The savvy way to beat the cost of living crisis by eating food waste – one woman’s 5 tips to help others save cash
A SAVVY woman has shared her clever ways to beat the cost of living crisis and it’s so simple that you’ll wonder how you never thought of it before.
Kathryn Leech, 27, explained that, like many others, she’s also felt the impact of rising prices in her daily life.
This was especially apparent when she was forced out of her home when her landlord decided to up her rent in Manchester, where she lives.
Since moving in with her boyfriend, who she splits “everything” with, she’s used her social media accounts to share her savvy saving tips to help others.
“I’m also helping myself because by doing all the money-saving research, I’ve learned so much,” she confessed.
One of the most interesting ways Kathryn, a content creator known as @everylittlepenny on TikTok, has found herself saving money is by eating food waste.
According to Kathryn, two people can enjoy a high-quality meal for around £4 each per day using this method.
“I picked up like a hotel breakfast in the morning,” she said of the £4.50 bag from TooGoodToGo, which also contained pastries. “It was really fresh. It was a full English, and there was loads of food that cost a fraction of the price that it would have been.
“It was all completely fresh. It was actually still warm when I picked it up as well.”
TooGoodToGo is an app that allows people to buy food from restaurants, cafes and the likes that otherwise would have gone to waste.
The majority of the bags cost under £5, ensuring customers can save at least 50 percent on items they purchase. Each retailer gives a varying amount of food in their bags.
On one occasion, a bag she bought came with too much food for her to consume in one sitting.
“I did have some of it the day after, and it was still perfectly fine. It was completely fresh. I was really impressed,” she explained.
Kat decided to test this way of saving money by only eating TooGoodToGo food for a day.
She began with a large breakfast from a cafe, which contained a ham and cheese toastie, a mezze wrap and a salad bowl… All for just £3.59.
Sharing her advice to those who are tempted to use the app, she said: “Starbucks, Costa and places like that are on TooGoodToGo. But I don’t want a bag full of pastries and cakes – that’s not very helpful at all.
“I think people looking to save in this way should branch out and actually go for places that do proper food as restaurants do it as well.”
Kathryn also uses OpenAI’s ChatGPT to help her save money on food. She simply shares what ingredients she has in the house and it creates recipe ideas for her to try.
She claims this savvy hack has halved her food bill, which usually comes between £70 to £80 for two people per week.
Now that she’s been doing this for a little while, she has five top tips for people looking to save some money on food:
- Write a shopping list as you’re more likely to stick to it rather than impulse buying at the shop.
- Bulk buy items you use most often, such as teabags.
- If you’re able to, walk instead of taking public transport or driving – it’s not only good exercise but saves money, too.
- If you drive, however, changing your job title can help you save on insurance. For example, ‘if you put in sales executive, it will be cheaper than if you put in sales assistant’.
- Sign up to loyalty cards from everywhere and get associated app as “you often get discounts and offers on the app”.