Groceries are really expensive and the Too Good To Go app is a really great way to help with that. Find out about the mobile app, how it works, and more here.
For more ways to save, check out all of our frugal posts.
Grocery prices are going up and no one really knows what the solution is. The suggestion used to be to eat at home and avoid dining out, but cooking at home is getting just as expensive as eating at a restaurant.
We all coupon and use cashback apps to save on groceries. Another way to do that is with the Too Good To Go app.
It’s a mobile app where convenience stores, grocery stores, and restaurants can list that day’s expiring perishable items at a discount.
It’s a great way for the businesses because they can sell products instead of tossing them and it’s great for customers to buy items at a discount.
This is just one of the mobile apps that you should download to stretch your budget.
We have a great list of cashback apps that you should look into as well.
Too Good To Go App Review
Quick note before we start. Drugstore Divas has no affiliation with this app. The app doesn’t even know we exist. So we wrote this based on our own personal experience, not something a company asked us to write.
At its core, the Too Good To Go app is a way for stores to sell their nearly-expired products instead of throwing or giving them away.
I don’t have an affiliation with the app, or any of the restaurants or shops on it, so I don’t know what happens to products that don’t sell. I hope that they get donated to people in need, but I don’t know if that’s the case.
What I do know is that when you open the Too Good To Go app, you can see a list of stores and restaurants near you and what they’re offering that day.
Groceries are really expensive and the Too Good To Go app is a really great way to help with that. Find out about the mobile app, how it works and more here.
How Does Too Good To Go Work?
Start by downloading the Too Good To Go mobile app (it’s completely mobile; there’s no website you can access via a computer).
Log in and browse by your location.
You’ll see the available cafes, restaurants, and shops, the types of bags they’re offering, and the cost. You’ll also see the pickup window time.
Click “reserve” to add the bag to your cart and check out.
Then, head to the location during the pickup time to get your bag.
The important thing to remember is that you don’t get to choose what’s in your bag, so you’re taking a little bit of a gamble.
Because a restaurant isn’t exactly sure what it’ll have left over at the end of the night, it doesn’t advertise the exact entrée in the bag. It’ll say something like “vegetarian dinner” or “meat pasta.” And you only know what you’re getting when you pick it up.
How Much Does Too Good To Go Cost?
Too Good To Go doesn’t require a subscription of any sort. You do have to sign up for an account when you download the mobile app, but it’s free to join and free to use. So in that sense, it doesn’t cost anything.
But, of course, buying the bags comes at a cost and that cost is set by the individual restaurants and establishments.
My brother lives in a large city in New York, so when I open the app by him, there are so many options. The bagel shop where he gets bagels when we visit was on there selling $18 worth of bagels for $5.99. I thought that was a great deal. If you’ve had a New York bagel, you’d agree.
By me, a local bagel shop lists a dozen bagels at $21, but sells them for $6.99 on the app.
By my brother, a local restaurant was selling $25 entrées for $4.99. We don’t have any restaurants locally that are on the app, so I can’t compare pricing.
It’s not just restaurants that are a part of it. It’s grocery stores too.
By us, The Fresh Market and Whole Foods are participating grocery stores. Each has bakery and prepared food bags, priced between $6.99 and $10.
Is Too Good To Go worth it?
Personally, I think Too Good To Go is worth it. You get discounted products and the store gets rid of some of its inventory, even if that’s at a discount.
We’ve gotten the $10 bakery bag from The Fresh Market before and the amount of products inside, and the quality of the products, far exceeds the price tag.
Last time, we got two loaves of bread, a couple of pastries, a few scones, a $15 cake, and more.
The only bad thing is the items are expiring that day. So, you have to either eat or freeze them right away.
The Fresh Market and Whole Foods also have a meat bag and I was reading a long Facebook thread about them recently.
Most of the people commenting said that their bag was filled with mostly poultry.
For me, someone who mostly cooks chicken anyway, it sounded perfect. But for people who like to have beef or pork throughout the week, they didn’t feel like it was worth it. And I get it, it’s sold as a “meat” bag, not a “poultry” bag.
Someone in the same thread said that she got the seafood bag once and the only item inside was caviar. That is seafood. And, just because you’re someone who buys discounted groceries doesn’t mean you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy the fancier things in life. Two things can be true at once, Pete always says.
However, caviar isn’t a product that this woman would have ever bought or used. So, for her, the gamble wasn’t worth it. And getting groceries that you wouldn’t otherwise use isn’t actually saving you any money.
You also need to keep in mind that the grocery stores that participate are high-end grocery stores. It’s not Walmart. So, you’re getting a bag with a $30 minimum value, but at somewhere like Whole Foods, that can be two pieces of salmon. I’ve gotten that cheaper at ALDI.
But, on the cheaper side, our local Circle K gas stations participate. The baked goods at Circle K are just okay, so a Circle K bakery bag, even at a discount, isn’t worth it to me.
If the gas station Royal Farms, which boasts World Famous Chicken (that’s actually incredible), offered a chicken bag, that would be a different story. I’ve never seen the Circle K bag sell out in my area, and there’s probably a reason for that.
What happens if a bag is sold out?
There are very limited quantities of bags. So, you have to claim them early in the day, but your pickup time might not be until an hour before the store is closing. So, just be aware of that.
If a bag is sold out, it’s sold out. They generally don’t restock during the day. That’s not to say they never will, but I usually don’t see it.
So, if you log on and see that the bag you were hoping for is sold out, just try again tomorrow.
Can You Cancel A Too Good To Go Order?
If you end up changing your mind, or something happens and you can’t pick up your bag, you have up to two hours before your pickup time to cancel and the hold on your card will be released.
If you just don’t show up without canceling, you don’t get a refund. So don’t do that.
If you have a last-minute issue, you can try to contact Too Good To Go within the app and see if support can help.
Have you tried the Too Good To Go app before? Let us know about your experience in the comments.