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The best dorm room mini fridges for back to school
Amazon
Hey, parents, college freshmen and dorm-bound students: Don’t forget to add a mini fridge to your back-to-school shopping list. This dorm room essential takes up minimal space and keeps your drinks and snacks nice and cold.
The shopping experts at CBS Essentials have curated a selection of customer-favorite mini fridges with various features, including freezers, eraser board doors for notes, skincare refrigerators with mirrors and quiet models that won’t disrupt your sleep. All these top-rated mini fridges boast four-star ratings or higher and come with tons of positive reviews.
Sticking to a dorm room budget? Many of these mini fridge options are currently on sale right now. We’ve even found quite a few under $50!
The best mini fridges for dorm rooms in 2024
Shop our selection of the best mini refrigerators for dorm rooms below. All of these cool fridge finds have a four-star rating or higher.
Our top choice: Upstreman mini fridge with freezer
Upstreman via Amazon
Amazon’s No. 1 mini fridge has a 4.5-star rating and it’s on sale now. The Upstreman mini fridge has a 3.2-cubic-foot capacity and features a reversible door, an adjustable thermostat, a crisper drawer, removable shelves, a freezer and an ice tray. It measures 17.4″ x 18.7″ x 33.1″.
“This mini refrigerator exceeds my expectations,” says an Amazon customer. “Lots of room and it gets very cold without putting it to the maximum. I’m very happy with this purchase. I highly recommend this item!”
Upstreman mini fridge with freezer, $140 (regularly $180)
Frigidaire eraser board mini compact dorm fridge
Frigidaire Store via Amazon
This 4.3-star-rated fridge includes a reversible door, two adjustable shelves, a 2L bottle storage area and a door can rack. It measures 16″ x 20″ x 30″.
We especially love that this 3.2-cubic-foot Frigidaire mini fridge has an eraser board door. Claim your fridge with your name, write your roommate notes or draw pictures on the exterior of this appliance using a dry erase marker.
Frigidaire eraser board mini compact dorm fridge, $137
Frigidaire portable mini fridge
Frigidaire Store via Amazon
Add a pop of color to your dorm room with this retro Frigidaire beverage and snack refrigerator. This 4.3-star-rated mini fridge can hold up to nine beverage cans, skincare and snacks. Choose from four colors: black, blue, red and pink (shown).
“Bought this for my daughter for her room. She loves it. Keeps her beauty rollers and drinks/snacks cold,” says an Amazon customer who called the appliance a “nice fridge.”
This refrigerator measures 7″ x 12″ x 10″. Note that the price may vary with color.
Frigidaire portable mini fridge, $40
Galanz one door mini fridge
Galanz via Walmart
This 3.3-cubic-foot refrigerator features a full-width chiller compartment, two adjustable leveling legs and a convenient reversible door. The refrigerator measures 17.48″ x 19.09″ x 33.19″.
“I really do think it’s worth the price, not even starting with the fact you get a one-year warranty so if anything goes wrong you can get a replacement,” says a Walmart reviewer. “It does just what I need to for a great price … it’s pretty big and very quiet.”
Galanz one door mini fridge, $118 (regularly $190)
Midea refrigerator
Midea via Amazon
This 2.4-cubic-foot fridge has a 4.5-star rating. It measures 20.08″ x 17.52″ x 24.8″.
“If you’re looking for a low-cost fridge perfect for your room or a mini-bar, then this is going to be perfect for you,” says an Amazon reviewer. “This fridge is great, because it is lightweight (for a mini-fridge, of course), surprisingly durable, and small enough to keep in a room while still holding plenty inside.”
Werseon mini skincare fridge
Werseon via Walmart
If you’re looking for a refrigerator that will keep your serums, moisturizers and face masks nice and cool, consider this mini skincare fridge. This Werseon refrigerator features a lighted makeup mirror door with a button to adjust the brightness. This tiny fridge operates quietly, reaching only 28 decibels. (Standard refrigerators operate between 32db to 47dB.)
Note that this is a very small refrigerator: It measures 8.74 x 2.64 x 10.44 Inches.
Werseon mini skincare fridge, $37
Getty Images/iStockphoto
After an aggressive rate hike campaign in which Americans saw the federal funds rate rise from near zero to over 5%, the Federal Reserve is positioned this week to issue its second rate cut of the year. Following a 50 basis point cut in September, the federal funds rate dropped to a range between 4.75% to 5%. And after the Fed concludes its November meeting, that rate is widely expected to fall to a range between 4.50% to 4.75%. While a 25 basis point reduction will have a minimal effect on borrowers, it could cause many savers to reconsider their options, if they haven’t already.
In this climate, many savers may be pondering the benefits of opening a certificate of deposit (CD) account, specifically. Rates on these accounts surged in recent years alongside the federal funds rate, giving savers a safe and effective way to earn a significant return on their money. But now, with the second rate cut in three months set to be issued (and another likely for when the Fed meets again in December), some may be wondering if a CD is still worth opening. Below, we’ll break down three reasons why you should consider opening one now, even as the Fed continues to cut rates.
See how much more you could be earning on your money with a top CD here.
Why you should open a CD even as the Fed continues to cut rates
Not sure if it’s worth opening a CD in the face of looming rate cuts? Here are three reasons why it may still be worth doing right now:
Rates are still elevated (if slightly lower than what they were)
Sure, rates are falling. But they haven’t dropped so dramatically to render CD accounts useless. Remember, CD interest rates follow what the Fed does but they don’t mirror it directly. As such, you can still find a CD with a rate close to 5% right now. And additional cuts in the form of 25 basis points will have a small but gradual influence on the savings rate climate, meaning that it will take time for CD rates to significantly decline. Now is not yet that time.
Your money could use the extra layer of protection
With interest rate cuts being issued, unemployment data uneven, inflation falling and geopolitical tensions and concerns over the U.S. presidential election prominent, there are a variety of factors contributing to economic volatility right now. In circumstances like these, then, it’s beneficial to add an extra layer of protection for your money.
And a CD, with its fixed interest rate, can offer just that. Not only will you not need to worry about adverse market conditions affecting your CD account, you’ll also be able to budget with accuracy by knowing exactly how much interest you’ll earn upon account maturity.
Your window of opportunity is (slowly) closing
This may seem obvious but is worth reiterating. The window of opportunity to earn today’s elevated rate is closing. It’s important to remember that CD rates were under 1% just a few years ago. And while no one is predicting that rates will fall that low anytime soon, as noted above, they are on a downward path.
It doesn’t make sense, then, to wait for rates to fall further, particularly if you have a sum of money that you can comfortably afford to deposit into a CD right now. Just remember to only deposit an amount that you can leave in the account until maturity or you’ll risk having to pay a costly early withdrawal penalty to regain access.
The bottom line
CD account rates are on the decline, but not so dramatically or so rapidly that savers can’t still earn a major return on their money right now. But with another rate cut likely in just days and additional ones possible for December and into 2025, savers should act promptly before this window of opportunity fully closes. It took years, after all, for these CD rates to rise as high as they currently are. It makes sense, then, to open one while you still can.
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