Food Costs - OLIO is just brilliant

Charlie680

I'm a working person on a medium salary and was doing OK but I'm single so I always do a little extra work for holidays and my social life  All good until these cost of living rises!! So like the rest of the nation I am looking at ways of saving money.  
I think a lot of people in my position are not going to get much help from the government so we have to help ourselves. Olio has been just brilliant :-) I go on and ask for a few things - sometimes they are gone as you have to be quick but often I get maybe half a dozen items. Many are fresh and have to be eaten in a day or two but some are fine to freeze.
Also if I have a few yogurts for example and I will never eat 6 in two days I give some to my neighbours (who love it) so its a win/win.  I am helping myself to still eat nice food and my neighbours too. Also the people that volunteer are just lovely.  
A tip/hint is sometimes the fruit or veg has to be eaten really quickly but part boil and freeze - I have made some lovely soups/crumbles.  Yes it does require going out when its dark and a bit rainy to pick up and maybe cooking some things quickly but I reckon I save about £60-£70 a month and I know my neighbours save a few pounds too.
What is not to like - go on you know you want to :-) xx

Katiehound

Well, for starters you need a smart phone to download the app..... I would suggest that greatly  reduces the number of folk who are able to benefit.

joedenise

It also helps if the person is local - my nearest is a 16 mile round trip - same as when I go to the supermarket.

Too Good To Go bags are also good but cost a few pounds and I can get those from a supermarket a bit closer - a 10 mile round trip!

General_Grant

Charlie680 said:

I'm a working person on a medium salary and was doing OK but I'm single so I always do a little extra work for holidays and my social life  All good until these cost of living rises!! So like the rest of the nation I am looking at ways of saving money.  
I think a lot of people in my position are not going to get much help from the government so we have to help ourselves. Olio has been just brilliant :-) I go on and ask for a few things - sometimes they are gone as you have to be quick but often I get maybe half a dozen items. Many are fresh and have to be eaten in a day or two but some are fine to freeze.
Also if I have a few yogurts for example and I will never eat 6 in two days I give some to my neighbours (who love it) so its a win/win.  I am helping myself to still eat nice food and my neighbours too. Also the people that volunteer are just lovely.  
A tip/hint is sometimes the fruit or veg has to be eaten really quickly but part boil and freeze - I have made some lovely soups/crumbles.  Yes it does require going out when its dark and a bit rainy to pick up and maybe cooking some things quickly but I reckon I save about £60-£70 a month and I know my neighbours save a few pounds too.
What is not to like - go on you know you want to :-) xx

I'm single.  If I were to save £60-£70 in a month it would be because I had spent nothing on food in the month.

DullGreyGuy

Katiehound said:

Well, for starters you need a smart phone to download the app..... I would suggest that greatly  reduces the number of folk who are able to benefit.

93% of people in the UK have a smart phone and a quick google shows they have a web version too for the remaining 7%... obviously still leaves the 1.2% that cannot speak English, then the illiterate, possibly the blind depending on how well app/web works with accessibility tools etc. The 0.16% in prison probably can't use it, though they may have their own system.

Nothing is going to work for everyone but that doesn't mean it isnt a good thing especially when on paper it works for the vast majority.

Auntycaz

I would love to use Olio but there are no volunteers anywhere near where I live and even if there where I don't drive.. There are lots of people like me who do not have a car who cannot take advantage of it. It isn't just a case of having a smart phone. But good luck to anyone who can use it. 

elsien

I use olio. There’s no way I’d save £60-70 a month. Partly because I don’t spend that much on food a month to start with but also because where I am there’s a lot of people requesting so most of what I ask for I don’t get.
Talking to a volunteer the other day, she said the one night there were 125 people requesting the things she’d got. 
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great idea but people posting around me are a couple of miles away, and I’m not getting in the car to drive 2 miles for a loaf of bread and a bit of fruit. I tend to stick to the ones I can walk to so overall it’s probably saving me about a fiver a week. And some of that is things that I request as a treat but I wouldn’t buy otherwise, Pain au chocolat, things like that. 

I suspect how well it works is very area dependent.

Katiehound

elsien said:

 

I suspect how well it works is very area dependent.

and I think that is probably the key point

Madbat60

I've used Olio before and Too good to go.  Olio has been great for free things as opposed to the food aspect.  I use too good to go more  sometimes it's good other times not

Auti

Olio not near me and even if it was as gluten free veggie am limited as to things I can have (also have to be aware of cross contamination of gluten) same with TGTG especially as no idea what is in them. So for me and my child they are not helpful which is a shame. Also going out to collect if you have a small child (tea, bath,bedtime) will not be helpful either especially walking. It is good things are not wasted but not as available to all as it first appears. 

Rosa_Damascena

Olio has been great for getting rid of food I can't use, but there is no point in me responding to any posts because it would be at the expense of people that need rather than want. I'm not about to take food put of the mouths of those with nothing.