It would be inconvenient but not impossible. The first thing I would do would be to get a cooler and scrub the inside well - bagged ice to keep a few basic staple items cool...and cold water from the melted ice. We usually stop at the grocery store for fresh items 5-6 times a week. Stopping daily to pick up meat for dinner wouldn't be a big deal. There are also some things that I 'typically' refrigerate that don't actually need refrigeration, like eggs.Log In shows you how to do a float test to see if eggs are still good if you're curious. They do last longer refrigerated but it's not actually necessary.
I think I can but it would be a real drag since I've lived with a fridge ever since I was born, I think, so prying it away would really take some getting used but I suppose you can live without one. I think the only problem you would have is you not being able to store any type of food that would rot if not chilled. Also I'd prefer drinking cold water.
My family and I were left without electricity for several months many years ago, and the refrigerator was the main problem for us because it's not the same preserve food in large quantities than small ones. I don't have a refrigerator right now (precisely because I moved here, where there is none) but I don't think to need it at all, except when I want chilled beverages, need a cold dessert, or want some ice cream for the whole week. Other than this, I have managed to live with a shopping list that includes canned food, dehydrated food, and not-so-easy-to-spoil produce. However while at my parents' home by the no-electricity time, we have to learn way to preserve food and implement an alternative to refrigerate leftovers. These were some of our sources to achieve that goal until electricity took back the refrigerator there: Food Presevation;Log In Zeer Pot Fridge:Log In A Practical Zeer Pot;Log In How to Preserve Food without Refrigeration:Log In
Living without a refrigerator isn't entirely impossible. Most people can do without fridges but they don't know that. You need them solely to preserve food but if the food you buy shouldn't be frozen then you won't even need a fridge. As MDP points out there are numerous ways to preserve food and should anyone's fridge die then they needn't worry.
Living without a refrigerator would be one of the hardest things, I think. Things like dishwashers, laundry machines, blowdryers, my Corace are all nice to have an very useful, but they are not as special as the fridge. I probably would have a really hard time not having a refrigerator and would most likely trade many other electronics for a fridge.
After 4 weeks of living alone, I am actually cool with drinking water that isn't chilled. The most annoying part is when you can't buy a tub of ice cream since you have nowhere to store it. So even if ice cream is supposed to be eaten after the main meal, I eat it while I eat my main meal, lol. Good thing ice is cheap over here.
I don't think it's as simple as saying that people lived without fridges many decades ago, so we can too. Keep in mind they had other methods of preserving food back then as well, such as underground rooms in the basement to keep them somewhat chilled, as well as purchasing ice blocks in the days before the commercial refrigerators we use today. There was a special on TV a while back I saw where a local town still uses only ice blocks to keep their food cold in place of conventional fridges. A local businessman harvests the ice from a nearby lake (it must be somewhere in or near Alaska if I recall), and sells and delivers it to the residents on a regular basis. In the long run, I don't really think it would be sustainable to be without a fridge for too long of a time. You wouldn't be able to take advantage of savings on so many products that most people consume such as fresh meats, dairy, and produce, so you would have to either buy smaller individual portions on a daily basis, which would cost a premium, or you would be wasting a lot of product because you couldn't finish it in time before it went bad. Ultimately all the extra money you were wasting could have paid for a basic fridge in a very small amount of time. Even if you at least had a cheap-o dorm room fridge for like $50, that would get you by somewhat.
Oh but I don't plan on staying here long too, as soon as I can afford it I would move to a better apartment with amenities, I just need to have the money for it. I do not like this place so I would like to move again as soon as possible.
I've had to manage without a fridge for a couple of days before but couldn't do it permanently. Buying fresh food every day is a sure fire way to waste money. It's also a lot more convenient. @sidney if you are managing fine without then there's probably no point in getting one until you are settled somewhere. It's just an extra thing to move otherwise.
I could make it work if I really wanted to, but I would get a fridge as soon as possible if I was you. Being able to store leftovers for later or just cooking a big batch of food to eat throughout the week makes things much easier. Buy a cheap mini fridge and it should serve its purpose well since you live alone.
If I had a full garden, absolutely. In the city, with no fridge would be super inconvenient, but that's what most grocery store foods are for I suppose. Much of it doesn't need a fridge, it's meant to sit on a shelf well past our next mass extinction lol. If I didn't have a fridge I would just go to the store every day. We practically do anyway, so I'm sure I'd be fine. If I couldn't go to the store every day, I'd move. I won't risk my health because of it. I'm sure that's not practical for everyone though lol. Before all of this though, if I couldn't afford a fridge, I would grab a free one from a local trading site. There is always something, if not for free, for very very cheap. At least here there is.
I live in the tropics and during the hurricane season, if a storm or hurricane is threatening the area or there is very bad weather, they would sometimes turn off the electricity. This means that the refrigerator would be off for some time. During those times we then see how much we appreciate the refrigerator. However, very many years ago, people did not have luxuries like these and they survived somehow. But we still have to admit that a refrigerator is definitely a convenience.
We had to do it recently when the fridge broke and it was a week or so before it got repaired. Luckily we have a freezer and we have a couple of large ice chests. So we froze containers of water and kept everything nicely chilled. If you wanted to live that way and you had no freezer, you could consider buying a freestanding, countertop model ice maker. But the ice chests with blocks of ice in theme worked well to chill water, milk, whatever.
It will be so hard to live without a fridge. I love cold drinks and sodas and having something to store meat, fruits, milk and other edibles so it doesn't spoil is a necessity in any households. Plus, buying food everyday is time consuming and definitely costly.
I think I could live without a refrigerator for days and weeks. In the last few weeks, because of low voltage, my refrigerator is not running. The electricity board is cleaning a hydro damn and it has led to poor power supply. I am ok without a refrigerator. I live in a farm and I get fresh produce which is making my life easier despite not having a fridge. .
The short answer is NO LOL I just don't know how people used to survive without them. But in Botswana not that long ago, we didn't have them in every household. I mean, I've never experienced it. But my mum, who's 66, is always telling me stories about when she was growing up including not having use of a fridge, no electricity and having to collect water from some stand pipe. I'm just glad I was born when I was LOL
We have used coolers with ice to keep food from spoiling when we have had long power outages. We do have to shop more often for food to reduce the amount of spoilage and keep food that does not need to be refrigerated as the main food supply. It can be done but it is a pain to have to live without a refrigerator.
Where l live now, since I don't use a ref, I noticed that for the past 9 months my electricity is free, because the kilowatt usage is low, so I don't get charged. I only use the lights, the fan, radio and the computer. There is no tv here. So the upside to not using a ref is that you won't have to pay a high electric bill, or in my case, zero bills for that matter.
After a while, you may get tired of going to the store every single day just to buy fresh food. What about in the middle of the night when you just want a quick snack, and I'm not talking about a bag of chips, maybe just a plate of something you cooked earlier in the day, or even a bowl of ice cream? I believe that it depends on the type of food you choose to consume on a daily basis in your life. If you know more than half of the food you consume generally comes from a refrigerator then you might as well consider the fact that you can't live without it. You can, but it's just a choice. You may have to change up your eating habits.
True, although Iive in an area where there are lots of stores that are open 24/7, so I just go there when I feel like eating something that's meant to be refrigerated. But I'm moving next month again to a place where there is a ref, so I guess I will be living a "normal" life again.
