Cost of living crisis: I bought out-of-date food to slash my grocery costs

As food prices keep skyrocketing, Lily Canter looks at whether you can save money buying food that’s near or past its best-before date.

I have always been savvy with food bills. Whether it’s cooking homemade snacks or cutting the weekly shopping bill in half, I’m always looking for new ways to save money.

But despite my best efforts, the price of our food shop has been creeping up again as inflation remains near a 40-year high.

So, I decided it was time to try something different.

In the last few months, I have noticed a rise in the number of outlets and apps selling out-of-date food.

These are products which will reach their use-by date that day or have exceeded the best-before date by a month or so.

Best-before dates refer to food quality whilst use-by dates are related to food safety. Best-before dates tend to appear on non-perishable items like tinned, dried or frozen foods.

It is safe to eat food after the best-before date, but it may not taste the best. Meanwhile, products with use-by dates should not be eaten after midnight on the date specified.

I decided to try buying leftover food and goods that were nearing or past their best-before date via Too Good To Go, a local factory shop and Motatos to see if I could save money.

Here’s how I got on.

‘I halved the weekly food bill for my family – and now save £200 a month’

My experience using Too Good To Go

My first stop was the app Too Good to Go. It sells leftover produce that food outlets did not sell and can no longer keep. The items tend to be a surprise and you simply get a bag of goodies for a set price.

I tried this a couple of years ago, but since I live in a small market town, there were no participating outlets nearby. Skip forward a couple of years and more cafes, restaurants and convenience stores have signed up.

Within a mile of my house, there is Greggs, BP M&S, Starbucks, Caffe Nero, Aldi, Spar, Co-Op and Insomnia.

The average price for a magic bag is £3-£4 but the value is usually £12 or more.

Since using the app, I have never managed to get a Greggs bag.

I once managed to reserve one at 6.30 in the morning to collect that evening, but by the afternoon they had sold out of everything and the bag was rescinded (and no money was taken from my account).

Whatever time of day I log on, the Greggs offers have always sold out.

I have had more success with Spar and Co-op, but the downside if you usually have a limited one or two-hour time slot to collect and often it clashes with getting my kids to bed.

When I managed to get hold of a bag, they were packed with plenty of items such as a ham baguette, crisps, pastry, fresh pizza, sausage roll and Scotch eggs.

Basically, stuff that past its use-by date by midnight that day or the next.

As someone who cooks healthy food from scratch, I wouldn’t normally buy these kinds of items, but I have occasionally found it handy to pick up a bag at 7pm and then offer it to my son after his diving lesson.

He is always delighted with what’s inside and sees it as a treat.

I haven’t managed to collect anything from a coffee shop because they sell out super quickly and I’m never free at the early evening pick-up times.

So, whilst this service is a great way of reducing food waste it is not particularly convenient or particularly healthy.

Did I save money at my local factory shop?

My next stop was a factory shop which I discovered through word of mouth.

It is half a mile from my house and opens for five hours every Friday. I can pop in during my lunch hour and hopefully, there are still enough items left.

It sells non-perishable luxury items such as chocolate, biscuits, fancy jams and snacks. Prices generally range from 10p to £5.

Each week as the items get closer, or further past, their best-before date, the price goes down. A box of chocolates that was £3 one week, will be down to 50p within a month.

Around Christmas, this place was a godsend and I bought dozens of jars of mincemeat for 10p each and loads of sweet stocking fillers for a couple of pounds.

You can quite easily buy about £30 worth of items for less than a tenner. The quality is variable though.

Sometimes the chocolate is inedible and once opened preserves don’t last very long.

It’s a good place for stocking up on bargain treats around birthdays and other celebrations but not necessarily a weekly stopping point.

Article continues below...

Repair or replace: how to extend the life of your appliances

Did I save money at Motatos?

My latest experiment has been with online store Motatos, which sells produce near or past its best-before date.

It has a wide range of goods including laundry products, toiletries, alcohol, health supplements, snacks, food cupboard staples, pet food, baking items and gluten-free produce.

Many of the items are 50% cheaper than their usual retail price with sometimes up to 74% off. There is also a fairly good range of vegan products including my favourite – chocolate.

For £40 I was able to get:

Plant milk x 2;
Six pack of Walkers crisps x 2;
Large pack of Quavers x 2;
Mixed nuts x 2;
Luxury muesli x1;
Luxury jam x 2;
Curry saucy x 2;
Sheba cat food pouches x 4;
Tinned kidney beans x 4;
Four pack of popcorn x 2;
Box of Fairy washing tablets x 1;
Divine chocolate x3;
Energy bars x 2;
Chilli sauce x 1;
20 bin bags x 2;
Tinned bortelli beans x 1;
Ginger beer bottles x 2;
Cinnamon x 2;
Soy sauce x 2;
Bhindi masala x 2.

Although this was a really good price, many of the brands were on the middle to luxury end of the market and were not ones I would usually buy.

The budget supermarket's own-brand items would still be cheaper.

I had absolutely no quibble about the quality though and all of the food tasted great. I was slightly miffed that some vegan chocolate I ordered ran out before it was packed for me, but I was refunded very quickly.

Overall, this is a great website for buying certain brands (Walkers, Cadbury, Napolina, Divine, Whitworths, Sheba, Fairy, Heinz) at a discounted price but if you usually buy cheaper brands anyway then there aren’t really any savings to be had.

You need to spend over £40 to qualify for free delivery but you do get a 10% discount the first time you sign up so you can spend £36 and not pay for delivery.

Again I think I will be using this site occasionally when I’m on the hunt for luxury items at a good price.

My verdict

If you are someone who cooks from scratch using fresh ingredients and own-brand products from a budget supermarket, then you are already saving as much money as you can – especially if you meal plan and cook in bulk.

But if you tend to buy readymade food or mid-range brands, then there are lots of savings through apps like Good to Go and Motatos and the quality stands up.

Midlife MOT: is it time to review your health, wealth and career path?