How We Save Money On Food With Meal Subscription Services
Over the past 2 years, we’ve tried a few of the meal subscription services, and Gousto for us always came out on top. We were a bit hit and miss around the festive period and when we moved. But we’ve been getting our weekly meal subscription box for at least 3-4 months now. And we couldn’t be happier with our choice to do so. We pay £30 a week and get 3 meals for 2 people which works out at £5 a portion. Although some weeks when there are lots of things we like the look of, and we know we’re going to be in more we opt for 4 meals which work out slightly cheaper.
Spending £30 a week on 3 main meals might not sound like a great saving, but for us, it really works. Most weeks I’m out at least once or twice, or we eat with our parents so it works just right for us. I then only need to get something quick and easy for Luke to chuck in the oven when I’m out, and lunches/ snacks. Here’s how for us we save money using a food subscription service.
Meals chosen and pre-planned
We make our choices on meals on the app about a week before they actually get delivered. I love scrolling through the choices and seeing what we fancy, and it makes choosing our dinners so much easier. So many times me and Luke have had to sit and think about what we want for dinner that we waste so long deciding. Or I wander aimlessly around Tesco not sure what to get.
Having a certain number of choices (about 30 or so a week) means there’s loads of choice but not too much once we’ve excluded things we aren’t keen on. I used to spend quite a lot of time pre-planning meals when we didn’t use Gousto. I’d be searching through our cupboards to see what we did and didn’t have. I’d be looking through recipe books and making choices. So for us, Gousto saves us loads of time, and time is money!
It comes with high-quality products
You can tell the quality of food from Gousto is high from the finished products. For example, the meat is never the cheap cuts that I may buy from the supermarket in order to save money. And I think that makes a huge difference when you’re cooking to use really good ingredients. All of the meat is 100% British fresh meat which we love.
We’ve also been able to try things like Henderson’s Relish and other ingredients within cooking which we never would have tried otherwise. As the ingredients are sourced from around the country it gives so much more choice than I’d ever think to use.
There’s no waste
One of our biggest problems was food waste. I’d make a list, go shopping, buy things but always end up with more than we needed. It might have been only needing 4 carrots but having to buy a bag of 7 with no use for the other 3. Or getting more mince in a pack than we really needed and forgetting to freeze the rest.
Most weeks I’d end up throwing out fresh food (mainly fruit and veg) that we’d bought, used some of, and then never finished. And I hated throwing things out. But with Gousto you get the exact right amount for what you’re cooking. Only need 3 garlic cloves? That’s all you’d get. Everything was measured out perfectly so there’s nothing to throw away afterwards. This has helped us create a lot more waste which I’m really happy about.
No need to make additional shops
I usually shop at the weekend, but you can’t always buy fresh things which would last until say Friday. So I’d end up doing another mid-week shop for the fresh veg and meat. And inevitably I’d end up buying other additional items spare of the moment when I was out.
I no longer need to do a mid-week shop as Gousto lasts us our meals during the week when we’re both in. Previously I’d end up spending so much during the odd mid-week shop that I’d always double our weekly food spend. So by having Gousto I’m not going out and buying things I don’t need.
Have you ever tried a meal subscription service?
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18 responses to “How We Save Money On Food With Meal Subscription Services”
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Rhian Westbury
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These do sound like an interesting way to buy food and meals, I like that you get everything you need (mostly) + recipes. I always worry I won’t fancy what they send though :/ perhaps I’m too picky.
You always pick the recipes yourself each week so we get 3 which means we can choose which of them we fancy. Other than the week it was super hot when we didn’t even fancy warm food we’ve been fine x
I must admit I’ve never tried a meal subscription service before but it sounds great. Fantastic that you can choose meals beforehand on the app. I love the idea that using a meal subscription service can help reduce food waste.
That’s one of the things I love most, as we used to throw away so much fresh produce as we’d need say 1 of something but you can only buy a bag of them x
This is so interesting as I always thought the subscription would be a lot more expensive but when you look at it like that, it does save money!
This does sound like a great way of meal planning. My kids are quite fussy though, so would worry about what was being sent
I love meal planning (I have to around family life!) so this wouldn’t work for us, it’s great you find it useful though.
I find it helps me meal plan as I know all the ingredients for 3 meals will turn up one day and I’m sorted for 3 dinners x
A great way to switch up meal planning and I love the fact that there is no waste too xx
We haven’t tried any of the meal subsciption services as it’s difficult when we all have different tastes. I’d always end up cooking for at least one person in the house separately. I do think that they offer a great value for money if you are able to find dishes to suit everyone
That’s a shame, my parents used to do that for me when I was younger and I’d have a different dinner. My boyfriends’ pretty fussy but we always find something each week which is good x
One of the biggest savings in my mind is not having to nip to the shop for one thing and end up spending £10! We don’t get Gousto regularly but I love it when we do <3
G is for Gingers xx
I totally agree, whenever I pop out to get one thing I end up spending £10-20 and it all adds up x
I really want to try something like this, especially when I am really busy at work and giving any thought to meal prep just fills me with the dread… I need a food fairy to fill the fridge so I can come home and go ‘Ahhh that is dinner sorted’ x
That’s how I feel, I love knowing that we have plans for our dinner already and we don’t need to think about it x
I love the conveniece on how you get to choose the meals ahead of time. It really saves you money, plus not to mention- time.
I love the idea as it would inspire me, lots of the time we don’t have a clue what to eat and it becomes more of a chore, I think this would make things easier and more enjoyable again
This is totally how we feel, it narrows down our choices so we’re not just confused about choices x