I Used HelloFresh For 5 Months. Here's What I Learned

A little over five months ago, my wife and I had our first baby, and, like most new parents, we had no idea what we were in for.

I imagine most people know this as a fact, indeed, we were also aware of it as a phenomenon, that babies cry a lot. They cry when they're hungry, they cry when they're gassy, they cry when they're alone or around too many people. They cry when they want to be held or rocked or swaddled or shushed -- and sometimes they cry even when all of the above are checked, to stretch the lungs, as the doctor said, to cry just to cry.

With all that crying, we had no time to grocery shop, prepare meals in advance, or even plan out our dinners. The take-out containers and paper bags were piling above our garbage lid, and our monthly food budget was wagging its finger as it surpassed quadruple digits. We had to find a cheap way to prepare meals fast.

So we tried HelloFresh.

In a nutshell, HelloFresh is a German meal-kit provider. The company delivers ingredients and recipes to its customers, who then prepare the meals. Although we were skeptical at first, the meals are actually easy to make, the ingredients are fresh, and the recipes are varied enough to overlap only once or twice in a quarter.

We've been using HelloFresh for five months, and our experiences have been mostly positive. It's been a wonder for our personal finances, and we've learned a few things along the way -- like the following.

1. You won't get 18 free meals all at once

HelloFresh often gives new customers 18 free meals with an active subscription. While that technically translates to three weeks of free dinner (assuming you get six meals per week), HelloFresh doesn't calculate it that way. Instead, HelloFresh will give you 18 free meals over nine weeks.

For us, that meant getting a huge discount on our first box ($62.74), followed by a smaller discount on our second box ($17.79), followed by several smaller discounts until the nine weeks were up. We were still saving money, but the savings were spread out to keep us subscribed. It's not a big deal if you plan to use HelloFresh for the long term, but if you're looking for a few weeks of free dinner, you might be disappointed.

2. The boxes can smell like garbage

I don't know what it is about HelloFresh boxes, but they give off a really unpleasant odor. Maybe it's because they're made of recycled cardboard, but if you don't discard the box immediately, your house might smell putrid like garbage. Not every box smells like it's cutting the cheese in your kitchen, but to be sure, I'd throw the boxes away as soon as you take the food out just to avoid that smell.

3. You get reimbursed for missing ingredients

It doesn't happen often, but if you're missing ingredients for your meals, rest assured HelloFresh will reimburse you via its app. And they don't skimp on the payment, either: I've gotten $6.99 for a small packet of shawarma spice and $28.80 for an onion, cilantro, and potatoes.

That said, these reimbursements aren't credited back to your debit or credit card. Instead, you get credits in your HelloFresh wallet, which you can apply to your next weekly delivery. Still, it's good to know HelloFresh will take credit for its own mishaps, without making you wait for reimbursement or call a customer hotline.

4. Your box can show up late (or go missing)

Since using HelloFresh, we've had two late deliveries. One was over Christmas (acceptable) and the other was during an ice storm (also acceptable). This latter box was delivered only a day late, while the one meant to arrive on Christmas Eve went missing -- then arrived, packaged in another box, about 10 days later.

HelloFresh reimbursed us (the food was spoiled, hence the second box). But since we were expecting that box, we hadn't bought enough groceries for the weeks' dinners. In the end, we resorted to our old habit -- takeout -- which cost us much more than the reimbursed box.

5. It could save you a lot (or nothing at all)

We spend about $125 a week for six meals and two servings per meal. This also includes a free breakfast item and whatever freebies HelloFresh throws our way (desserts, premium meals, seltzers, etc).

Since we live in a city, where grocery inflation has been unflinchingly ruthless, we're saving about $40 to $60 weekly on groceries. To be sure, we still buy food at Trader Joe's and Costco. After all, we don't buy breakfast and lunch from Hello Fresh. But we're making fewer trips, and we're buying fewer perishable goods (like vegetables).

For our family size, then, HelloFresh translates into savings. But not everyone will save money.

If you're already paying $100 to $125 weekly to cover all your meals, HelloFresh could end up costing you more. Of course, you might be willing to pay a premium to have your meals picked and portioned out for you. But if you're looking to save money, it pays to do the math beforehand.

All in all, we're happy with HelloFresh and plan to keep using it. Even though our baby is smiling and giggling now more than crying, we like the convenience and savings. Give it a try -- you never know how much money (and time!) it could save you.