I’m always delighted when I do something to make my life easier and then find that it saves money, too. In this case, I’m referring to freezing milk for later use.
Milk can be easily frozen. A quart sized canning jar is perfect for freezing milk. Be sure to leave room in the container for the milk to expand as it freezes.
When milk freezes, over time the fats in the milk separate from the water in the milk. To avoid this, freeze milk for very short periods, such as 2 -3 days. Alternatively, you can vigorously shake, stir, or blend the milk after it is thawed to redistribute the fats.
The best way to thaw frozen milk is to put it in the refrigerator overnight. Larger quantities of frozen milk may require longer than a night to thaw. An alternative is to put the sealed frozen milk container in a sink or bowl of cold water to thaw.
At my local grocery stores, milk is currently on sale for $2.50 a gallon. That translates to $.156 per cup. Freezing a quart of fresh milk to prevent it from spoilage and resulting waste will save $.62 (4 cups @ .156/cup) Freezing and later using a quart of milk each week would save $32.24 a year, or the equivalent of over 12 gallons of milk a year.
Even better than the money savings is the convenience of always having milk for cooking and eating. No more special trips to the store for a gallon of milk! That is a big time saver. And hey, that saves gasoline as well. Now that’s The Fat Dollar way.
Related article on The Fat Dollar website (more detailed) – Freezing Milk
Editor’s Note: Article originally published Jun 26 2012