Dear LPG readers,

A few years before we retired, my sister and I both found ourselves living alone and decided on becoming housemates.  It has all worked out well because, in spite of the odd squabble and dispute, we have successfully managed to eliminate the need for either of us to be a part of the ‘pensioners living alone’ statistic so far.   

We both retired within a year of each other and we agreed that, if we put our retirement lump sums in our bank accounts, given a year or two the money would evaporate.   To keep things equal, we each sold our homes and bought a new one and we decided to make sure that we could see our lump sums.  I decided on a new kitchen while my sister had the storage ‘shed of sheds’ built in the garden.  The shed came with electricity and was a really good idea.   We suddenly had a whole new room to store the many things that we had two of, but only needed one.   The one thing that becoming a housemate after years of living alone results in is duplication. 

We found ourselves with two of everything and, in a lot of cases storing them while sorting out which one to sell and which one to share caused a few heated discussions.  This was no truer than when it came to those all-important kitchen gadgets, there was no argument when it came down to the bigger kitchen appliances because neither alternative was going to be suitable, eliminating many of those ‘let’s store yours and use mine’ moments. Our washing machines, cookers, hobs and ovens had to go. 

Our new kitchen had built in appliances which left us with the need for triplicate acquisitions of some things.   When it came to the freezer the decision was more strait forward.  She had an upright and I had a chest.  We decided that, as we were going to get a new kitchen which was to include a brand new, hidden integrated upright freezer, we should sell her upright and keep the chest freezer in the shed just in case.

You might well ask why two people would need a freezer each but they are always full and while we are in and out of the one in the kitchen, it is really hard to keep track of what is in the back.  In the winter, weather often puts us off making the trek across the garden to find something for dinner although, putting more things in there while you still have your coat on after a shopping expedition seems to come more naturally.  

Every summer we empty it completely and have a good look at what is lurking down in its depths.  

Can you imagine how many trips we have to do from the shed to the house before the sort out could commence?   But, we have learned to minimise them by putting the cargo in those big shopping bags that the supermarkets sell but last year we learned something else.  We have learned that there is no point in decanting all the food back into the freezer so we have taken all those storage treys out and we just lower the bags into the deep square space that is under the flip top lid.  Not only do we already know what is in each bag, but as our backs prefer not to have to bend and lift individual things in order to get to the lower layers, pulling the appropriate bag up to our level makes finding things a lot easier.  

We feel it vital to pass this information on to anyone with a chest freezer.  We have discovered that if you sort the food into categories (Vegetables, Meat and fish, cakes and desserts, party finger food etc.) and then leave it in the shopping bags it is a lot easier to get to the stuff at the bottom of the freezer.   There is less bending down to reach for the things at the bottom and you can tell at a glance just how much of what sort of food you have at any given time.  I would also like to say that it helps us to not buy so many things that we already have but I fear that it just allows us a bit more space for a few more things.  

I thought it something worth sharing whether your chest freezer is in your kitchen or at the bottom of your garden, just in case anyone else agrees that finding what you want at the bottom of a chest freezer is a bit of a chore that can be hard on your back…    

FL, Catford.

We at LPG found a little information on the pros and cons of  each kind of freezer which might be of interest if you are on the cusp of buying a new one…

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