Episode 69 - Food Apps We Love to Save you Money

Food Apps We Love to Save you Money

Who doesn’t love a bargain?! As we hurtle towards one of the most expensive times of the year, I‘ve got some cool food apps to help save you time and money. Some are designed to help you easily find bargains and sales on your regular grocery items, while others will save you money by minimising food waste.

Here are the apps I talked about in today's episode:

Eat Club: eatclub.com.au

Super Cook: www.supercook.com

Frugl: www.frugl.com.au

Half Price App: Apple Android

Happy Cow: www.happycow.net

Shopback: app.shopback.com/cD1uTFKEZub

Links:

Give the gift of health and fitness this Christmas with our Dietitian Approved Festive bundles: www.dietitianapproved.com/shop

Check out our Dietitian Approved Recipe Database: www.dietitianapproved.com/recipes

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Episode Transcription

Episode 69: Food Apps We Love to Save you Money

Taryn Richardson  00:00

Welcome to the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. The show designed to serve you up evidence-based sports nutrition advice from the experts. Hi, I'm your host Taryn, Accredited Practicing Dietitian, Advanced Sports Dietitian and founder of Dietitian Approved. Listen as I break down the latest evidence to give you practical, easy-to-digest strategies to train hard, recover faster and perform at your best. You have so much potential, and I want to help you unlock that with the power of nutrition. Let's get into it.

0:44

Welcome to Episode 69. In this episode I'm going to give you some ideas of some food Apps that are out there that are going to help you save some money and also, potentially a fair amount of time. We are hurtling towards one of the most expensive times of year. It can be quite expensive - Christmas, depending on what you’ve got going on and who you have to gift for (or don’t). And the Academy athletes always say to me that they love that I save them money because they are not wasting money on products they don’t need and shiny objects that don’t work. So what I wanted to do with this episode today is give you some ideas to help you save some money, as we hurtle towards the silly season. Let’s dive straight into it.

01:28

So the first App is EatClub. This App is great, if you're blessed with the ability to go out in the evenings for dinner and not have to fight with little people to go to sleep. It's also going to be great for you if you're a bit more flexible, because it allows you to find restaurants nearby with empty tables. And they're going to give you last minute deals to help fill up those tables. So great if you've got, you know, a night where you know you want to go out, you don't really care where you're going or what you're eating necessarily. And it gives you some options to find the best deal in your area. So that could be a great opportunity for you, if you do love to go out and you're flexible in that approach.

02:08

The next App - I absolutely love this one. It's called Super Cook. I'll link all of these in the show notes so you know what they are. But this is a great App, if you're not the type of person that's good with just throwing whatever is together in the fridge or the pantry into a meal. Like some people have the skills to be able to do that. It's something that I can do. Whatever we've got kind of left in the fridge at the end of the week, I can make something out of that, which helps us to use it up and minimise food waste. But there's other people that need to follow a recipe, you just don't have the ability to cook just with flavors and things like that. Not saying it's a bad thing. But you know, there's two camps- somebody that can throw a meal together and you know if that's you. Or the other can't - where you just have to follow a recipe and you're a great cook as long as you've got something to follow.

02:08

So with Super Cook, what you do is you add the ingredients in the App - of products and things that you do already have at home. So you go through and pick whatever pantry things you've got - what you've got left in the fridge - and it only assumes that you've got salt, pepper and water. And that is it. So it's not going to give you some recipe suggestions for all this beautiful and wonderful stuff but you're missing one key ingredient. So you pop in what you have. And then it spits out thousands of recipes that you could make with the products that you've said that you've got in the house. So as an example, I have thrown in oil, flour, some limp kale in the bottom of the fridge, eggs, firm tofu, onion, and carrot. And it gave me over 3,000 recipes that you could make with just those things! Like it was a very, very tiny list. Now there's no guarantees that the recipes that they give you are going to be as delicious or nutritious as the recipes in our database. I'll link that in the show notes if you have no idea what a recipe database is! But it's definitely going to help you expand your food variety and maybe build up some recipes that you do find that you do enjoy - and definitely save you dollars because you're going to minimise all that food that would otherwise go in the bin.

Taryn Richardson  04:11

The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment says that Australian households waste the equivalent of one in five bags of groceries or the equivalent of $2,000 every year. It just blows my mind. I'm very conscious of food waste. We have a compost bin. We have dogs. We used to have chickens! But nothing really goes to waste in our house and this App, SuperCook, could be a great one for you, if you are that person that has a bunch of random things left in the fridge at the end of the week that you just don't know what to do with. So I love this one - super quick.

Taryn Richardson  04:44

The next one is Frugl, F-R-U-G-L. Now this one is going to help you save on groceries because it helps you to compare prices. So it works with the Australian supermarkets (sorry internationals that are listening) but Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Drakes and IGA. And what you can do with the App is plug in something that you want to buy. So say for me, I always buy the big Chobani yoghurt tubs - and I always buy two or three when they're on special and stock up because that helps us to get through until when they're next on special. But say we were running low and that's what I needed, then you could pop that into the App, Chobani Yoghurt, and it would tell you the prices at every one of those supermarkets, so you could see where the best deal was. Now that could be really convenient for you, if you're like me and all of your shops are kind of in the same location - we've got a Coles, a Woolworths and an Aldi, like, steps away from each other. That wouldn't be so convenient if you're trying to chase down bargains and having to drive across town - because then you're spending money on petrol and wasting time, so it would only be useful if 1. you're able to do that easily or you're flexible to do that or you've got all the time in the world - I'm very jealous!

Taryn Richardson  05:57

But for me, if I walked 10 metres across the road and can save $10 on yoghurt, I would do that because hey, I am frugal. The other thing that the App can do, if this helps you at all, is you can set allergens. So if you want to avoid something in particular, say you wanted to avoid peanuts or egg or something like that, you could set that up as your allergen and then it will avoid products that have those things in them. You can also set nutritional targets in the App. Not a function that I use or would necessarily recommend. But if you were somebody that was trying to watch your sodium intake because you had hypertension, or your saturated fat intake or added sugar in packaged products, then you can set targets for yourself to make sure you're not going over that. So another function the App has if that is of interest to you. So that one's Frugl, F-R-U-G-L.

Taryn Richardson  05:58

Before we go through the next couple of Apps, I wanted to highlight to you that I did a little bit of a website upgrade to our shop page on the Dietitian Approved website. We've had Dietitian Approved apparel for many years and the last few years I've just not prioritised putting the shop page back together on the website - since moving platforms many years ago. So if you head there now dietitianapproved.com/shop, you can see all of our apparel that you can buy. There's running singlets cycling kit, water bottles, our Fuel Your Adventure book, and I've set up a couple of Christmas bundles so that if you're looking for some health and fitness related Christmas gifts this year, there's two Christmas bundles in our shop.

Taryn Richardson  07:35

The first one is a fitness bundle. This one is Australia only because it's all physical products. It includes one of our run singlets - whether you want male or female, just let me know what size and we'll get it in the post for you, a water bottle (you get to choose your colour), and you get a copy of our Fuel Your Adventure book. That is $99 including postage Australia wide. So you save $19 by bundling them all together instead of purchasing them singularly.

Taryn Richardson  08:02

The other option, if you aren't in Australia, and you're looking at giving the gift of health this Christmas is my digital Healthy Bundle. So this is access to the Summer Salads Recipe collection, which has got over 30 summer salad recipes in there now and dressings, as well as access to my Foundations of Healthy Eating mini course, which could be a great thing for somebody to do over the Christmas break. And maybe just give them a little bit of a nudge in the right direction or help them get the ball rolling and, you know, step off on the right foot come January. So that one's $57. And you save $20 by bundling that up all together instead of purchasing separately. So that one's digital, you could purchase that and gift it to somebody - you would probably pop their details in at the checkout so that they got the access and they got the email or you could just do it for yourself and then help someone set up their login at a later time. So if you want to go check that out, head to dietitianapproved.com/shop. I'll link that in the show notes for you.

Taryn Richardson  09:01

Alright, the next one is Half Price App. This one shows you all of those weekly half price specials that happen at Woolworths and Coles every week. Now half price is a huge discount. And that is kind of the discount that I would buy a product at (rather than a 20% which they often do).

Taryn Richardson  09:20

This is a whole other episode but the psychology and the marketing that happens in supermarkets is unreal. So often products will go on a 20% discount first and then a week or two later there'll be, boom!, 50% off, so if you can hold out - hold out. But this App, Half Price App, will show you those half price specials across both of those major supermarkets each week so you don't have to, kind of, flick through catalogues or miss out on a massive bargain, if you only going to one place - like, again, if it's easy for you to do that, then that could be a huge saving. Last night I bought us dishwasher tablets and they're like sixty something dollars these days! It is ridiculous. They were half price at Woolworths.  I made sure I grabbed some, because there is no way I'm going to spend $60 on the things that go in the dishwasher. So that App could be a good one if you know that stuff that you regularly buy is often on half price, and you want to, kind of, stock up on it when it's on that really good deal.

Taryn Richardson  10:20

The next one is not an App. But perhaps a suggestion, if you are looking at saving some dollars and cents over the coming months, is to look at shopping online. If that's not something that you do, then online shopping for your groceries is definitely a way to save some cash. Because you're buying only what you need. You're not getting distracted by those end of aisle specials that are in your face and stuff that's close to the register. And you're putting things into your trolley that you didn't need, but hey, they're a bargain. Then shopping online can help avoid that, because you only see really what you search for.

Taryn Richardson  10:57

Unless you spend a lot of time clicking through pages and scrolling through the catalogues and stuff like that, then you're not going to see the half price blocks of chocolate and you're not going to see the weird new shampoo, that looks really good, but it's probably crap. But it's on the end of the aisle and it's on special, so you're like, "Oh, I'll buy that and try it". So very quickly your shopping for that week escalates, without you actually even knowing it.

Taryn Richardson  11:23

There are definitely some fails to online grocery shopping though, and I've probably experienced all of them at some point. The person selecting your groceries is not always going to select the things that you would select. So I've had things like really badly dented tins, I've had mangoes that are squashed to buggery and inedible, I've had really really ripe bananas, which are beyond the point of me enjoying eating them. And one time they completely missed our deli order -so the olives and the feta just didn't even turn up. So there's definitely some fails to online shopping. If that happens to you though, all you have to do is jump into the App and request a refund. If things turn up in a terrible state or like me, the deli items just didn't exist,whatsoever. So you can do that right in the App from the comfort of your home without having to go up to the shops to sort that out. But then if you really needed that product, you'd still have to go up to the shop anyway. So if you're not an online shopper, it may be something to look at - even just for some essential items - so that you're not getting distracted by other things in the supermarket that you don't necessarily need that are escalating the cost of your shop.

Taryn Richardson  12:32

The next App is Happy Cow. Now international listeners, you'll be happy to know this one is definitely worldwide. But what this App does is it helps you to find vegan and vegetarian options at restaurants that are near you. So it's kind of like a Google Maps for vegan and veggo food. Restaurants put their restaurant in the App, so it's searchable and they'll tell you if it's a fully vegan restaurant, or if it's a vegetarian option type restaurant. So you can make your choice based on that. But it's great for travel. I've used it internationally when I've traveled a lot with Triathlon Australia, we had a couple of vegan athletes. And it just really fast tracked that whole restaurant search when you get to a new city and you're really hungry and you want something to eat, but you're really not sure where to go. Or if the place that's close by is going to have suitable options on the menu for you. So Happy Cow is that one, you can jump in and create a profile and review places as well. So it's nice to have some independent reviews from vegans or vegetarians. And it's a place that you can connect with other people worldwide if you wanted to do that as well.

Taryn Richardson  13:37

Now, the last one is not necessarily food related. It's actually something I've started to play with recently, and that's ShopBack. It's a Cash Rewards App - there are things like that that exist all over the world. And this is not the only one. This is the one that I've just started playing with. And I've got it as an App on my phone but I've also got it as an extension on my Chrome browser. And whenever I'm on a site, buying something, whether it's clothes, or hotels or flights, if there's a ShopBack deal for that thing, it's going to notify me and tell me that I can get, you know, 11% back via ShopBack or something like that. They have daily deals and other specials that happen that will give you a certain percentage back if you go through to that website via ShopBack.

Taryn Richardson  14:25

So recently, I booked a couple of hotels through booking.com. But instead of going directly to booking.com, I went to ShopBack and clicked through to booking.com so that I could get 11% back for my hotel booking. And the idea is that it's a marketing platform. So booking.com will give ShopBack some money for sending people their direction, plus shop backs then rewarding me as a customer for using their site to get there as well. So I've actually got $30 sitting in my account ready to transfer out just by booking two hotels through ShopBack recently.

Taryn Richardson  15:01

So not food related, but definitely something to look into if you've not heard of that before. And now before you say that, you know, the company has my data and my spending habits and all those sorts of things. I, totally, am aware of that. But if you're on Facebook, and you're on Instagram, then the Internet has your data anyway. So I'll pop the link for that in the show notes. It is a little referral link, I just saw that as an option on the website - I get $10 and you get $10 if you click on that link, and you make a $20 purchase, and set up the way that your money withdrawals - whether they transfer it to your bank, or send it through PayPal.

Taryn Richardson  15:39

The money takes a little while to process.I haven't been paid mine out yet. Like I said, I've only just started playing with this. I think it's going to take a couple of months, because 1. I haven't stayed in those hotels that I booked yet. And 2. they want to make sure that I, you know, turn up, don't request a refund, all those sorts of things. So it's not an instantaneous cashback. But definitely something that is maybe worthwhile looking into if you've not heard of something like that before.

Taryn Richardson  16:02

There's heaps, there's cash rewards, there's super awards, there's Honey, if you're international. There's loads of things like this now, which I think is really interesting. And what I'm going to do is I'm going to put that cash back rewards into a separate bank account and spend it on something for me for a change, because that never happens. So there you have it. They are some suggestions for food related Apps that are going to help save you some money this silly season.

Taryn Richardson  16:31

Now I want to know, are there any food or nutrition or health related Apps that you use that could help someone? I would love to know - like, this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you have some really cool things that you'd love to share, pop them in the Dietitian Approved Crew Facebook group for us all to see - particularly the international listeners. I know this was a very Australian heavy episode. I'm not really familiar with the supermarkets and the rewards Apps overseas. But I would love to know what they are. And I'm sure other people would benefit from seeing what's out there as well.

Taryn Richardson  16:59

So drop those in the Dietitian Approved Crew Facebook group for us. I'll link that in the show notes. If you're not a member yet, it's free - doesn't cost you anything. You just need to answer a couple of quick tiny questions to get let in the door. And then we let you in. Post that in there. And I think I would love to see a big discussion thread of all the cool Apps that are out there. And hey, maybe I will do another episode like this next year when I've collected all that stuff and had a chance to play with them. So if you did like this episode, and you want more things like this, please let me know. It's not my usual nutrition advice type episode. So if you loved it, leave me a review or send me a DM on Instagram. Alright, have a good day. I will speak to you next week.

Taryn Richardson  17:46

Thanks for joining me for this episode of the Triathlon Nutrition Academy podcast. I would love to hear from you. If you have any questions or want to share with me what you've learned, email me at [email protected]. You can also spread the word by leaving me a review and taking a screenshot of you listening to the show. Don't forget to tag me on social media, @dietitian.approved, so I can give you a shout out, too. If you want to learn more about what we do, head to dietitianapproved.com. And if you want to learn more about the Triathlon Nutrition Academy program, head to www.dietitianapproved.com/academy. Thanks for joining me and I look forward to helping you smashed in the fourth leg - nutrition!