Does HelloFresh save money on your weekly grocery shop?
It’s post-pandemic and energy prices have gone up, inflation has skyrocketed and people are feeling the grocery pinch. So, when you’re considering a convenient food subscription service like HelloFresh, you may be forgiven for thinking now is not the time to fork out for fine dining. But does HelloFresh save money on your weekly grocery shop?
Let’s find out more!
Wait. What is HelloFresh?
HelloFresh is a meal kit subscription service based in Berlin, Germany that offers weekly groceries and over 37 recipes to your doorstep, so you can make Michelin-style recipes at home without the burden of meal planning and grocery shopping.
How HelloFresh works
- You head to HelloFresh here ==> HelloFresh UK*
- You select a plan, i.e. number of people (from 2 to 4) and recipes per week (from 3 to 5)
- Select the recipes you’d like, i.e. Mostly Meat, Veggie, Family, Quick Cook, Calorie Smart and Pescatarian
- Select when you’d like to receive your box
- Save money by using the code here ==> HFMOTHER60*
- Wait for your box to be delivered
- Cook, eat, and enjoy!
60% Off your First Box and 25% Off for 2 Months + Free Gifts!*
Can a meal delivery service save money? What about time?
Does HelloFresh save time too? It all depends on your situation. We are a large family of six who are big eaters, so our grocery shopping is a minimum of £150 a week, which includes snacks, toiletries, etc. I work from home with a baby taking up most of that time and a toddler who only goes to nursery three times a week.
My two boys are at school full time but after that, they often have after-school activities. So I online shop when and where I can. The stress and expense of taking four kids to a grocery store, especially when things miraculously find their way into the trolley when it’s time to pay, is just not worth it when you have the convenience of online shopping and no little fingers swiping treats off the shelves.
So why bother with a meal delivery service? How much time can meal delivery save you?
Like I said, in a good week, our grocery shopping will set us back a minimum of £150, and that’s split into three different shops of around £50 to £95 a pop, maybe even more. I rarely know what to cook and will scramble for items in the fridge, only to find I don’t have a particular item and then do another shop just to add that item into the shopping basket.
I never meal plan simply because I have no time to sit down and do it. Kids need to be fed by 6pm at the latest and I’m home perhaps 4.30/5pm, which gives me an hour to decide what to cook within the hour.
As a result, I stick to the ingredients I know will save me time and I ultimately end up cooking easy meals. With four kids, I’m tired, especially on a day when the activities don’t end until 6pm and then I think, well it’s too late to make anything now because baby needs to be asleep by 7pm, so we order Domino’s just so the kids are fed.
This means the veg isn’t used and they end up going off, especially our spinach, which I intend to add to every meal, but I have two babies with the world’s more intricate centrifugation system. Somehow, someway, they weed the slightest bit of spinach out of my blended pasta sauce and will refuse to eat the rest. More food wasted.
I don’t want to cook for children who won’t eat the same pasta and rice dishes again and again and therefore I don’t put as much effort into the meal, even though I actually love cooking. I have a fussy toddler who will only eat pasta on its own and a sensory sensitive 11-year-old who will not touch any meat. I have a 10-year-old who wants dry food separated on his plate and a baby who actually eats everything – so she’s great.
But, I’m exhausted.
So, in our situation, a meal delivery service doesn’t just save us time, it’s saves my sanity because I don’t have to search for the right ingredients and I don’t have to put effort into meal planning. It’s all done for me. No grocery shop, no figuring out what to cook, no food wastage and no fussy kids who complain about eating the same food again and again. Perfect.
Yes, perfect ok. But does HelloFresh actually save you money?
Well, let’s work it out.
For us to sign up to HelloFresh we’d need the biggest box they have as we’re feeding six people (well 5 1/2, but the baby is slowly eating a full-sized person’s portion thanks to her healthy appetite!).
We’d also need a variety of meals that aren’t too spicy, outside of the box and are quick enough to be plated up between that short 5pm to 6pm period.
So let’s see what HelloFresh has that can offer that kind of time, cost, and service.
So, we’ll go for the max: 4 people and 5 recipes a week.
The original price is £62.99 with £4.99 shipping at 20 servings per week, which works out at £3.15 per serving.
Thankfully HelloFresh helps you save money on meal delivery with promotions and deals (yes, even more money saved!) so you can get a box for 50% using HelloFresh’s general code on the website, plus 35% off your next three boxes.
HOWEVER, I have a special code for you to save even more money.
Get 60% off your 1st box, 25% off the next 2 months & 3 free gifts!*
So, let’s work out how much you can save for, say, two months after using my special promotional code.
The first box costs £67.98 without the discount, but after the discount it’s only £25.20!
Plus, you get free shipping and 25% off for the next two months, which is kerazy!
Let’s do a price comparison, shall we?
So, in the table below, we’re going to compare our regular weekly shop with Amazon (minus 35% to account for non-grocery items), HelloFresh’s original price with no discounts, with general discount and then with my unique Motherhood Diaries’ discount and we’ll see who comes up as the biggest money saver. (click the image below to enlarge.)
So, it works out that for our large family of six we can save a whopping 69% or £888.95 on our weekly grocery shop over the two months if we use my Motherhood Diaries super-duper discount, or even 53% or £680.25 over the course of the two months if we use HelloFresh even without a discount available (we can save 62% or £797.86 by using HelloFresh’s generic code too.) These are massive savings, even more than I thought. And you’re not skimping on quality. The recipes are amazing.
How does HelloFresh save you money?
When you work out portion sizes, even without the discount, it’s just over £3 per person, and there’s no wastage because you use all the ingredients HelloFresh packs for you. The recipes are set so you don’t deviate, which means you don’t overbuy and you don’t have to lug your kids to the supermarket. It’s convenient, cost-saving and super-yummy!
Is HelloFresh worth the cost?
So is HelloFresh worth it? For us, it definitely, definitely is. We cut 35% off our bill to account for non-grocery items and we still saved massive amounts of money with HelloFresh. And, yes, we could stand to be more frugal with our weekly shop, and yes, we can be quite wasteful, but I’m a mum of four kids. I don’t have time to crunch numbers and figure meals out every week. It’s all systems go in this house and I need to ensure my kids are being fed well in the minimal time I have to cook for them.
Who is HelloFresh good for?
It’s clear to me that HelloFresh is good for large families like mine who are so pushed for time and haven’t got clear goals for their grocery shop so almost always overspend because of minimal meal prepping. HelloFresh takes all the hard work out of it and all you have to do is cook healthy meals for the family every week – and compared to our online weekly shop, it’s super cheap per portion too!
Who is HelloFresh not good for?
You can now get HelloFresh meal kits for one so it’s hard to figure out who HelloFresh is not good for, but if you haven’t got money to spend on meal kit services, then HelloFresh isn’t for you.
Should you use HelloFresh?
In my opinion, yes you should. The food is 5-star delicious every time, it’s so easy to order, you get constant discounts which adds to further savings, and it takes all the fuss out of meal prepping and grocery shopping. Plus, the ingredients are organic and we get to try different food every time, so we’re not stuck in a rut of cooking the same dishes over and over again.
My favourite perks of HelloFresh
You get to pick from 37 delicious recipes that suit any palate. It’s so easy to order and I love the organic produce that comes with the box. Easily the best meal kit service I’ve tried so far.
Occasions I will order HelloFresh again to save money
HelloFresh is perfect for any occasion, especially every week where I can take the mental load off figuring out what to cook for the family. I also get to spend more time with the kids who, as a result, are paying attention to cookery as a skill now. So, HelloFresh even helps me teach the kids how to cook good food every time thanks to its straightforward instructions via the recipe cards.
Ready to save a TON of money with HelloFresh?
You can save up to 69% over the course of two months with HelloFresh when you sign up using my code. Here it is again:
Get 60% off your 1st box, 25% off the next 2 months & 3 free gifts!*
HelloFresh has not just been a convenient, timesaving and cost-saving companion in which to feed my kids good food, but it has also given me15` back my mojo in the kitchen. Try a box today at a whopping 60% off* and see how you get on – you can cancel at any time if it’s not for you – but I bet you won’t!
FAQ
What is the best HelloFresh deal?
You can save 60% off your first box and 25% off for the next 2 months of HelloFresh boxes. Click here* to save now.
Is HelloFresh overpriced?
On the face of it, it may seem like HelloFresh is an expensive, luxurious meal kit service reserved for those with cash to burn. However, after actually crunching some numbers, it turns out that HelloFresh is actually very reasonable, especially for a family of six hungry mouths, and can even save you money on your weekly shop.
How much does HelloFresh cost per week?
Check my table above for the full prices.
What are the disadvantages of HelloFresh?
Living on the breadline makes it difficult for people to enjoy meal kit services like HelloFresh, so it’s not for those who don’t have disposable income to spend. However, if you’re an overspender on food like me, then you can actually save money with HelloFresh.
Is HelloFresh food subscription service worth the money or is it a better idea to just go to the grocery store?
For a busy mum of four like me, I have nightmares about going to the grocery store, so HelloFresh is a lifesaver for me – definitely worth the money.
How does HelloFresh work?
Please see above.
Is HelloFresh a scam?
Well we’ve used HelloFresh for two years so we can safely say it is NOT a scam.
Why do people like meal prep delivery services like HelloFresh?
It’s convenient and it saves time and money. It takes the hassle out of meal prepping and grocery shopping. It’s built for busy parents in mind!
Why don’t grocery stores offer meal kits like HelloFresh?
Some stores do, but it’s not their USP (unique selling point). HelloFresh just eliminates the need to pick out specific ingredients at the grocery store.
Have you tried meal delivery services like HelloFresh and what did you think?
See above and check out my other articles on the convenience of HelloFresh here and how we got on with the vegetarian box here.
Is HelloFresh good value for money?
Other questions asked were:
- Will HelloFresh save me money?
- Is HelloFresh worth it financially?
- How to save money on HelloFresh
- Do meal delivery kits save money?
- Are HelloFresh meal kits worth the money?
- Is HelloFresh and other meal delivery services worth the money?
- Is HelloFresh good value for money?
- Is HelloFresh worth the money and is it a good service?
- Does HelloFresh really save you money?
- Do you really save money with HelloFresh?
- Does HelloFresh save money on groceries?
- Does HelloFresh really save money?
See above for lots and lots of reasons HelloFresh saves money.
Can you cancel HelloFresh whenever you want?
Yes. You can pause, change or cancel 5 days before your next delivery. Contact HelloFresh customer service for more information.
Get 60% off your 1st box, 25% off the next 2 months & 3 free gifts!*
*This post is sponsored by HelloFresh
*Links marked with a ‘*’ are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission when you click through to buy. Thanks for your support!
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