I really don't eat much
food that needs to be refrigerated. The main reason I bought Ice all summer was to keep the beer cold.
But here's the
funny thing. I spent several years living in NOLA with this girl who preferred warm beer (talk about a rarity!). For the first year, everytime I got a beer out of the fridge, she'd ask me to put one on the counter for her (to warm it up). By the second year, I was drinking them warm right along with her
and enjoying them just the same as ever before.
Food is not much different. Aside from Dairy products and Meats, there is not a whole lot of stuff that really needs to be refrigerated. There are foods that don't last very long, like leafy greens, or banana's, but other than those few things you can get by for many days, or weeks, eating entirely fresh foods without refrigeration. (just try it)
I'd still like to have one, just the same as I'd like to have more money
It's just nicer.... But, I know from experience (much more experience than just the beer thing) that once you get past the FEAR of doing without something, and start living it. Life becomes just as comfortable without it as it was with. They call this "adapting". Its human nature...This is true for most things in life, but particularly when it comes to 'luxuries' on a sailboat.
Fish should not be caught so large you can't eat them within a day or two. It's not that difficult, even on the open ocean. You just use smaller lures
really... Wherever there are big
fish, there are also smaller ones (either their babies, or their food). Subsequently, there's no need to spend $100's of dollars on Penn Senators, 100lbs test
fishing line, and giant lures that have no place on a small sailboat to begin with...
Then there's other methods of preserving food, like that mystical 'canning' voodoo some people talk about. And fish are particularly well suited for drying.
Aside from the initial cost of the refrigeration system itself, you also have to generate the
power to use the thing... So by going without, you not only save the money from the fridge, and the
fishing lures, you also save money on tinned copper, large
solar panels,
wind generators, more
batteries, more
fuel for the
motor or the
generator, etc..
The smallest of the Engels is the lowest
power consuming
refrigerator ever made (as far as I know). But even after I upgrade my
solar panels, I still doubt my two
batteries will hold enough energy to keep an engel and everything else running on a full-time basis.
Be honest with yourself. How long are you going to spend on the boat without going to shore? Aside from the
rare month-long passages, and the occasional 'deserted isle' getaways. You'll be within rowing/walking/biking/hitchhiking distance from a local market during 99% of your travels. If you can't keep food fresh for one week at a time, somethings wrong....You can remain on
budget no matter how many times you go to the market. You can alway stock up on the non-parishables, and suppliment fresh greens with sprouts, meats with fish and seafood, and beer with
rum.
If you can't live without cold beer and hamburgers, don't plan on cruising with only $500 a month.
). 
). Our previous boat had no refrigeration and it was never a problem to provision for that duration. Our 
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