September brings back the routines and that classic feeling of a fresh start that quickly pushes holidays into the past. Yet the enthusiasm of the post-holiday period is almost always accompanied by the usual squeeze on the budget and the inevitable stress of daily life.
In fact, the total post-holiday budget “reset” translates into an average 15% (*) increase in Portuguese families’ monthly spending (a peak that rises to 18% for households with children), covering everything from stocking the pantry and returning to the gym to back-to-school shopping and fixed routine bills. Facing this back-to-school scenario, managing expenses intelligently becomes this month’s main mission, challenging consumers to seek practical tricks to save, without sacrificing their quality of life.
This need for greater savings is clearly reflected in the behaviour of consumers in Portugal. According to data from Too Good To Go, comparing the last two weeks of June with the first two weeks of September 2025, there was an 11% increase in the number of Surprise Bags saved through the app. This historical trend, coupled with the influx of new users on the platform, demonstrates consumers’ tendency towards alternatives that combine savings and sustainability, actively using the platform to mitigate this month’s financial squeeze.
What if the solution to gaining financial breathing room was tucked away in your fridge?
The proposition of the leading app in the fight against food waste is to transform an “invisible expense” into real resources. By using Too Good To Go to save quality foods that ended up not being sold at partner restaurants, bakeries and supermarkets, users can save immediate money while avoiding waste of the planet’s resources. Less waste in the kitchen means more margin in the wallet to manage daily life with ease.
In Portugal, the impact of this change in habits is surprisingly tangible. A user who embraces the simple habit of saving, on average, one Surprise Bag per week, via the Too Good To Go app, can redeem €35 per month — which translates to a saving of €417 per year. To show how this value makes a difference in real life, Too Good To Go “started the savings stopwatch” and shows what this extra money can pay in your routine:
If we consider the annual saving of €417:
For a Student:
Mobile phone and internet: about 2 years of a low-cost mobile plan or about 1 year of a home fiber + mobile package;
Leisure and sport: about 1 year of streaming subscriptions (e.g., Netflix + Spotify) or about 1 year of a low-cost gym membership;
Social life and studies: about 50 cinema tickets, more than 400 coffees at a café, or about 6–8 university textbooks;
Food: About 6–8 weeks of grocery shopping for one person.
For Parents / Family:
Children’s activities: about 6–8 months of extracurricular activities (sports, music or languages) for one child;
Family leisure: about 10–12 family cinema visits (family of four) or about 1 year of streaming subscriptions;
Household expenses: about 1 year of a fiber + mobile package for the home or about 3–4 months of domestic and personal hygiene and cleaning products;
Logistics and groceries: about 8–10 fuel fill-ups for the family car or the equivalent of about two weeks of groceries for many families;
Transport: About 10–11 months of public transport
If we consider the €35 per month savings:
For a student: about one month in a low-cost gym; 2–3 streaming subscriptions (Netflix, Spotify, Disney+, Prime Video…); 35 coffees at a café or 8–10 breakfasts; half the cost of a university textbook; a portion of a week’s worth of groceries for one person or about 3–4 lunches of “daily special” outside.
For parents / family: nearly a monthly public transport pass; about one month of a fiber + mobile package for the home; about one month in a low-cost gym; about half a fuel fill-up or a month of essential household products (cleaning and personal hygiene); about one family trip to the cinema (with promotions or discounted tickets) or a family pizza night; a meaningful contribution to the monthly fee of an extracurricular activity.
For a generic user: about one month of a fiber + mobile package; 2–3 monthly streaming subscriptions; about 35–40 coffees at a café; about 8–10 breakfasts out; about 4 cinema tickets; about 3 lunches of the “daily special,” 2 pizzas or 2 brunches out; about a month in a low-cost gym; a significant help towards the monthly electricity or gas bill, or small daily expenses equivalent to about €1 per day for a month.
Small daily gestures against waste to save even more
Apart from rescuing meals through the app, Too Good To Go reminds that families can maximise daily savings and fight food waste in their own kitchens with small daily behaviours that have a very significant impact:
- Make a clear shopping list.
- Check the fridge and pantry before buying new products to avoid duplicates.
- Understand the shelf-life labels and expiry dates.
- Give leftovers a second life.
- Store foods properly to prolong their preservation.
Through this approach, Too Good To Go reinforces its positioning as a daily ally in the fight against waste and a tool for saving, demonstrating that a small daily habit change recovers resources that can be allocated to what truly matters in this return to routines.
(*) Source: NielsenIQ’s Homes Panel, 2025
