I was chuffed to feed myself for a day for FREE with an overlooked app – trolls call me ‘sad’ & ask if I ‘reuse condoms’
AN EXTREME cheapskate has revealed how she fed herself for an entire day without forking out a single penny, thanks to an underrated food app.
The thrifty content creator behind the page Diary of a Cheapskate set herself a no-spend food challenge and says she was “chuffed” with the result, but it seems not everyone was impressed.
Mortgage-free at just 32, the savvy TikToker regularly shares frugal living tips and money-saving tricks with her growing audience online.
From reusing items to bagging freebies, she’s not shy about her cost-cutting habits.
In a recent video, she documented a full day of free eating, covering breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, all sourced using the Olio app, a platform where neighbours and shops give away unwanted food.
She told followers: “This was such a fun challenge. I love getting creative with what I’ve got rather than spending cash. It means I end up eating some odd combos, but I don’t care, it’s part of the fun.”
Her freebie-filled day started with a Belgian waffle, chopped apples and yoghurt, all collected that morning via Olio, just past their best-before dates but still perfectly fine, she said.
Skipping a morning snack, she moved onto lunch with two chocolate croissants and a browning banana, again all free.
By the afternoon, she tucked into more yoghurt with chopped banana before whipping up a dinner of roasted sweet potato and cauliflower, plus some new potatoes gifted by a colleague.
She claimed her tea was “a bit weird” but “it worked”.
To finish off the day, she snacked on fresh raspberries picked straight from her mum’s garden and stuck to tap water for drinks – all completely cost-free.
But while some fans praised her creativity and thanked her for introducing them to the Olio app, others weren’t so kind.
One troll cruelly commented: “Do you reuse condoms too?”.
Another slammed her for taking food that could have gone to someone “more in need.”
A third accused her of wasting time and money on travel just to pick up food she could’ve bought “cheaply from Lidl.”
Still, her loyal followers rushed to defend her, with one writing: “Just picked up my first haul thanks to your video, can’t believe the food people give away. Ignore the haters, your tips are brilliant!”
Despite the backlash, the TikToker stood her ground, insisting that her extreme budgeting isn’t about greed but about being resourceful, conscious, and proud of not wasting food or money.
And judging by her clean plate and satisfied smile, it looks as if the hate doesn’t seem to bother her.
She’s not the only cheapskate taking dire measures to save her pennies.
A mum has shared her extreme money-saving tips, and her water hack really turned heads.
Becky Giles, who’s all about being frugal, revealed that she loves it when it snows because it gives her free water for her family to wash in
She also bragged about how her money-saving methods helped her renovate her bathroom for just £49.
Since becoming a stay-at-home mum, Becky has found creative ways to save money as she works to renovate her family’s 100 year old house.
She now prides herself in being “the most frugal mum in America.”
Talking in a TLC documentary, she revealed that she fills up buckets “with snow to melt and use for water” as “water from the sink actually costs money.”
Elsewhere, a self-proclaimed frugal freak, who previously confessed to re-using bin bags and claimed to only own one plate, has now shared more of his savvy money saving methods.
Bradley, 32, who steals loo rolls and re-uses snotty tissues, claimed that some of his tricks might be controversial.
Despite earning over £16,000 in just one month alone, the content creator, who has enough money to live lavishly, instead opts for an incredibly frugal lifestyle.
But like this frugal food hunter, not everyone was impressed with Bradley’s tricks.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes – plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury’s also sells £2 “Taste Me, Don’t Waste Me” fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps – food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go’s app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains – yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains – sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they’ve found on the cheap, including food finds.
“Downshift” – you will almost always save money going for a supermarket’s own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as “downshifting” and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
