Apps To Save Money On Your Weekly Food Shop

According to the Office of National Statistics, the average cost of a weekly food shop in 2024 stood at £31 per person. For a family of 5, that means you’re looking at £155 per week! And it’s not getting cheaper. Recent stats from The Guardian revealed that food price inflation jumped to 3.7% last month (Dec 2024) due to tax hikes, and it doesn’t look like it’s slowing down anytime soon.

It’s no surprise then, that so many people in the UK will be looking for ways to cut down their food shop costs.

What Affects UK Grocery Prices?

It might seem strange that the price of groceries goes up and down, but there are a number of reasons why this might happen. Some of them include:

Crop outputs and supply chain: Like with most things, the price of groceries goes up and down due to supply and demand. If crop output is bad and can’t keep up with demand, prices go up. But this is also impacted by other costs. For example, the cost of petrol for transport, the cost of energy for food storage and even the cost of farming labour can all play a part. If these elements go up in price, that rise is passed onto consumers.

The cost of labour: One of the biggest costs a supermarket will have is its staff. Most recently, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that the National Insurance contributions that companies need to make for employee will go up. This rise, as well as any rise in minimum wage, is going to be passed onto the customers.

Trade agreements: Post-Brexit, the UK has to rely on bespoke trade agreements with other EU countries. Depending on how well these trade deals were negotiated, prices of imports have increased or decreased. Likewise, if tariffs are imposed on the UK by other countries (like the USA has threatened to do), then again, this cost will have to be reflected in the cost of groceries.

To help cut down weekly food costs, we’ve pulled together some apps that might help, they are:

Olio

According to EcoExperts, every person in the UK wastes around 70kg of food per year. It’s no surprise then that households cause 70% of the UK’s food waste.

Apps like Olio help to reduce this by giving people a way to pass on food they aren’t eating – for free. By relying on your community to provide food here and there, it not only helps curb the cost of groceries, but reduces waste too.

JamDoughnut

JamDoughnut is an app that helps you get 20% instant cashback when you spent at 100s of brands through the app.

With household names like restaurants, cafes and supermarkets available, you can get money back in seconds just by scanning their codes.

To Good To Go

To Good To Go is another food waste app that allows restaurants and cafes to sell their surplus food, for a fraction of the price.

Consumers benefit by getting amazing deals on local food, whilst businesses can make a small fee on food they would otherwise have had to throw out. By using the app for staples like bread, dinners and snacks, it can help cut down your weekly food shop in no time.

Checkout Smart

Checkout Smart is another cashback app, but this time you get cash back by simply uploading a picture of your receipt.

Through partnerships with major UK supermarkets, the app allows you to earn money simply by letting them know what you bought.

Trolley.co.uk

Have you ever walked into a supermarket, bought something and then seen it on offer elsewhere? Well, now you can see exactly what the prices of your favourite items are, with a click of a button.

The app compares prices at shops like Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and more. This not only helps cut the cost of your weekly shop, but helps you make the most of brand deals when they come up.

Monzo (Cashback)

Every month, Monzo releases a list of companies that you can get cashback with. These regularly feature companies like Asda, Boots and more.

By shopping at these stores, you can get cashback on every purchase, helping to keep shopping costs down.