Thursday, May 4, 2017

Once a Month Meal Preparation...

Hey, Y'all!

It was just a day or two ago when I told you that I was in the market for a new or almost new freezer.  Well, God is so good!  I am just a click away from purchasing a brand new upright freezer.
The price of the new freezer before taxes is $529.  I opted for an upright freezer. I am too old to do all the bending required to pack the freezer; lift out heavy frozen packages; load heavy packages into the freezer, and try to remember what is on the bottom under 200 pounds or more of frozen food.

I chose Best Buy because I already have a reward card ($164) from a large purchase I made a couple of years ago.  I am using the $180 cash out from Pine Cone Research (I get $3 per survey) that I have been saving since I last used it to purchase my new computer.  That was just about two years ago this month. I have $46 in my SavingStar account and will cash that in this week, as well.  The freezer purchase will generate a $5 reward from Best Buy and another $5 reward from EBates. The last reward site for me to cash in is CheckOut51 ($20). So, that gives me a total of $420 towards my freezer.  In other words, I will purchase that $529 freezer for $109!  That's a yard sale bargain.

By the way, this will be the second freezer I have purchased with these same discount sites funding my purchase.  Yes, it is tedious and not everyone will want to go through the hassle of saving bits and pieces of money for nearly six months or more.  But, the money we save will fill up our new freezer with lots of meals.

I hope to take you on my journey as I fill up that new freezer with a month's worth of packaged meals.  Meals that will be ready for the crockpot or oven with little or no further prep than unzipping the freezer bag(s).  As I said in my last blast, I regularly (weekly) prepare large quantities of cooked items for the freezer.  Now, I will have a freezer dedicated to just those items.  I plan to package all the freezer meals and the cooked items in ziploc bags.  The plastic containers take up too much space.  I may use them for soups, sauces, broths, etc. but not for meals.

This will be our third freezer and it will take the place of one of our three refrigerators.  One refrigerator is dying (the frozen foods were thawing in the freezer section).  It was given to us about 5+ years ago and has done a great job otherwise.  Best Buy will haul it away for free.

If you would like to know more about the sites that made it possible for us to get a 30-inch computer monitor, HP computer, printer, and freezer #1 all for free or almost free, here are the listings for them:
  • SavingStar - Sign up with your customer loyalty cards for your favorite supermarket(s) and pharmacy(ies)
  • EBates  - Use my link and we both get a bonus when you sign up and use it the first time. 
  • Pine Cone Research (usually only by referral or invitation during their open season about once or twice a year)
  • Checkout51 - Purchase groceries on the list; take a photo of your receipt via their app and they credit your CheckOut51 account.  When you get to $20 in rewards, you can request a "payout" via a check.
Happy Couponing!

ShaRon :o)
John 21:18