Gen Z reckons this Aussie household item is a 'flex' - but is it really?

Cue confused millennial parents across Australia wondering when the everyday became elite.

There’s a picture doing the rounds on Reddit right now that has the internet divided - and not in the usual “pineapple on pizza” way. No, this time it’s about a fridge. Not just any fridge though - a garage fridge.

You know the one: packed to the brim with cans of Solo, Pop's beers and a forgotten Tupperware container you’re too scared to open.

According to one Reddit user’s teenager, this basic suburban staple isn’t just convenient. It’s a status symbol. A millennial flex, even.

“My teenager says that garage drink fridges are such a millennial flex,” Reddit user, U/IMTHE1WH0 wrote alongside a photo of their immaculately stocked beverage fridge.

And with that, a generational gauntlet was thrown.

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Where do you put the drinks if you don't have one of these? Source: Reddit U/IMTHE1WH0

An Aussie rite of passage

In Australia, the concept of a spare fridge tucked in the garage, laundry, or even the shed isn’t just common - it’s practically a rite of passage. Did you even grow up here if you weren’t once sent out by a sweaty uncle or your mate’s dad to grab him a coldie from the Kelvinator humming in the corner? You know the one, usually covered in faded magnets, footy club stickers and a mysterious dent no one can explain.

The garage fridge isn’t a flex. It’s a fact of life.

It’s also part of a deeply Aussie ecosystem. You buy a new fridge, your old fridge gets demoted to the garage. The old garage fridge then gets passed on to some newly moved-out young person starting life with a second-hand white good and a dream. Then they eventually upgrade and it starts all over again. That’s just how the cycle works. It's practically folklore.

It’s not fancy - it’s functional

Once, they were used to store everything the main fridge couldn’t handle - especially in summer. Slabs of drinks, BBQ leftovers, Zooper Doopers for the kids. And come Christmas, the garage fridge truly came into its own. Ham, prawns, pavlova, and trays of nibblies would spill over from the main fridge into its overworked, noisy counterpart out back.

But garage fridges were always noisy. That hum? That’s the reason it was banished to the garage in the first place. And that noise? That’s the soundtrack of Aussie suburbia.

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The new cost of convenience

While some Reddit commenters got nostalgic, others pointed out something more sobering: not everyone has the space - or means - to have one.

“That’s because millennials can’t afford to buy houses to have second refrigerators in,” one user pointed out.

“Bit of a flex to have a garage,” another added.

With housing prices soaring and power bills rising, the garage fridge might be going the way of the Hills Hoist - beloved, but no longer guaranteed. Even appliances are being scrutinised for their environmental impact. Suddenly, having an extra fridge does feel a bit… bougie?

The final word on the fridge flex

So is the garage fridge a flex? Maybe. But not in the designer handbag, brag-on-TikTok kind of way. It’s a quiet kind of flex. A flex that says: I have space for beverages and bulk cheese. I’ve earned this hum. I am middle-aged and thriving.

And if my kid thinks that makes me fancy?

Honestly, I’ll take it.

Originally published as Gen Z reckons this Aussie household item is a 'flex' - but is it really?