My partner got ill and we lost half our income overnight – now I’ve made an app that’s saving us £120 a month

MICHAEL Andrews and his girlfriend Karen Robinson used to be a high-flying couple, taking exciting road trips across Spain and earning well over six figures as a household. But their fairytale life disappeared almost overnight in 2022 when Karen, 43, began suffering from extreme exhaustion as a result of long COVID. Michael Andrews, 51, and Karen Robinson, 43, on a road trip around Spain before Karen fell ill Michael has developed an app that helps you save money on your food shop Karen developed long COVID, which is when your symptoms last longer than 12 weeks, after her second bout of the virus. Her symptoms became so bad that Karen was forced to quit her lucrative career as a lawyer in 2022. Michael, 51, who runs an Airbnb management company and lives in southwest London, says their lives have “absolutely transformed”. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! He now spends much of his time caring for Karen, whose condition causes her to suffer from severe exhaustion even after doing small day-to-day tasks. “We don’t really go out that much any more,” Michael says. “Generally everything has gone up for us [cost-wise] and our income has got less.” Facing a brutal squeeze on their income with just one salary to live on, Michael came up with the idea to build an app that would cut down the cost of their food shop. The couple had found food was one of their biggest outgoings, especially as they were having to spend much more time at home. The app, called Mother Cupboard, helps you come up with recipes using ingredients you already have at home – and it’s already saving the couple £120 a month on groceries. Our life before is like a distant memory Michael says the couple’s lifestyle has changed dramatically and they have to scrape by Before Karen fell ill around 2022, she held down a high-powered career in law. Most read in Money She’d travel into the city for work and used to sleep in the office sometimes. The couple also used to do fun holidays abroad, including a foodie trip across northern Spain which went through San Sebastian, Galicia and La Rioja. But Michael says those times are “like a distant memory now” and there is “no chance” Karen would be able to do her previous job any more. Karen now needs a motability scooter to get around and it’s meant a huge lifestyle change for the young couple. “It’s gone from one extreme to another for her,” Michael says. The couple’s income has dropped by £3,000 per month since Karen was forced to quit her job. But with the mortgage on their two-bed house coming in at £2,500 a month and their household bills adding another £300, money is extremely tight. “I just need to support her as best I can and financially my business has always been at a certain level,” Michael says. My app is saving us £120 a month This lamb chop with a cheese and herb crust is one of their favourite recipes from the app With the pair unable to afford holidays, meals out or takeaways any more, Michael started trying to come up with ways to save extra cash. “One day I was stood in my kitchen thinking, I can’t afford to get a takeaway,” he said. “But it had come to a time where I was sick of making the same things, so I thought I’d put what I’d got in my kitchen into AI and see what it gives me.” The AI helped him whip up a delicious meal using ingredients he already had in the house – and it gave Michael an idea. He decided to start developing an app that would keep track of what he had in his kitchen, and then suggested meal ideas. “It’s quite expensive every time making recipes and buying specific items. You end up buying a load of stuff and then only using it once,” he said. “Actually, you might have something hiding in the bottom of your freezer or an ingredient you can do something with and save yourself some cash.” Although Michael didn’t have any experience with building an app, he managed to create it by himself using AI assistant Claude and code-builder BMad. The couple have been saving around £120 a month using the app, as they’ve been able to cut down on food waste and trips to the supermarket. The app also tells them when there are deals on at supermarkets and when their ingredients are about to go out of date, helping them save more. “It’s tempting to just pop to the supermarket if you haven’t got something, but this is helping us be a bit more disciplined,” Michael said. The couple are now building up a savings buffer with the money they’ve saved. Michael has decided to launch the app, Mother Cupboard, for other families to try. It’s available on both iPhone and Android and it costs £3.99 a month, although it’s free to try out for 30 days. Four apps to help you save on your supermarket shop Mother Cupboard is one of a few apps you can use to cut back on your weekly shop There are plenty of apps to help you cut back spending on your supermarket shop. For example, OLIO lets you pick up free food from supermarkets, cafes and other users that would have otherwise gone to waste. You can also see when groceries are discounted near you. Some of the supermarkets involved include Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Iceland. Too Good To Go works in a similar way, but you usually pay a small amount for the food. Restaurants and shops hand over ‘surprise bags’ filled with food, with prices often half price or less. There’s also NoWaste, which helps you manage, organise and track the food in your home. It provides you with a list of what’s in your freezer, fridge and cupboard so you always know what you have. Meanwhile, the Trolley app helps you compare prices across supermarkets at the click of a button. It claims you can save up to 30% on your weekly shop by being able to compare deals. Comment now