Savvy Shopper Reveals Hack For Spending £5 On £47 Waitrose Groceries
- Gavin, 26, paid just £5 for Waitrose groceries worth over £47
- Bargains include 27p ready meals and an 81p price tag for £8 worth of goodies
- The haul will feed Gavin and his housemates for over a week
Reducing waste and saving money are continual goals for plenty of people - including one savvy shopper who recently managed to save over £42 on his Waitrose groceries haul.
Gavin Rotherham, a 26 year old student based in Kingston Upon Thames, recently picked up a Too Good To Go bag from his local Shell branch and was impressed by the savings. ‘I started using this app specifically at the start of this year, but I'm always on the lookout for bargains since becoming a student.
‘I picked up this bag from Shell at the collection time of 7pm and paid £5 for it. There were 18 items overall, which means I paid 27p per item.
‘What I found particularly impressive about this bag was the fact it will ensure I have enough meals to last the week - and I like most of the food too, so nothing will go to waste.
‘First up, I noticed some ready meals. There were two Waitrose Chicken Kormas which would have cost me £3 each but as I paid the equivalent of 54p I effectively saved £5.46. At 27p for a meal I don’t have to prepare myself; this is a massive bargain!
‘There were also three Waitrose Macaroni Cheeses which had an original price of £2.75 each. However, I paid 81p instead of £8.25 and pocketed £7.44 in the process. I will either freeze these, eat them over the course of the week or give them to my housemates.
‘Also included in the bag was a Waitrose Chilli Con Carne and two Waitrose Cottage Pies, each priced at £2.75, so I made the same savings as I did for the macaroni cheeses.
‘There were two packs of Waitrose Egg Fried Rice in there, which should have been £2 each, and I was also impressed to get a pack of Waitrose Cooked Chicken Mini Fillets worth £4. This means a haul worth £8 was drastically reduced as I only handed over 81p from the £5 I paid.
‘There were plenty of other meals in the bag, too. For example, I got a Waitrose Cauliflower Cheese worth £2.50, Waitrose Vegetarian Aubergine & Feta Burgers worth £2.75, Waitrose Southern Fried Mini Fillets which should have been £4 and a pack of two Waitrose Vegetarian Mexican Bean Burgers worth £2.75.
‘Instead of paying £12 for this selection of meals, I saved a huge £10.92 as this section of the bag only cost me £1.08 overall.
‘Some dessert options were also included. I got a pack of Waitrose Mini Pains au Chocolat which were originally £1.60, plus a pack of Waitrose Wild Blueberry Muffins worth £1.80. Instead of paying £3.40 I only handed over 54p, saving £2.86.
‘Overall I saved a huge £42.65 on this bag, which means I had some money left over to pick up some other supplies. A few were full price, but I got some lemon and sultana buns reduced to £1.50 from £2, saving 50p. It all adds up!
Gavin has always been fortunate enough to make big savings when he purchases a Too Good To Go bags. ‘The first time I got one, the amount I received filled two Bags For Life. The next couple of times, I got at least 10 items per bag, so I’ve been quite lucky.
‘Usually I manage to pick up a lot of microwave meals, and often some sides to go with them. I’ve become used to eating curry and sides thanks to these bargain bags!
‘Savings wise, I would say the bags I get are worth at least £40 each time. The lowest value would only be around £30, so considering the Shell bags are £5 I am still saving quite a lot of money.
‘Our freezer is now stocked with a lot of microwave meals for when we don't feel like cooking. The items we don’t like have gone to our housemates. We usually take what we want and leave the rest to be picked through.
‘The best bargain I ever got is probably when I got two huge Too Good To Go bags full of microwave curry and pasta for £5, all Waitrose too! I love the fact that I can get something that may usually cost a lot more.
‘Generally speaking I will pick up bargains when I can. I use the Latest Deals Facebook group and app, and I end up getting bargains as I see them. Otherwise I will Google things I want and compare prices.’
Tom Church, Co-Founder of LatestDeals.co.uk, said: 'The best thing about mystery bags and boxes is that anyone can get them - all you need is a smartphone and the Too Good To Go app.
'Simply download it from your app store and set your location. A list of nearby shops offering discounted mystery bags will show up, and you can book a collection for any which are available.
'Your collection time will appear within the app, and you'll need to go to the shop in this timeslot to get your goodies.
‘Don't forget to keep refreshing the app throughout the day to see if any new bags appear!'
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