I don’t think it’s a coincidence that New Year’s Resolutions are made right after the biggest spending season of the year. Almost everyone I know, whether they spend a lot or a little around the holidays, are ready to go on some sort of debt diet come January.
With the invention of the smartphone, there are like a bazillion apps that can help you do just that. You can save so much money with just the tap of your finger. It might seem like a dollar here and a dollar there, but all of those savings add up and will help get your spending back on track for the new year. Here are my favorites:
Best Apps to Use at the Store:
You have to take a poll or watch a short video in order to earn your “coupon,” then buy the item, take a picture of the receipt, scan the bar code and submit it. Seems like a bit of work, but it would equal about the same amount of time as clipping coupons. You can really see the savings add up, especially if you are pairing this with other actual coupons and savings on items.
You can load electronic coupons directly onto store loyalty cards and even get store alerts that remind you about those coupons when you walk into a store.
Just sign-up using your Facebook profile and instantly save on things you already buy in Target stores by adding offers to your Cartwheel. Select from hundreds of exclusive discounts (starting at 5% and up to 30%), all available on your phone. Best part? These aren’t one-and-done discounts. Use them as many times as you want before they expire.
You can sync your grocery list and recipes, find store coupons and even sort stores by aisle. Wahooo!
Get rewarded just for walking in to your favorite store. Earn even more reward points when you connect your credit or debit card {don’t worry, they don’t charge you anything!} and spend money atr specific stores like Target. Trade your points in for awesome gift cards.
This app is awesome because it not only tracks sales for grocery stores, but retail stores too like Old Navy and Best Buy, etc. You never have to fumble around with a paper ad because they are all right there on your phone!
With Grocery iQ, you don’t have to do all the leg work of finding and matching coupons on your shopping list. It does all that work for you and you just get to sit back & enjoy the savings {okay so you still have to get off your butt and go shopping, but it’s one less step!}.
SavingStar works a lot like Cellfire because you’re loading electronic “coupons” onto your loyalty cards, but it’s even cooler because you can combine those offers with manufacturer’s coupons. Double the savings!
Jingit
If you’re an avid Walmart shopper, this is the app for you. You can earn money just for checking in at places like Walmart and earn extra money if you watch and answer questions about some ads. You can still earn money if you don’t shop at Walmart, it’s just geared mainly towards Walmart shoppers.
My favorite place to search for coupons when I’m on the go! They search for coupons for just about everything. If you’re headed out to lunch or to the mall and want to see if that restaurant/store has a coupon, just type in the name and it will not only show you all the options, but tell you the success rate of each coupon so you know the offers are legit and working. They pull up offers for printable coupons too, but I’ve mainly used it for online coupons so I can just flash my phone and enjoy instant savings.
Perhaps my favorite money-saving app! It allows you to shop around and compare prices without hitting 10 different stores. Simply scan a product’s bar code, and it compares prices of that product with other local retailers as well as online stores. Then you can head out & buy your product at the store with the lowest price, or ask the store you’re currently in if they’re willing to price match the lowest price to keep your business. I’ve had great success with that.
Best Store Apps:
Before I ever leave my house to shop for something, I pull up prices on Amazon. I almost always find comparable prices so I never have to change out of my pjs and head out to the store. But if I happen to be at a store, I can quickly check to see if Amazon has a better price on an item, order it right then and with Amazon Prime, get the item in 2 days without paying a dime for shipping. Sweet!
Sometimes if you’re patient and bid, or if you find a smokin’ hot “Buy it Now” auctions, you can save crazy money on eBay!
Best Random Money-Saving Apps:
FareCompare When-to-Fly
Best app if you fly often or are searching for cheap flights somewhere. They send you real-time price drop updates so you can snatch up cheap flights ASAP.
Allpoint Global Surcharge-Free ATM Network
Tired of getting dinged with ATM surcharges? Find free ATMS anywhere in the US with this app.
This app kicks Priceline’s butt! You obviously can’t use this app to plan a trip, but if you’re a spur of the moment traveler or have ventured out on a last second road trip, this app is going to find you last second hotel deals at crazy good prices.
My favorite free budgeting app. I can see exactly what I have in all of my accounts in real-time. If you run your accounts down to the last penny each month, this app will help prevent you from those nasty overdraft fees because you can see your big-picture budget. It also tracks all of your budgets for the month and alerts you if you are about to go over in any given category.
Find the lowest gas prices near you. Perfect if you’re on a roadtrip and looking for a cheap place to refuel.
I love this app because it tracks all of my frequent flyer miles, hotel points, & credit card rewards in one place. For as often as I travel this app is so helpful! Even if you travel occasionally, you’d probably find it helpful too, especially if you use multiple reward programs.
Those are some of my favorite apps, what are some of yours?
Mavis wants to know. 🙂
Wendy says
My new favorite is Mvelopes. It’s an electronic envelope system. So you can use the cash envelope system without having to carry around cash and the hubby & I can use the same app to track the balance in the “envelope”. You can also download transactions from your bank and then just assign which envelope it comes from and it gives you how much you have left to spend. Love it!
Dena H says
I LOVE Ibotta! I am a big fan of the bonuses you can earn on it. It’s free money sometimes! I am also a big fan of Savingstar. It has good coupons but the down side is it works only in a few stores. I use Shopkick as well. I am saving my kicks for the Vespa! I only need 1,840,000 more kicks to get it!
Dena
Mavis Butterfield says
A Vespa? How cool would that be. 😉
Karen at A Glimpse Into My Reveries says
I will look into these, thanks for the reviews!
I tried the FareCompare but its telling me its not available in the US. Bummer! I need to book a trip soon!
Jennifer says
Thanks for the list, I love apps like this! I already had the Cartwheel one and it is pretty awesome. I don’t even look at it before I go shopping either. I just go get what I need then use the barcode scanner right before I check out to see if any of it has an offer That way I’m not buying something just because it’s got a coupon. My husband is of course totally embarrassed by me but oh well!
kristin says
I love a new app called check51. I also use receipt hog app but time consuming fir the payback. Ibotta is my favorite.