'Off-peak eats' – discounts at Greggs, Burger King & more if you time it right

Once the lunchtime crowd has passed, head to Greggs after 4pm to grab a pizza slice and a hot or cold drink for an easy way to save some dough. Buy these items at any other time and you'll be paying from £3.50 (though prices can differ depending on location), yet go at 4pm and the price is from £2.85 – less than a supermarket meal deal.

Greggs told us regular speciality hot drinks can cost from 50p extra and there may be an additional charge for branded soft drinks. The offer excludes MOTO forecourts in the following locations: Doncaster, Ferrybridge, Toddington North & South, Heston, Hilton Park, Lancaster, Southwaite North, Trowell, Leigh Delmare East & West, Knutsford, Heston East, Frankly North & South, Donnington Park, Trowell South, and Wetherby.

Looking for a late lunch or early dinner? Look no further than the Burger King app for it's 'Appy Hour' offers, from 2pm to 5pm.

You can get selected burgers, including Bacon Double Cheese XL and the Double Whopper for £3, whereas normally they'd cost £7-£8. To get this deal, just head to the 'Offers' tab within the Burger King app.

There are two dates and times to put in your schedule if you want to get bottomless pancakes at Bill's for less. The first (and cheapest) is all day on a Friday. Technically yes, 'all day' isn't off-peak, but for one day of the week, a bottomless portion of pancakes is £5 – worth clearing your calendar for as this is more than a 50% saving compared to a five-stack of pancakes at most other times, which cost from £11.50.

Can't make a Friday? No problem – the next best time to grab your pancake fix is Saturday to Thursday, between 3pm and 5pm. Here, bottomless pancakes will cost from £9.50, with vegan and gluten-free alternatives available too, which is still a £2 saving compared to dining in outside of the cheap times.

This deal is harder to get as it's very limited, but it's worth a mention as you could get an almost free lunch – though you and your fellow diner will need to buy a drink.

Head to any Prezzo on a weekday and if you're one of the first two pairs of diners to be seated at a window table and tell your host: "We're here for the free lunch offer" you'll receive a complimentary lunch consisting of either the soup and panini meal (normally £8) or the two-course set lunch (normally £12.50).

Prezzo opens from 11.30am, so treat this as an early lunch to hit that sweet off-peak timing spot. It told us this offer is geared towards walk-ins, so booking a table won't necessarily mean you'll get the free lunch. Of course, as it's only offered to four people a day in total, you do need to be very quick, so there's no guarantees you'll get it. In other words, if you're hungry for lunch at 11.30 and near a Prezzo, try your luck!

The Too Good To Go app deserves a mention as it operates more or less on an 'off-peak' basis. If you've not heard of it before, Too Good To Go has a double mission of simultaneously reducing food waste and saving you money. It works by finding cafés, supermarkets and restaurants nearby that have surplus food and lets you buy it at a cheaper price than it's usual RRP.

The food could be nearing its best-before or sell-by date, or it could be simply too much was made, or too little sold. Due to this, the times you can collect your order can vary, and it can be hit and miss as to what's available and when – though you're likely to get most deals after the lunch rush, or near closing time.

When you're feeling hungry, or if you want to check what's available for collection later in the day, it's worth having a browse to see what's on offer.

If you're in London and looking for a late lunch, you can save 20% at The Salad Project (it offers customisable salads) when you order at a certain time of day – it's a favourite of MSE Sam. These salads aren't usually MoneySaving as they're normally about £12, but if you order on a weekday from 2pm to 3pm using the code SPAPPYHOUR, you’ll get 20% off.

Alternatively, if you're after a salad for dinner, you can also get 20% off using the code SPAPPYHOUR89 any day of the week between 8pm and 9pm.

Mondays needn't be dreaded when they can bag you a discounted drink...

Students with a Unidays account can get £2 hot or iced drinks at Black Sheep Coffee all day, on Mondays only. Drinks usually cost £3 to £5, so this is a decent saving.

To get this deal, sign into your Unidays account, find the £2 drinks offer and it will produce a discount code. You'll then need to enter this when checking out using the Black Sheep Coffee app, or at the in-store kiosks.

A 'Big Flavour' Wrap at McDonald's costs £3.49 by itself (or £5.29 as a meal), but visit on the right day of the week and you can nab your favourite of the wraps for just £1.99.

Spicy veggie – Mondays and Thursdays
Caesar & bacon chicken – Mondays and Saturdays
BBQ & bacon chicken – Tuesdays and Thursdays
Katsu chicken – Wednesdays
Sweet chilli chicken – Fridays and Sundays

McDonald's says its Wrap of the Day deal isn't available on delivery orders.

Similar to McDonald's daily wrap deal, Ikea offers a different meal in its restaurant for £3 each day from 11am – to get it, you'll need to be a member of Ikea Family (its free loyalty scheme). The meals would normally cost £4.95-£6.95, and include:

Salmon fillet – Monday
Plant balls – Tuesday
Meatballs – Wednesday
Sausage & mash – Thursday
Fish & chips – Friday