WHETHER it’s a Big Mac from McDonald’s or a toastie from Costa, there’s usually a way to get some money off your favourite fast food order.
Fast food is pretty cheap anyway, but you can knock the price down even further at all your favourite restaurants with these tips.
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McDonald’s
Unlimited Big Mac & Fries for £1.99
Whenever you buy a McDonald’s, make sure you save your receipt – it could get you a £1.99 Big Mac & fries the next time you go in.
On each receipt, you’ll see a promotion called “food for thoughts”.
Using this, you can fill out a short survey about your experience and you’ll be given a code.
Write the code on your receipt, show it to a cashier next time you go in, and you can get a Big Mac & fries for just £1.99 (saving up to £3).
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Don’t fancy a Big Mac? you can swap it out for a Fillet-O-Fish or Veggie Deluxe & fries for the same price.
And the beauty is, you’ll get another receipt for that meal too, so you can repeat the process as many times as you like.
Download the My McDonald’s app
If you’ve never downloaded the Maccies app, now’s the time.
New deals pop up every week (and sometimes every day) which are exclusive to app users.
You can regularly get food for 99p including a Quarter Pounder, Chicken McNuggets, McChicken Sandwich – and there are sometimes blanket deals such as 20% off or £5 off a £20 spend.
Whenever you fancy a Maccers, it’s worth checking the app’s “deals” tab to see what offers are available.
KFC
15% off every time
Similar to McDonald’s, whenever you’re eating at KFC – keep your receipt.
At the bottom, you’ll find a survey link saying you can get 15% off your next order.
You’ll need to complete the survey within three days of your order, and you can whizz through it pretty quickly.
Then make sure you return in the next two weeks to get your discount.
It works on the whole menu, including the big sharing buckets and dipping feasts – which is where the discount would have the most use.
Free KFC side
If you’ve never signed up to the KFC app before – you can grab yourself a free side straight away.
The Colonel’s Club is free to join, and once you register you get three chicken stamps for free (which is enough for a free side).
Showing your app at a KFC restaurant will get you either a free small Popcorn Chicken, two hot wings, a soft drink, hot drink, sundae or regular fries.
Burger King
Download the Burger King app
To get many BK deals, you’ll need the Burger King app.
There are lots of vouchers available every day including two Whopper meals for £8.49 and 20 nuggets for £3.99.
There are special deals at certain times of the day too – where you can get burgers for £3 during the ‘Appy Hour’ of 2-5pm every weekday.
You can sometimes get a Whopper Burger for £1.99 on Wednesdays too.
Unfortunately, the app can’t be used at train stations or airports, but is valid everywhere else.
Buy a small drink and refill for free
More than 200 Burger King restaurants have the Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, where you fill up the drink yourself.
This means you can get free refills once you finish your cup.
Simply order a small drink for 99p (or a meal that comes with a drink) and refill all you like.
A regular drink on its own is £1.69, but there’s no point paying 70p more when you can refill for free.
Starbucks
Split a Venti into 2 Tall drinks
If you and your friends have the same order at Starbucks, why not join forces?
Order a Venti (the largest drink), for around 50p more than a tall drink – and ask for a couple of tall cups when picking it up.
You can then decant your huge drink into two smaller ones, saving yourself £3+ on getting a separate order.
Unlimited refills For £1.55
You can head into Starbucks and stay in there all day, getting free refills on your coffee.
Order a tall filter coffee for £1.55 – and you can refill as many times as you want, as long as you stay in the Starbucks shop.
Plus, if you bring in a reusable cup, it drops the price down by 25p to £1.30.
Nando’s
Get 20% off your order
If you work for the NHS, police, ambulance service, fire service or armed forces, you can get 20% off your food every time at Nando’s.
Simply show your photo ID to the cashier and they’ll take 20% off your bill.
If you don’t work in those fields, you can always find a friend or family member to invite along and get their discount.
Order platters to save cash
If you’re ordering two 1/2 chicken meals, you’d be better off looking at the platter menu.
A Full Platter has a whole chicken and two large sides but is cheaper than ordering two separate meals.
There are a few different platter options including the boneless platter, wing platter, and family platter – all of which would save you a bit of money compared to ordering the same separately.
Mystery bag for £3
The Too Good To Go app is great at finding discounts and bargains from restaurants at the end of the day.
It’s a way to cut down on food wastage, as well as getting a mystery bag of food for cheap.
At Costa, purchasing a mystery bag for £3 will get you food from £10 or more from your local branch.
You’ll get a bag of toasties and fresh pastries that would otherwise be thrown away.
There are a limited number of bags available each day – but if you can grab one, you’ll be enjoying a lot of cheap snacks
25p discount For reusable cups
If you bring a reusable cup to a Costa outlet and order a drink, you can get a 25p discount off the menu price.
Hand your cup over when ordering and the discount will be applied on your total.
This is valid both drinking in and taking away, so be sure to always bring one with you.
Greggs
Always take away
Greggs has two different prices on most of its food items – one for eating in and the other for takeaway.
There’s a 20% difference between the two as VAT is added on to eat-in orders.
A sausage roll, for example, is £1 to takeaway or £1.20 to eat it in.
So, to save money, always opt for the takeaway option.
Free drink for signing up to the app
When you sign up for the Greggs Rewards app, you’ll get a free hot drink of your choice.
That can save you up to £1.90 depending on what you choose, whether it’s a cappuccino, latte or mocha.
By signing up to the Greggs Rewards app, you’ll also be given a free sweet treat on your birthday.
Speaking of free food, millions of Brits could miss out on £442 free food due to benefits rules – make sure you don’t miss out.
In other news, McDonald’s has launched its chicken Big Mac, but it won’t be on the menu for long.
The Sun tried this new burger – here’s what we thought.
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