What to do when your refrigerator dies?

This weekend I woke up to find a puddle of water in front of my fridge and all of my frozen foods thawed.  Since I have just recently restocked my fridge and freezer (and have been dedicated to eating from home) I was devastated.

So what does a graduate gourmet do when her fridge dies? First, I kept the doors closed as much as possible.  This keeps the cold air in, and hopefully allows your repairman time to fix your fridge before the food goes bad.  With this approach I was able to keep my food fresh for one day after I discovered the puddle.

As this was a holiday weekend, I had to wait at least 4 days before a repairman could fix my fridge.  This led to my second action: move your food outside.  Since it is winter time, I knew I could store my food outside for a short period of time.  My frozen food and produce were unfortunately not salvageable, but I put all of my condiments that need to be refrigerated outside in an insulated cooler with a note stating "Fridge Broken. Please do not move."

Third, I cried....No, I'm kidding, but as I was throwing away my food, I made a list of what I threw out.  This way, I can hopefully be reimbursed for my spoiled food.  Luckily, since I rent my apartment my landlord will be footing the bill for the repairs.  However, I think the total lost food damage may be $80-100, plus the cost of eating every meal out for 4 days (kind of hard to store leftovers in a broken fridge...).  One positive effect from all of this is that I will be trying harder than ever to be frugal for the next couple of weeks, which should lead to some great posts!

Hopefully I will come home today to a working refrigerator!