Our new fridge – before her first meal.
That’s right. My new best friend weighs over 200 lbs. And I’m feeding her all the time.
Actually, that’s only 10.5 lbs higher than my highest weight.
Just thought of that. Anyhoo!
Let me know if you need a new refrigerator coach, cuz I’ve got all the tricks and tips now that I’ve researched and purchased a brand new fridge. See, I research these things before I jump.
On with the story.
My good friend Amy takes a quick thought about what she wants and then just buys. Cars, appliances, furniture.
Do you do that too? Or are you more like me?
I take a somewhat different approach.
I get an idea about what I want, then snoop around and comparison shop. Maybe I got it from my mother who would spend every Wednesday pouring over the newspaper, pursing lips over tongue in concentration, for coupons and price breaks to plan out the ideal itinerary for Thursday’s shopping trip.
So I guess I fall somewhere in between.
About a month ago, when it became apparent that our trusty GE fridge may not make it to year 21, I decided to take a preemptive strike and find me a replacement before an emergency thaw situation hit.
Here’s what I did:
- I visited 4 stores: Loews, Home Depot, Sears, and the local appliance outlet, Ginno’s.
- I compared cubic feet, reviews, and prices online. Bin size. Shelf space. Lighting.
- I debated styles. The French Door style seemed so appealing. No more leaning over to forage through deep veggie bins, which is where I spend most of my refrigerator time. Ice in the door, or no?
OK, no big wup, you’d do that too, right? I took it a step further.
When all was said and done, I’d managed to bargain the lowest price offered in town out of my preferred business option – the local guy. After all, they had really spent time with me on my questions, never pressured me to buy, and – heck, he is the local guy.
Not only that, I was able to bargain with them on warranty AND delivery charges.
Now, my friend Amy might think this is a waste of time. For me, it save me about $3oo in cash and that was worth it.
Plus I had a really, really clear idea of what I was getting.
Heck, the same strategy saved me 2 Grand on a new car purchase once.
My new fridge? I LOVE that I can open just one door and without bending into a pretzel position can easily pull out the crisper with my giant carrots all ready to go. Simple pleasures.
So if you wanna talk produce-friendly fridges, brands, and all other things icebox, I’m yours!
So, what’s in my new fridge?
I knew you were gonna ask that.
Of course, she’s getting stocked.
Sure, I’ll tell you what’s inside. Be right back.
Kale, carrots, celery, broccoli, apples, cherries, cooked brown jasmine rice, batch of homemade veggie soup, peanut butter, rice milk, tofu, lentils, garlic, rice flour, almond milk, ketchup mustard and assorted condiments, blueberry jam, cold baked potatoes, butternut squash, grapefruit, sugar snap peas.
Going to market tomorrow so more veggies coming in!
AND the French door style is poifect. It’s such a pleasure to have everything easily seen at eye level.
No more digging into hidden tunnels as my old side-by-side had me do. Not to diminish my old fridge, she served us well! Yet if you’re making the decision on fridge style yourself, if you are a veggie lover like me, I vote for Frenchie.
Plus what better way to celebrate my brand-new Certification in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University?
I just finished all course requirements! Yay! More later.
P.S.. Uncle! Editing to add an “after her first meal” picture as per reader requests 😉
Our new fridge, after her first meal
For now, tell me about YOUR adventures in refrigerator land. Anything to add to my experience? Please share in comments below.
Lani, OK, I’ve been putting this same purchase off and you’ve given me the inspiration to get going.
What brand did you end up with? I’ll probably have more questions for you, hope that’s OK!
Gail
Gail, she’s a Kitchenaid. Happy to help, ask away 😉
Lani, I can’t believe all that you are able to fit in your fridge! You have definitely inspired me to stock up on my veggies today. But then you always have that influence on me :-0 . Thanks!
Jen
Glad I could help Jen. Of course you’ve uncovered an ulterior motive 😉
Lani
What? No ‘after’ picture? I hope you’ll take a another picture with all the food inside! Hate to see your cupboard bare!
Thanks for another great post. I liked the story about your mom, too. I can relate!
Gwen
OK Gwen, uncle! You weren’t the only person to ask this morning so I took a “post first meal” snapshot for you and loaded her up.
Ah, the mother memories! Yeah.
Oh WOW Lani – I really really LOVE your new friend!! And my back is jealous, as my veggies overflow the crispers that of course are on the bottom!
GOOD for you, for going local – I happen to agree – I will go back to the person who spent the most time with me and treats me as a human customer, not a number. And I know EXACTLY what you mean about researching on internet then stores, THEN decide.
So, when’s dinner???
btw – I thought this would be a blog about a new star mcdougal story – guess in a way it still is lol!
-Paym
Paym, star McDougaller, you’re right, that is too too funny! And yes, it shows you the power of good customer service. We know it when someone is willing and happy to give us answers to our questions so we can make the best decision, yet we don’t feel like they are trying to trick us into a sale. It’s the original Law of Attraction marketing and still works. It’s just good customer service.
BTW, I even took that an extra mile that you will appreciate. The first time at the local store, I was helped phenomenally by agent #1, John. The next time I went back, he wasn’t there, and I had a couple of questions that agent #2 helped with. But most of my assistance had come from John, so when it came time to purchase I deliberately worked through him, just guessing that commissions are still the way many of these places operate. I also complimented him on exactly what you and I have been talking about here. It made a difference for me. As a matter of fact, right after I made my purchase, I saw another couple looking at the exact fridge. I made a spot-decision and just marched up to them, told them it was a great fridge and that I had just bought it (I had my receipt in hand) and proceeded to show them some key features! Bold! Then I said, ‘Sorry if I’m butting in!” But they actually loved my intervention. And John said to me as I left (of course I told the couple John was their man!) he’d give me a commission if they bought. LOL I know he wasn’t serious yet feelings were warm and fuzzy all around. Nice
Lani – I’m starting the same process. So glad you posted about this. I’m also thinking French door style for the reasons you stated. How big did you go? With all the produce, a week’s worth of groceries barely fits into my old 18 cu ft. so I’m thinking bigger but don’t want to go overboard.
Hey Vicki, sorry about delay in getting back to your question – but here I am and I’m happy to help! I went with 25 cubic feet, and my biggest concern was getting all the fresh veggies in without having to dig for buried treasure. Heck, you saw my contents list and how well it all fit in! My previous fridge was something like 21 cu feet so yes a bit bigger but let me tell you, the layout makes a huge difference. Things don’t get lost like they used to. And I pretty much only get to market once a week, sometimes 10 days (live in them thar hills!) which is why I need room for 3 bunches kale, piles of broccoli, 5 – 10 lbs of carrots….you know! And as most of my fridge content is fresh veggie, along with rice, potatoes, and bread plus fruit, they fill the shelves above the crisper too and everybody’s happy.
Let me know if you need any other assist!
Lani
Thanks for the information about the size. I was a little worried about the external dimensions of a 25 cu ft, but it looks like yours is fitting into a standard space. Hmmm. At a minimum, I’ll probably go 22 (I’ve seen some that size.) Ah well, a few items on the “to buy” list first – like a dishwasher. But this blog entry has helped me make a decision on the frig – once I get to it. And I’m pretty excited! Thanks.
Hey Vicki, let me know if you need any more info, happy to help from my experience!
I had measured the opening to our fridge space in advance and had all of those dimensions with me while shopping. My old one was 21 and my new Frenchie is a little wider and deeper and higher though not a huge amount but boy what a difference with ease of use of internal space, organizing, and see just what the heck is in there!
Lani
Lani, I have always been a freezer-on-the-bottom gal, and my fridge is now 17 years old…I hope it lasts until we decide to move back to the lower 48 from Alaska, but who knows how long that will be? I have a question: is the French door option the only freezer-on-the-bottom one out there now? My son in Colorado has one, and it’s pretty nice, but did you see any fridges with only one door that have the freezer-on-the-bottom?
Cloud – yes they are out there and a quick googl serach of ‘refrigerator freezer on bottom’ brings them up. How many years until you plan to move back to the lower states? My fridge was 21 and I’m sure still had life left, as I said we wanted to not be in an emergency situation. The old fridges may be energy hogs but they do last forever it seems!
Lani…..how do you keep your kale from going limp or getting mold? I am having a time with mine and am thinking it might be my fridge. I have wrapped ot in a towel, have wrapped ot on a damp paper towel, and have kept in the plastic bag I brought it home in. It lasts about three days. Am thinking I need to freeze it. Thanks. Sandi
Sandi, to keep it from going limp, you could stick the roots in a jar of water or if no room in the fridge for that one (!), get a terry cloth towel wet and wrap the base, then put it back in the back, keeping the bag open at the top. I’ve never had kale get moldy – limp, yes – but then it works great in soups anyway!
I mostly researched the energy efficiency ratings when we needed a new fridge. The Energy Star website has tons of information here that I perused at length. Of course, the hard part is actually finding the models that are the best.
Here’s a past post from my blog with a picture of my overly full refrigerator plus complete list of everything in it. I do a lot of food preservation so there are things like pickled vegetables, marmalade, and sauerkraut on the list. 🙂
Thanks Chile for the added fridge research! It’s amazing how much energy the new ones can save.