How to Hack Food Prices with Apps

Photo by Sylvia Zhou on Unsplash

A frequently asked question from readers is “How do you save on groceries?”

This surprises me because I thought it’s such a boring topic that no one would want me to write about it. And in the past, when we had carefree lives where we could just jet off to South East Asia and feast on $2 noodle soups without ever needing to cook again, grocery prices were not top of mind. But now with a hungry toddler whom we can no longer feed for free with breastmilk and not being able to jet off to Asia (yet), groceries have now become something we’ve had to worry about.

I thought I would share some tricks I’ve learned over the years to decrease your grocery bill as much as possible without having to spend too much time optimizing. Because when you have a little dare-devil constantly trying to run into traffic/jump out a window/leap off the stairs, time is not on your side.

Here are a list of the grocery hacks we used, listed in order of least time consuming to most. That way, you can choose your own grocery optimization adventure.

Flashfood

This is by far my favourite money saving app. Not only is it fun to use, grocery pick up is easy, and it helps the environment by reducing food waste.

We’ve used this app to save at least $100/month on meat alone. Similar to the more well-known TooGoodToGo, it lets you find groceries near their “best before” date in stores near you, and all you need to do is add what you want to your cart, checkout, and pick up your order before the expiry date.

This app is best for meat and milk (which my son now drinks copious amounts of) because you can freeze them. That way you don’t have to worry about rushing to make a meal out of the ingredients the day of. You can do the same for bread as well.

I’ve found lots of meat deals for 30-50% less than regular price. You can also get big boxes of veggies or fruit for $4-$5, which could work out, but tend to require more planning since you can’t freeze them.

In my opinion, this app is superior to TooGoodToGo because it’s not a mystery bag, you can see the exact items, and pick what you want. Also, you don’t have to pick it up at a specific time. You simply pick it up during the grocery store hours, as long as it’s before the earliest “best before date” in your order. This is just to prevent the store from throwing out that item.

I’m able to cook paleo meals this way because it’s staples like meat, milk, bread, and even veggies. This app helps me stay fit and avoid overloading on carbs.  

If you have food allergies, this app is also better for you because it’s not a mystery bag.

Use my referral code: KRIS6X8GK to get $5 off your first order.

Too Good To Go

This app is my favourites for cheap takeout, especially when in Europe because you can get high quality pastries for dirt cheap. This app fed 4 adults and 1 child in Spain over 2 days for a measly €3 when we were travelling with our friends! Since Europeans are so picky about the freshness of their pastries, we were getting 3 full bags of goodies every time.We also got 2 entire pizzas for $5.99 in Vancouver, which fed us multiple lunches as well.

Basically the idea is that bakeries, restaurants, and grocery stores have extra food they can’t sell at the end of the day, and instead of throwing it all away, they sell it as a mystery bag for $3-10 dollars (the price depends on how much food and which restaurant), letting you eat out for cheap.

The downside to this is 1) it can be very carb heavy 2) you don’t know what you’re going to get 3) you have to pick it up between a specific time.

If you eat out a lot and like carbs, this is the app for you.

Flipp

Remember those grocery flyers we used to get in the mail? This is the app version of that. You go to stores with price matching,and then show them the prices from competing stores. They also have coupons you can search for and use.

I don’t use this one as much as Flashfood or TooGoodToGo because I find it’s less fun and more time consuming to do price matching. I can also usually find better deals just by going to an Asian grocery store. Still a great option if you want to save money on groceries, like couponing, and you don’t live near an Asian grocery store. 

Now that I’m more strapped for time, I want “low hanging fruit” apps that are fun to use and don’t require too much effort and time. I used to use Rakuten and the Aeroplan e-store to get cash-back or points on purchases, but found them too tedious and time consuming. Consistently having to troubleshoot tech issues or having to deal with my purchases not being tracked is not my idea of fun. Not every money saving app is worth it, and if it’s not fun, there’s no way you’re going to stick with it.

What do think? Do you have tips to share about your favourite food price hacks?

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