Debt Dumpers 2025

[barkley]

I agree with maybe defrosting the spaghetti, heating a little up and at least tasting it. If you are concerned about how it will taste at least you will know, and if you are concerned about any impacts from the food having "gone off" just try a little, wait a few days and see what happens. If there are no ill effects maybe try again, or don't - it's up to you, but clever use of a freezer can be a real budget booster.

if i'm uncertain on if something freezes and holds up well I will take a very small portion (maybe 1/2 a cup) and put it in a container when i'm making a smaller batch. pop it into the freezer and then pull it out a week or so later to defrost and try. I do this also when I hear of things that I had never considered freezing-avacados come to mind-no clue you could freeze a whole one only to pull it out, defrost it, slice it open and find it the same consistancy as fresh . my very small avocado came out great.

I'll freeze spaghetti sauce and then cook noodles when I want to eat it. This is mostly because there's always left over sauce so it's easy to freeze single portions that can be used for various things

same here though i've found if I prepare too much pasta and need to freeze it that tossing it in a bit of olive oil before freezing improves the defrosted consistancy.

My upright freezer and basement pantry are what keeps the house running!

same here but it's kitchen fridge freezer, spare old fridge's freezer in the garage and garage stand up freezer along with garage pantry. the old fridge's freezer holds nothing but bread products (invantory list on the door so I know what to get/NOT get at the store when meal planning). full size freezer has an invantory list too-helps keep me from duplicate purchasing.

Then the dry pantry is always stocked with rice, canned beans (black and kidney at minimum but I also prefer to have cannellini, chickpeas and pinto on hand as well), canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, coconut milk, peanut butter, jelly, and dry pasta. I usually make my own pasta sauce but if I need a real quick spaghetti and sauce for the kids I also keep 2 or so jars of Aldi organic sauce on hand -- affordable and very minimal ingredients.

no coconut milk in mine but pretty much the same along with a handful of canned veggies/fruits we use on the regular. my in-house pantry holds primarily dry goods along with jarred goods we grab more frequently. i've found in recent years that with some of my dry goods i'm thankful to have the extra space b/c there are such infrequent sales and prices have gone up so much i'm better off getting them in a 6 or 12 pack from mazon vs. at the grocery store.

my weekly grocery trips otherwise only consist of fresh and fridge items or stuff we run through fast -- so milk, eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, lunch meat, yogurt, granola

transitioned to one monthly main shopping trip per month and maybe only 2 dairy/produce in that same month. we are super lucky to have ultra pasteurized dairy products so the milk I bought last week is good until late august

 

[Tygerlilly]

Well, dropped the car off this morning to get the coolant leak and cruise control sensor looked at. They called back about an hour ago and said the sensor was bad and there was a significant crack in the water pump, which was causing the coolant leak. Everything ($1200 worth of work) is covered under the warranty 100% and I'll only owe my $150 deductible. It will be ready tomorrow and I can return the rental car Thursday. I'm VERY happy with the whole situation.

 

[barkley]

Well, dropped the car off this morning to get the coolant leak and cruise control sensor looked at. They called back about an hour ago and said the sensor was bad and there was a significant crack in the water pump, which was causing the coolant leak. Everything ($1200 worth of work) is covered under the warranty 100% and I'll only owe my $150 deductible. It will be ready tomorrow and I can return the rental car Thursday. I'm VERY happy with the whole situation.

thank goodness for the warranty and good thing that coolant leak tipped you off to a problem before the entire pump blew (inevitably with a car full of kiddos in the middle of traffic far from home).