought they were going to wait… but thats awesome… wait a sec….
OOOooOhh…. I’m really smart. : /
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahahahahahahhah. Comment of the day fo sho.
xo,
s
alicia says
This one cracked me up because we literally have the same fridge contents (also a K-Rogers shopper). I always wait to scan my Kroger card until the end just to watch the amount go down with suspense!
Amanda says
I’m not sure about the regulations in your state, but you mentioned your deductible is higher than your loss. In Kansas, you don’t pay a deductible for food loss due to power outage. We dealt with that recently after a storm that cut power in some parts of my area for 3 days. I work for an insurance company and the corporate office said that there would be no deductible for it. So, I would still call your insurance company and inquire. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Amanda!
xo,
s
Wrenaria says
I just went through this myself last week due to our fridge dying (not a storm). We noticed when I pulled the ice cream out of the freezer and it was soup. Fortunately, we’re in a rental right now an have an awesome landlord, so he had a new fridge delivered to us in less than a week, but it sure was a bummer having to toss so much food. We emptied and recycled as many jars/bottles as we could though.
It always makes me feel guilty when we end up having to throw away a large amount of stuff (be it food or old junk).
Christina says
My husband and I live in New Kent and we saw the same suggestion about freezing water in zip lock bags. We froze about 5 bags and the same thing happened to us! We had a nice little pond in the bottom of our freezer. I did freeze water in big tupperware containers and cake pans that have lids, they worked pretty well!
Cheri says
I live in Alabama, perhaps you heard of the dreadful tornado outbreak that struck April 27 of this year? We were very fortunate that a tornado did not hit our town, but a F-5 did miss us by 7 miles as the crow flies! It was a very tragic day. However, people came together to help each other in ways I had never seen before. It’s one of those moments in Alabama history that will always make me proud as well as sad.
Anyway, the whole Tennessee Valley lost power because of the power lines downed by the Hackleburg-Phil Campbell tornado. We lost power from Wednesday around 3pm to Sunday 9am, roughly four days without power! To avoid waste, everyone cooked out and ate like piggies. They also gave food away to the victims who had lost their homes, emergency responders, and volunteer workers who were helping with clean up efforts.
It was then that I discovered the miraculous keep-cool power of Flav-O-Pops (those cheap plastic popsicles)! We filled our cooler with the popsicles and as many perishable items that needed refrigeration/freezing as possible. It helped keep most things from spoiling as we consumed them. They didn’t stay frozen for more than a couple of days, but none of them burst, just left behind some condensation from the exterior of the packaging. And yes, we were snarfing down as much as we could, just like everyone else! I seem to recall that I had just bought groceries before the storm…..
So moral of the story is, always keep a bunch of Flav-O-Pops in your freezer in case you face extended loss of electricity! Oh, and keep some ramen. Lots and lots of ramen! ;-)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha- great tips!
xo,
s
Cheri says
P.S. If you have an Aldi grocery in your area and you haven’t been, I definitely recommend that you check them out. They usually don’t carry specialty items, but it’s great for getting perishable items that require a weekly or bi-weekly trip to the store.
They have a lot of good deals there. Aldi sold the same amount of blueberries as Walmart for only 99 cents this summer! Their milk is the least expensive compared to all the other grocery stores in my town: Walmart, Kroger, Target, Publix, Sav-A-Lot, and Food World. We feed a family of four on roughly $50 a week there.
Make sure to bring your shopping bags and a quarter for the cart *don’t worry, you’ll get it back when you return it with the rest of them!*
hope it helps!
YoungHouseLove says
Wish we had an Aldi! We hear such good things!
xo,
s
Sherry says
I’m guessing you know but thought I’d make sure that at Target, they’ll take one manufacturer coupon and one Target coupon. This helps get things for free or less than a dollar at Target. I often find Super Target has better deals on organic foods that a regular grocery store.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- never knew that. Thanks! Wish we had a Super Target here :(
xo,
s
Kim says
Yeah, ziplocks are notorious when it comes to leakage issues. I’d suggest saving a few gallon or half-gallon containers (from things like milk or juice) that have screw-on lids, and fill those to within 2 inches of the top and freeze for future power outages. A bigger block of ice will take longer to thaw, thus keeping things cooler longer AND those containers won’t inexplicably spring leaks.
At least here you can use coupons to save on grocery items. We live in South America where coupons are unheard of. Sad, no? The store we shop at will have weekly specials but no coupons.
Kyley at Painting Pony says
You and me both! I always seem to only save a max of $50 (when I spend a few hours arming my coupons before going out). And we do the same, one big shopping trip every 2 – 3 weeks as opposed to swinging by the store every week or so.
I also feel like our GIANT store just sucks when it comes to coupons. You cant load anything on the cards & they won’t double coupons over $1. lame.
Bobbie says
About a month before we moved houses (two weeks ago) our extra freezer died and no one noticed for days. That’s where we keep all our meat to cook since we buy meat in bulk and have hunters in the family, it was packed! We lost hundreds of dollars worth of meat and some exotic meats. Two weeks after that I found rice weevils in our pantry and almost all our dry goods had to be tossed. Fast forward two more weeks (moving day!) and my inlaws told me to pack all refrigerated stuff into an ice chest with dry ice since it would be 24 hours until the fridge was moved. They didn’t tell me I had to crack the dry ice and I didn’t put any other type of ice in the ice chest. The morning we moved we opened the ice chest to find everything warm and rotten. So in one month we at some point or another lost every single ounce of food except for the peanut butter, spices, and olive oil. By the time we lost the refrigerated stuff, I didn’t even matter anymore. Everything was replaced and the previous owners left us their fridge when they moved which we are now using as an extra freezer again. Everything works out in the long run.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh man, that’s so sad. But I’m so glad it all worked out in the end!
xo,
s