Food on the cheap in Tallinn, Estonia (May, 2021)

Inspired by a video under which I wrote a comment.
This post applies, when one is on a very, very tight budget.

The Grossi store in Tallinn has the "Säästusai" white bread (sai) for 18 cents/220g. Maxima and Grossi have cheap pasta (macaroni) for 20 cents per 400g pack. Grossi has some kind of a tomato paste at 54 or so cents for a tiny jar. Tin cans of beans or chickpeas can be between 55 cents (on a good day in Maxima), but usually hover around 65–75 cents. Grossi has one or two kinds of ground tea that's below one euro/pack, too. If memory serves, cooking oil can be around 1€ or so. Prisma has the best prices for a pack of broth / bullion cubes (puljongikuubikud).

Prisma has the best big-store prices, while Selver is the most expensive. Prisma has the best website, which also has an English-language section. All products available at Prisma are searchable.

For comfort food at affordable prices, Prisma has "Xtra" crisps (potato chips) that are at 1.10€, with the best price-to-weight ratio. Maxima has the cheapest 100g slates of chocolate (45 cents), and both Grossi and Maxima have the cheapest lemonades (fizzy sugary drinks). Grossi usually has the most affordable ice creams, though Prisma can sometimes have really good sales for certain ice creams.

Survey company gift certificate

OTOH, Norstatpanel, which is a survey company, offers only Selver gift certificates ("Partner kinkekaart") for completed surveys.

Norstatpanel is free to sign up with, and the survey company needs to know the participant's name, phone number, and home address in Estonia. This is likely meant to prevent fraud, and verify a person's identity.

On their website, you'll need to reach at least 83 points to order a 5€ gift certificate. This takes filling several surveys, which are usually in Estonian or Russian. They also have a mobile app, though some surveys must be filled in desktop computers.

The Partnerkaart gift certificate is a printable PDF via e-mail that is sent within three weeks of ordering. You can get a different gift certificate for Circle-K, or a bookstore, but Partnerkaart is the only one that a person can use in a grocery store, which happens to be Selver.

The Partnerkaart gift certificate for Selver (the store in the chain that sells groceries) is reusable for as long there is money left on it. One can check how much money a gift certificate has, at the Partnerkaart website (Estonian or Russian only). For that, you'll need an ID card, Mobile ID, or SmartID to sign in and verify your identity. These authentication services obviously requires a valid Estonian residency.

Return bottles, get cash

Returnable bottles of water, fizzy drinks, tonics, and beers (but not wine and vodka) can get one a small paper cheque from reverse vending machines, with a sum printed on it. Cashiers in a nearby store exchange that for cash (they get the cheque and you the cash), or one can use that cheque to buy stuff in a shop, and/or get a price reduced from the total with money purchases.

Each bottle or can is 10 cents, so two returned bottles can get one pack of pasta for 20 cents, for example. If you've bought less than the sum on the cheque, the cashier will return the unused difference in cash (usually coins). Banknotes are given in exchange only, if the unused sum on the reverse vending machine cheque is greater than five euros; all depends on how many bottles have been returned.

The reverse vending machine bottle cheque can be good from 30 days to 3 months, I think, and is valid only in the store near which the bottles were returned to. Beware the terrible smell near some reverse vending machines. The reverse vending machine sections near Prisma stores are some of the cleanest.

Best prices on medicines

For the best deal on medicines, check out raviminfo.ee. It's only in Estonian, but if there is something specific you need from a pharmacy, you can make a search (otsing), and limit that to the big city or county you live in. If you have a favourite pharmacy that serves you in English (still good to know Estonian), then ask for generic drugs, if a doctor has only specified the type of medicine in your prescription, and not its brand name.