Want a good emergency preparedness idea?  We have a freezer in our garage.  It's where we keep what I call, "our frozen assets".  When I see meat, fish, butter, bread, milk in cartons, or frozen foods on sale I try to get two or more.

With a family of six, it pays to grab good deals and stock up.  My goal is to have three to six months worth of backup (we do rotate the stock-- nothing seems to last indefinitely frozen).

It is also important for us to maintain the freezer because a large part of my income is variable-- there are slow months, good months, and great months.  Variable incomes are EXTREMELY hard to budget-- so a freezer is one way to handle the slow times (paying some of your regular bills 1-2 months ahead is another way).  Having food in the freezer, frig, and pantry is like money in the bank.  Hence the phrase, "our frozen assets".

The impact on the electric bill is small compared to the peace of mind and satisfaction of taking advantage of a good deal on certain items.

Some quick tips:

• Label packages with the item name and date frozen
• Use proper wraps and seal them tight (freezer paper or vacuum seals)
• Rotate your stock to avoid leaving something in the deep freeze too long
• If the freezer isn't full, add a few milk or juice jugs with water to help keep the freezer cold

This post is derived from a post that originally appeared on DivorcedDadFrugalDad.com, here is the link to the original post, Our Frozen Assets. 

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DDFD believes that self reliance and self sufficiency are the roads to individual freedom.  He is dedicated to living a quality life through frugality, personal growth and productivity, and defensive entrepreneurship.  He also enjoys cooking from scratch and fishing.