There Is Such A Thing As A Free Lunch
- BetterAskAdam.com
- Feb 22
- 6 min read
Updated: Feb 24
(ALMOST)
There is sometimes such a thing as a free lunch - or free-ish at least. A growing number of apps have been designed to help companies shift the produce they can't sell and which might soon go out of date and a growing number of apps that help neighbours share the stuff they don't want - absolutely free.
So here is my quick guide. Do tell me if you know of other apps and services I should ferature in future articles.
TOO GOOD TO GO
GET FOOD FROM SHOPS AT HALF PRICE
Too Good To Go is a mobile phone app which allows you to ‘rescue’ food from local shops, restaurants and cafes to prevent it from going to waste. Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can search by location and distance to see what foodie goodies are being offered at bargain prices near you.
The Too Good To Go app is the world's largest marketplace for surplus food: Selling unsold food in 'Surprise Bags', for local users to collect in-store at the time set by the shop.
Too Good To Go was founded in Denmark but now operates across Europe, the US and Canada, and claims to save four meals from going to waste every second.
You can filter your search results by day, collection time, food types - meals, bread and pastries, groceries and other - and specify if you just want to see vegetarian or vegan options.
From the shops point of view - they unlock revenue from unsold food and welcome customers into their shop. They pay the app a fee if anyone uses the app to buy food.
The app connects your business with 100 million registered users across 19 countries - all eager to buy surplus food.
I've just opened my Too Good To Go app and here are the offers being made:
A bag of fresh bread from local bakery reduced from £8.50 to £3.00
A Starbucks Suprise Bag reduced from £10.75 to £3.59
A Pret sandwich and Baguette dinner reduced from £15 to £5
Mumma G Cookhouse Surprise Bag reduced from £21 to £7
Sometimes you need to book the deal the night beforehand but you can find something on the day. The idea is that they are selling you stuff thaty hasn't sold - so you tend to pick it up at the end of the day and have no idea what you get. I did once get 4 youghurts all which had to be eaten that night - I never went back to that shop again. But usually the stuff is great.
OLIO
Olio is a great neighbourhood sharing app where you get free stuff
I have given away loads of things I don't want anymore that people nearby want and come to collect. It's especially great for electronic iteams which charity shops wont take and would otherwise end in a recycling skip.
The flip side of course is that its a great place to pick up completely free stuff.
Donators and recipients get reviewed so if you are unreliable and don;'t turn up to an organised pick-up you can get a bad write up and someone might not choose you to pick up their donation in the future.
It is also seems used by major retailers to give away food. I just opened my Olio app and saw the following free food offers. I think these ofefrs ared from people not the retailers directly - but it is not clear.
Amazon Fresh - Offering a free bag of 15 items. They say can cater for vegans.
Tesco - Someone seems to be offering Tesco food and has said they can put stuff together and want to "know what your preferences are (e.g. meaty meals, vegetarian, pescatarian, deserts, etc) and for how many people you’d like to collect.
Dayles Organic - 2 bags of bread on offer.
Clicks Research
Free stuff for you to review
There are a few third-party sites which offer people the opportunity to test products in return for their opinion of it. This is a service to the product provider - so they can do some quick market research. It is not just giving you stuff for free in return for good reviews.
Clicks Research is one of the big players in the market. The company works directly with brand owners and product developers worldwide and help them to understand how their products perform in real-world environments, with real people.
There are over 600,000 volunteers who have helped to shape the products and services that are delivered to consumers worldwide.
Their motto is 'We Send, You Test, You Keep.'
You will not be charged. Clicks Research will never charge you for participating in any trials or surveys. You will also not be charged for postage and packaging.
It may ask you to take part in research which doesn't involve a freebie but in those cases you get points - and as Brucie used to say Points Mean Prizes.
Student Freebies
These can change quickly - so do check if they are current
The catch-all place to go is Unidays. Current students can join UNiDAYS for free in just 5 minutes. Simply register with your personal email address, verify your student status and bam — you've unlocked 12 months of UNiDAYS student deals. No student discount card needed, the UNiDAYS App has all the best student discounts all together, in one place, at your fingertips.
Unidays says it is for ALL students (and graduates, too!) That also means plenty of sixth forms and colleges. If you're currently studying at one of our available institutions and/or have a valid student ID card, you're all set to become a verified UNiDAYS member.
After you've left your institution, you won't be able to re-verify your student account. But, don't worry! Full UNiDAYS members are automatically enrolled onto UNiDAYS GRADLiFE for 3 extra years,
Current offers include 50% of Tinder Gold, 20% off Burger King and 50% off Dominos Pizza.
Students can get one year of Deliveroo Plus (free delivery on orders of over £15 at restaurants or over £25 at stores) for free with a Prime Student membership. All you need to do is link your Deliveroo and Amazon accounts via Unidays. Deliveroo Plus normally costs £3.49 a month.
If you're a student or working in education and have an academic email address that can receive external email, you can get Office 365 for free. Students and staff at universities, colleges and schools can get the offer. Microsoft says 99.9% of universities, 87% of colleges and a "large number" of schools in the UK are eligible.
NHS Staff and Teachers
Lots of retailers offer specific discounts (such as Apple) but there is also a service offered through a Blue Light Card.
We are the discount service for the emergency services, NHS, social care sector and armed forces, providing our members with thousands of amazing discounts online and on the high street.
For just £4.99, members of the Blue Light community can register for 2-years access to more than 15,000 discounts from large national retailers to local businesses across categories such as holidays, cars, days out, fashion, gifts, insurance, phones, and many more.
A Little Bit Older
Age Concern has a great website which explains sme of the discounts offered to those over 60.
It says that "RH Hotels has discounts for over 60s in locations like Benidorm, Calpe, Gandia, and Peñiscola y Vinaros. They also offer free wine and water at meals if you are over 60.
Other over 60 hotel discounts:
Travelodge: offers 25% discount on stays.
Princess Hotels & Resorts: up to 20% extra discount on certain destinations.
Marriott Hotels and Resorts (now referred to as Marriott Bonvoy): offer anything from 5 to 30% discount for Seniors (62 and over) depending on the hotel and room rate.
Radisson Hotels: typically the business offer a 10% discount off their standard rates for “senior citizens”.
Hilton Hotels: for guests 65 years of age or older, you can save up to 7% on stays.
The Royal Shakespeare Company offers discounted tickets for those over 65 on selected performances. You can get a 20% discount on all seats for Monday and Tuesday evening performances and all midweek matinees. You can purchase a maximum of nine tickets per transaction using this discount.
There are other theatres that offer ticket discounts for over 60s, and here is a list of some of them:
Birmingham Hippodrome: the theatre offers ticket discounts for people who are 65 and over, but the prices can vary depending on the performance you are going to see.
Savoy Theatre: there are special offers available for over 60s for select shows, but you will need to check with the box office.
Theatre Royal Glasgow: concessions are different depending on the show, but anyone over the age of 60 can get discounts on tickets.
Don't Miss Out
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