I put $120 into a chest freezer for meal prep and it died in 5 weeks, so here is what I learned

Sean Jones · 2026-10-01T18:00:03.646485+00:00

Bought a 7 cubic foot chest freezer off a guy in Fort Worth for $120 back in February. I had this whole plan where I cook 20 meals on Sunday and eat cheap all week. Five weeks in, the compressor started making a clicking sound and then nothing. Everything inside was warm by Tuesday morning. I lost maybe $80 of chicken and ground beef on top of the $120. The part that bugs me is I skipped the $40 surge protector because the guy said it was already built in. It was not. I called a repair place in Arlington and they quoted $350 just to look at it, so I hauled it to the curb. If you are buying used for budget meals, plug it in for 24 hours before you hand over cash and listen for that click. Anyone else gotten burned on a used freezer and did a new one actually hold up better?

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I put $120 into a chest freezer for meal prep and it died in 5 weeks, so here is what I learned | Budgeting Wins - nhfree.com