Thrifty

While I loved the idea and using it a few years ago, it's very hit & miss in my city now. Some are great deals, other places especially restaurants are just using it as a coupon app, and the value of what you get isn't much better than their typical lunchtime deals, but a) you don't get to choose, b) you have to collect in a very specific time frame, c) everything is old/shortdated or lower quality/wonky.

I really wish they would do a bit more curating of the options, or at least do a better job explaining the concept to the restaurants that sign up. As it is, I'm kinda tired of risking paying £5 for a slice of cold quiche and 2 stale cookies eveytime I try it.

What I'm really into is the fast delivery apps (Gorillas, GoPuff, Getir) all seem to be doing similar bags, and because they carry less selection the items are great. I once got about £100 of steak, minced beef, chicken breast and other goodies for £10. Stocked my freezer for a month.

I’ve used it a little. The bags can be very unpredictable. Whether it’s a good deal or not often feels a bit like a roll of the dice which seems to make it necessarily more of a novelty

I have been using TGTG for over a year (bought over 200 bags). It is a great way to save some money and try new things. The quality and quantity usually differ depending on what company you buy from. There are in general two kinds of companies, Supermarkets and restaurants:

Supermarkets are the most unpredictable, You will usually get many different things that are about to expire. In my experience, they are usually really good deals (20+€ worth of food for 5€). However, its essentially all stuff that didn't get sold you usually need to buy a bunch of extra stuff to really make full meals, and there might be some stuff you don't like/eat.

The other big category is restaurants/hotels. Here you will usually get between 1 and 2 meals for 5 or 6 euros. Here I essentially try every new one a couple of times and if I like the food will get a TGTG bag from them regularly. Here the big downside is that they might not have any food to give away, whereas supermarkets essentially always have stuff they have to throw away, restaurants might run out and cancel your order (or just not have anything when you arrive). You will of course get your money refunded, but now you need to still find food, at a time when most restaurants have/are about to close. And ofcourse, depending on how picky of an eater you are you might get something you don't like.

The last big problem is that the really good deals sell out incredibly quickly. I know one restaurant that has really good pasta and lasagnas that sells between 5 and 10 TGTG bags per day but always sells out within 60 seconds. So it is sometimes not really feasible to get a bag from the best places.

However, once you know your local market and what bags to get (and which ones aren't worth it). It is an absolutely fantastic way to both save money and eat good food. I regularly get food from restaurants that I would normally only go to on special occasions. And would recommend anyone to install the app and try it out!

Flashfood is another one I use in the US, not sure where all it's available. I've loved what I've received via that app so far.

I've tried the too good to go bags a couple of times, it will be the third today. So far I like it!
For me this is better than Karma (where you got meals) as I don't eat out a lot and prefer homecooked food.

I hope to try matsmart sometime but I've never managed to find more than a couple of things I want to buy

In Cafe Nero I got a load of pastries at the end of the day, which was nice and probably 2x the value of what you'd usually pay.

I also used it in a local Deli and got a weird mix of mussels, a bar of chocolate, and a block of cheese. They were all incredible individually but were a strange combo to open!

It's pretty great, I don't bother with the Supermarkets because I'll only cook specific things. But there's a burrito chain near me that gives you two £9 burritos for £6. It's the best deal I've come across.

This is great, I use it here - there's some fancy bakeries and other stores on there which make it well worth it!