*AD/DISCLAIMER – This post contains referral or affiliate links where I may receive a small bonus when you sign up using my link or code. It is NOT a paid promotion and I genuinely use these sites.
I’m pretty sure that by now you are absolutely sick of hearing about the rising cost of living. Sadly, it’s a fact that we can’t get away from and the price of our food shop is soaring. A recent article from The Food Foundation states that food inflation had risen 16.5% in November from the previous year. With more and more people turning to food banks to survive its not an understatement to say that most of us are looking for a way to reduce the cost of our food shop, so what if I told you there are apps that will give you FREE food and drink in the UK right now? Well here are 3 cashback apps To save you money on food and drink. Read on to find out more…
When I first heard of food and drink cashback apps I was QUITE skeptical. You can get free food and drink? But why? What’s the catch? Eventually I decided to test one out and I’ve never looked back. If you feel suspicious of these apps I’d challenge you to reframe your thinking. Back in the day, shopper would use paper coupons to get free or discounted products and it’s a great way for brands to get people to try their new product in the hope they’ll like it and repurchase it at full price in future. Well, food and drink cashback apps are basically just a way to bring paper coupons into the 21st century – makes sense, doesn’t it?
Now you’re feeling a little more open minded, let’s talk about my top three food and drink cashback apps that are going to save you money on your food shop.
1. SHOPMIUM
If you’re new to the world of food and drink cashback apps but you’re keen to save money, this is where I would start (in fact, it’s where I DID start). Of the three apps in todays post, Shopmium is the most accessible and has had the best range of products and freebies in recent times.
Using Shopmium is easy:
- Sign up using my referral code: 9UX7N3 which will get you a FREE tube of Pringles as a sign up bonus. You can use this link to download the app.
- Browse the range of discounted or free products.
- When you see something you like, purchase the product and get a receipt.
- Upload your receipt and scan the barcode of your product into the app.
- Once accepted, Shopmium will refund the money into your linked PayPal account automatically.
It’s really important with all of these apps to ensure that you are buying the right product, in the right size from the right store and that you’re doing it whilst the offer is live.
Since joining Shopmium I’ve had £361 worth of free or discounted products. Shopmium also has a few other bonus points in its favour as Gold members receive a free box of chocolate on their birthday. They also run regular bonus events and competitions and there is a referral scheme where you get £3 credit to use against discounted items when you get a friend to sign up.
2. GREENJINN
GreenJinn is another fab app that is very similar to Shopmium. GreenJinn has a focus on health and sustainability so the products you will find on there tend to be marketed in that area such as plant based or vegan options for example. This can mean the range of offerings isn’t as wide as Shopmium but there are still the occasional freebies available. I have recently taken advantage of 75% off offers on the new Heinz Beanz burgers and some rather pricey Bio & Me granola!
The individual perks of GreenJinn include occasional exclusive coupons when you sign up to their newsletter – I got a free pack of Candy Kittens from this. They also self fund some coupons each week for everyday items like fresh fruit and veg which is amazing if you’re already buying those items.
To use GreenJinn you do exactly the same as with Shopmium except for two points. The first being that you don’t need to scan your product, you only have to upload the receipt. The second is that once your cashback is verified you need to manually request it to be paid into your PayPal and you need £1.50 in your balance before you can do that.
If you fancy giving GreenJinn a try you can use my code on sign up: mortgagefreeleigh to get a bonus £1 voucher. Enter it into the ‘reward code’ section on your profile or use this link.
3. CHECKOUT SMART
So we’ve done beginner and intermediate level cashback shopping and we’re now onto the advanced stage. Checkout Smart is actually really easy to use. You select the store you shopped in and the date and it brings up the list of available offers. Select what you bought and upload your receipt and that’s it!
The reason Checkout Smart is the most complicated of the three apps is because of the cashout arrangements. You need a cashback balance of £20 before you can withdraw your money fee free. For cash balances under £20 there is a 5% charge. You have to request your cash out (it’s not automatic) and payments are slower than the other platforms depending on the date you make the request and can take up to two weeks.
They also offer a gift card redemption option instead of cash and for this you can cash out at £5 and, unlike with the cash payment option, there is NO charge. You need to be subscribed to marketing emails to use this function.
Despite the intricacies of Checkout Smart it is firmly in my top three apps because the range of products and freebies and relatively good. Just yesterday I claimed a free Starbucks coffee can and bought a large bottle of Rubicon for only 35p after cashback. Once you’ve gotten to grips with the basic principles from the first two apps, I definitely recommend giving this one a try just as long as you can afford to wait a while to get your initial spend back in your bank.
There is no referral scheme for Checkout Smart and it’s important to note they sometimes have account specific offers so just because an offer is showing for one person doesn’t mean it will be showing for everyone.
PRO-TIPS
Firstly, I should mention that if I’m shopping in one supermarket for items off more than one of these apps I tend to do multiple transactions to get separate receipts. Some apps cross check and won’t allow the same receipt to be used more than once (even if claiming different items).
My second tip is to stack these apps with other money saving methods. Every receipt I get for buying a cashback item gets inputted into my receipt scanning apps (more about those in a separate post). On top of that I claim loyalty points such as Asda Rewards or Tesco Clubcard points too. I recently got PAID to shop at Asda using this method which is crazy and a bit of extreme couponing for you!
Thirdly, be aware that extremely popular offers can end early so always check your app right before purchasing and upload your receipt immediately after purchase (I do mine in the car). With Checkout Smart, if the offer tile has disappeared it will still usually appear when you attempt to submit your receipt for cashback and with Shopmium you usually have a period after the end of the offer to submit your claim. Green Jinn is by far the most problematic for this as once an offer disappears there is no option to claim it even if it was live when you bought it so get those receipts in promptly!
My final tip on these apps is that if you see a freebie on the app but you know you won’t use it, if it’s non-perishable please consider picking it up and donating it to the food bank for someone else to enjoy!
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SUMMARY
After my initial caution I’ve been using all three of these apps for over a year now and I’ve had hundreds of pounds worth of free and heavily discounted food and drink from them. Whilst these apps won’t easily save you money on your everyday shop (with perhaps the exception of the GreenJinn fruit & veg coupons), they can get you freebies which mean you don’t have to buy something you would usually buy. It’s also a fantastic way to try a new product or premium brand for free or at the same price as your usual own brand label.
Just remember not to get sucked in by shiny discounts. Not every deal is a good deal so do the maths and compare the price after cashback with the cost of the brand you would usually buy to see it it’s worth picking up.
Happy Budgeting
Leigh