V5800 2-in-1 Foodsaver Vacuum Sealer Review

If you've been following my blog for a while now you know that my husband and I are working to pay off our debt and have been doing so for nearly 2 years. One of our biggest struggles is food. On a daily basis we struggle with the desire to eat out or spend too much at the grocery store. We prefer natural and organic foods with few preservatives which, of course, has a big influence on our bill. After all, it's always cheaper and easier (it seems) to eat junk food (McDonalds, Lays potato chips, Oreos, Hamburger Helper, etc…) than to make your own food or eat somewhere that serves vegetables. Luckily, for me, I was given the opportunity to review a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer, a product that not only helps my husband and I save money, it also provides various new and exciting ways to cook.

Back in October when we first received the FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer, I had Justin pull it out of the box. As an engineer, I knew if he didn't know how to work it immediately, no one would. It took a bit of fiddling, but within the course of an hour he had it working and was already using it to take the air out of food items and seal packaging. He did this successfully with oreos making it more detrimental to actually consider eating them … (If someone unseals them to eat a cookie or two, they have to reseal it if they don't want anyone else knowing what they did. It keeps one from messing with a sealed package especially if that person doesn't know how to fix what they broke! It makes it great for weight loss or keeping kids out of treats!) Of course some people will use this product for what it is actually designed for … sealing food (and not just to keep hands off things). We did this with pecans as well as a number of our Thanksgiving foods that we transported from Atlanta to the north Georgia mountains. It was nice being able to seal things like cranberry sauce and gravy in bags knowing we would then be able to transport them without them spilling everywhere. The vacuum sealing option for stuffing, vegetables, and meat made it possible to save a bunch of room in our cooler. Yay!

While we haven't tested the limits to see how much longer a product sealed with the vacuum sealer can last in comparison to a product simply placed in the fridge (or one in a ziplock bag for that matter), thus far we are extremely happy with the 5800 2-in-1 FoodSaver Vacuum Sealer and would highly recommend it. Replacement bags can be bought for a relatively low cost at Costco (or Wal Mart if there isn't a Costco near you). We are looking to get such additions for our FoodSaver as the Wine Saver Bottle Stopper Vacuum Pump and a Sous Vide water oven. It's nice being able to save money on the things we already purchase and fun for Justin to experiment with new ways of cooking.

Do you have a Foodsaver of any kind? Are you interested in purchasing one? Share your experiences with me! I'd love to hear about them!

• I received this item for free in exchange for my opinions. All opinions are my own.