'Brilliant' Macca's hack nabs thrifty mum budget grocery haul

A thrifty mum has been crowned queen of the budget buys this month after an ingenious idea saw her turn a common promo most of us wouldn’t think twice about, into a budget grocery haul.

Anyone who has any of the various fast food or delivery apps is constantly receiving emails promising savings, vouchers and more, that many of us simply send to the trash without reading.

McDonald's essentials grocery haul
A woman's clever idea saw her turn a McDonald's voucher into a grocery haul. Photo: Supplied

The MyMacca’s app is no exception, with regular promos promising free items and up to 40% off orders that many of us don’t get around to using, or simply forget about.

Well, it‘s hard not to ignore the savings a thrifty mum shared this week, after she nabbed herself a massive essential items buy using a McDonald’s promo code.

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Tasmanian mum Melissa Bartlett noticed the 40% off promotion on her MyMaccas app last week and remembered that during the panic buying earlier this year the fast-food chain had started selling essentials such as bread, milk and eggs on its menu.

Image of McDonal's Australia receipt for $23.40 using 40% off code on household items.
'Winning!': The final cost added up to less than her supermarket spend for essentials. Photo: Supplied

In a very thrifty move, Melissa decided to use the discount to stock up on the items, saving big on what she would have spent at her local supermarket.

“So I had a 40% off code in my Maccas app. Instead of buying a meal or wasting it, I worked out we could use it for the convenience food,” she wrote alongside photos of the haul she shared to a budget buy Facebook group.

“All cheaper than the supermarkets. Winning!!!!!”

The haul

Image of milk, McMuffins, eggs and apple and banana pie grocery haul
Including a couple of apple and banana pies Melissa put her voucher to good use. Photo: Supplied

At a final cost of just $23.40 Melissa picked up four 2 litre bottle of milk, 3 packets of 6 McMuffins, 2 cartons of eggs and 4 apple and banana pies from her local restaurant.

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She says the final cost saved her big time on her weekly grocery spend, and having received two 40% off promotions this month alone, recommends everyone keep a closer eye on what their MyMacca’s is offering.

The haul got plenty of attention online from other shoppers who had never connected the app’s promos with its household essentials, and labelled Melissa’s clever idea ‘absolutely genius’.

“Genius!” one woman wrote. “Well done.”

“You smart little cookie!” another agreed. “What a cracker of an idea!”

“I’m usually onto this sort of thing, but didn’t think of it!” admitted another budget lover.

Others described it as ‘brilliant’, ‘insane’ and ‘game-changing’.

Many had forgotten Macca’s was still selling the essentials and were thrilled at the reminder for future savings.

Anyone keen to get in on the action will need to download the MyMacca’s app, where special promotions like last month’s Banana Caramel Pie McFlurry are often first made available.

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