Little-known apps to save £100s for summer – cut cost of fuel, parking & movies

SUMMER is when you want to splash out on fun in the sun – so make your money go further.

There are loads of apps to help you get the best bang for your buck, including cheap food and takeaways, free trips to the cinema, thrifty days out, and even low-cost petrol.

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#1 – YOUR REWARDS APPS

Chances are, you’re paying for a phone bill – and maybe a telly subscription, too.

Well the rewards apps linked to those services should be your first port of call.

The Three+ app gets you £1 coffees, £3 Cineworld tickets, and 15% off at River Island right now.

Vodafone customers can use VeryMe Rewards to get Adventure Days (with 50% off zoos, theme parks, and attractions via Kids Pass).

O2 Priority gives you a load of rewards, such as a free weekly snack from Greggs, discounted Disney+, and two Vue cinema tickets for £9.

If you’re signed up to Sky TV, you can claim a free movie from the Sky Store by going into the MySky app and looking for your VIP rewards.

And if you’re paying for Sky Cinema too, you’ll be able to get a pair of free Vue cinema tickets every single month. That could save you and a pal £240 a year alone.

#2 – CHEAP FOOD (AND THAT’S NOT ALL)

The average weekly food shop – without any booze – is around £103, up around 18% from two years ago.

One way Brits are dodging the price hikes is with Too Good to Go.

It’s a food waste app where shops, cafes, bakeries and restaurants can flog their surplus food at discounted prices instead of binning them.

You’ll usually pay less than half price for the grub – and you’re doing a good thing, because it would’ve just ended up in the bin.

Just download the app and you’ll be able to “rescue” food near you.

Simply pick a location, confirm the choice, reserve the food, pay in the app, then go collect it at the specified time.

Another similar app is called Olio, which is a free giveaway app.

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Maybe someone bought too many biscuits for a birthday party, and has loads of packs spare – so they’re giving them away.

You might bag yourself free bread, tins of beans, or bits and bobs for baking.

It’s not just food either. There’s a whole non-food section that could see you scooping up, car seats, lamps, pots and pans, or unwanted books.

The app is meant for local community giveaways so you shouldn’t need to travel far. And you won’t pay a penny, which makes the deal even sweeter.

#3 – NATURE NEAR YOU

There’s nothing cheaper than Mother Nature, but it’s hard to know where to start.

That’s what AllTrails is for.

It’s basically a giant guide to great walks near you, and it previously won Apple’s App of the Year award.

You just look for where you are (or where you’re going) on the map, and you’ll be able to see brilliant walks that people have planned.

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It’ll show pictures of the walk, how difficult it is, and how long it’ll take you – plus it helps you navigate once you get started.

And a reviews section will reveal if it’s actually any good.

Plus people will often post about conditions (“it’s muddy, so bring boots!”) to save you from making a clothing error.

It’s a great way to explore an area you don’t know, or find a hidden gem of a walk near you. It also warns you if you’ve taken a wrong turn, which is obviously very handy.

And if you want to make your stroll a bit more exciting, consider downloading the Merlin app.

This listens out for bird noises as you walk along, and it’ll pick out the species in real-time.

It’s shockingly accurate, and even flags when you’ve picked out something rare.

It’s fun for kids to try to spot the birds – and the family can compete to see who can clock up the most rare species on a stroll. It’s just like Pokémon, but in real life.

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#4 – FAIRER HOLIDAY BILLS

You know when you go on holiday with pals or family members, and it feels like you end up paying for everything?

Sometimes it’s nice to be generous, but you don’t want the difficulty of splitting bills over a whole holiday to leave you out of pocket – while your mates get a free ride.

Think about using Splitwise, which is a simple free tool that lets a group track bills and shared expenses.

You all add bills, who paid what, and then at the end of the holiday, you hit Settle Up and it’ll work out who owes what to whom.

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It’s a free app, and could keep you out of the red on a big group trip.

For summer stags and hens, it’s an absolute must.

#5 – FREE DELIVERY ON TAKEAWAYS

Here’s one for Amazon Prime members: you can get cheap takeaways.

A lot of you have Amazon Prime. The member count for Britain is about 13 million, so chances are that someone in your home has it.

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Other hidden Amazon Prime perks

Here’s some advice from The Sun’s Tech Editor Sean Keach…

If you’re forking out £8.99 a month for Amazon Prime, you better get your money’s worth.

Yes, you can get a free year of Deliveroo Silver Plus worth just shy of £42 – but that’s not all.

Gamers can bag free titles every month through Prime Gaming – the May 2025 lot was worth nearly £400!

Another little-known Prime perk cuts 15% off new clothes, toiletries, and food.

You just have to buy at least four items from the secret Buy More & Save store.

Prime members can also claim a pair of cinema tickets at Odeon for just £10.

Or you can pay £15 to upgrade to posh Luxe seats.

And you can also get a shipping discount for HelloFresh.

That’s the meal kit service that sees fresh ingredients and recipe cards sent to your doorstep. That’ll save you about £60 if you ordered one box each month for a year.

Picture Credit: Sean Keach

And with Prime, you’re entitled to a full year of Deliveroo Silver Plus free of charge.

That’ll nab you free delivery on takeaways if you spend more than £15 at loads of restaurants.

Normally this would cost you £3.49 a month, so you’re getting a £42 membership free of charge.

#6 – BARGAIN PARKING

Just weeks ago, I wrote a rave review for JustPark. I still stand by it.

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The app lets people rent their driveways out for quick cash – or even long-term, which is great for commuters.

So you could certainly use it for that as a side-hustle. You can earn up to £1,000 tax-free this way.

But it’s also a great way to dodge paying for pricey car parks. I recently revealed how I used it to find £6 full-day parking in London on a weekday.

If you’re off to a big sports event at a stadium, or a gig at an arena, have a look at JustPark first and see if you could plonk your car on someone’s driveway for way less than a commercial lot would charge you.

#7 – CHEAPEST PETROL

Of course you won’t be able to get to a car park if you don’t have any fuel – and that’s hardly cheap either.

One way to shrink your fuel bills is with PetrolPrices.

It’s a fairly simple concept, so you’ll kick yourself for not installing earlier.

As the name suggests, it shows you all of the prices for petrol in your local area.

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So you can sort by the cheapest to find out where has the best bargains.

It’ll show you when the price was updated, and lets you sort by fuel type and brand.

#8 – SUPERMARKET SAVINGS

Just like PetrolPrices lets you compare the cost of petrol across different locations, Trolley does much the same for your groceries.

It compares prices for groceries across all of the major UK supermarkets.

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The list includes:

• Asda
• Sainsburys
• Aldi
• Home Bargains
• Morrisons
• Tesco
• Boots
• Wilko
• Coop
• Waitrose
• Superdrug
• B&M
• Ocado
• Iceland
• Savers
• Poundland

The app promises savings of up to 30% on your weekly shop, but your own bill reduction will depend on what you’re buying, the size of your shop, and where you’re going.

You can quickly make shopping lists for multiple stores, and then plan your weekly shop for maximum savings.

And there’s also a barcode scanning feature to see if another supermarket is flogging at item for less, right there on the spot.

#9 – DISCOUNTED PHONE BILLS

AirTime is a cashback-style app that lets you trim your phone bills.

You link your card, and then the app tracks your spending.

And if you spend at certain locations, you’ll get cashback that is then knocked off your monthly mobile phone bill.

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It works with major phone networks including O2, EE, Three, Vodafone, and giffgaff.

The app boasts that it has paid out over £40 million across four million members.

Cashback will range between 1% and 15% (though most are between 3% and 5%), and more than 200 retailers are on board.

That includes Deliveroo, Asos, Aldi, Tesco, Argos, New Look, and Selfridges.

It’s not a bad way to save some money on your phone bill if you’re already making those purchase.

Just be careful not to fall into the trap of spending more to earn extra cashback – you’ll just be undoing your own hard work.