The frugal lifestyle has gone digital! When planning my budget or trying to save while shopping, I like to use a variety of apps (I like to call these my “be frugal apps”) to maximize my spending money. These apps are pretty indispensable, and now I’ll be sharing them with you.
Read on for my list of 10 favorite frugal apps!
Gas Buddy
Ask anyone which part of their budget people they try to save on, and I’m sure most of them will mention gas. Fuel is a pretty big expense in most people’s lives – this probably explains why ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are so popular. But some of us can’t use ride-sharing for legit reasons. For that, the Gas Buddy app is super-helpful. It searches for gas stations around your area and route, and gives you the different prices of each gas station. That way, it’s easier to spot which gas stations give you the best bang for your buck, and allows you to plan your route accordingly.
Shop Savvy
Shop Savvy is a pretty game-changing app. The app has a built-in barcode scanner, and whenever you scan an item in a store, the app shows you where you can get the same item at a cheaper price. As I said, it’s a game-changer! Back in the day, I could only compare products in the same store. But now, I can check off other stores are selling the same item at a lower price. That’s smart shopping! Shop Savvy is one of my favorite apps. Give it a try, and I’m sure it’ll be one of your favorites, too.
ShopKick
Most of the apps on this list offer you savings. But ShopKick offers you rewards – and the best part is, you don’t even have to actually buy anything. All you have to do to earn those rewards is to enter a shop designated by the app, switch on, and that’s it! With ShopKick, you’re basically being rewarded for window-shopping. For a greater reward, you can use the app to scan certain items. Shops that work with ShopKick include major establishments like Target, Toys R Us, Old Navy, Best Buy, JCPenney, Macy’s and many more.
SavingStar eCoupons
Couponing, or the act of clipping coupons from magazines and newspapers, is a time-honored tradition when it comes to savings. Apps like SavingStar eCoupons take couponing to the next level. You link your grocery or drugstore loyalty cards to the app, and it adds digital coupons to your account. Whenever you use your loyalty cards during purchases, you get the savings back as cash rewards. And the savings are cumulative – if you have regular coupons, you can still use those for even greater savings. If you prefer using your desktop computer over smartphones, don’t worry. You can use SavingStar eCoupons on your desktop as well!
Target Mobile Coupons
The Target Mobile Coupon isn’t an app per se. Simply put, it’s a phone-based coupon program. When you text OFFERS to 827438, you will receive coupons via text each month – up to 5 coupons a month, to be precise! And just like the eCoupons listed in the previous item, you can also use your Target Mobile Coupons with regular coupons for even bigger savings.
Target Cartwheel
Target seems to be doing a lot as far as mobile-based promotions go. Target Cartwheel gives you 30% off whenever you make a purchase at Target – and that includes all departments, such as grocery, health, beauty, and clothing! And yes, this stacks with your other coupons as well.
Amazon Kindle
Here’s a savings method if you love reading books. If you use the Kindle app on your mobile phone, you can get lots of books for free. That’s pretty well-known. But in addition to that, Amazon and other top sellers also hold lots of promos that let you get books for free, or at super-steep discounts. Try it now!
GrabPoints
GrabPoints isn’t an app. It’s a website, but it’s very mobile-friendly, so I would argue that it doesn’t even need an app in the first place. GrabPoints is a rewards site. You do a bunch of simple tasks like answering surveys, watching videos, and completing surveys. For each task you complete, you earn points. And you can later redeem these points as cash or gift cards.
This isn’t a savings method per se, but since you can redeem your earnings as a variety of gift cards – from Macy’s to GAP to Target, it’s almost like getting free money. And that’s definitely better than savings!
Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is a cash-back app. This means that whenever you purchase items in any of their partner stores, you can be eligible to get part of the money you spent back. Note that you might have to take a photo of your receipt to be eligible for your cash-back perks. And the cool thing about Checkout 51 is that you can even take offers from budget stores. This means even more savings – savings on top of savings, pretty much.
Ibotta
Ibotta (“I bought a…”, get it?) is another cash-back app. If you can find an offer you like on Checkout 51, or vice-versa, you can always try Ibotta. The app has a huge range of offers, from hardware to restaurants, to department stores. And the cool thing about Ibotta is that they’ve introduced offers where you get rewarded for any brand of a specific type of product. Meaning you won’t have to get a brand you don’t like just to get the cash-back rewards. And again, like Checkout 51, you will have to verify your purchases before getting your rewards.
Read on for my list of 10 favorite frugal apps!
Gas Buddy
Ask anyone which part of their budget people they try to save on, and I’m sure most of them will mention gas. Fuel is a pretty big expense in most people’s lives – this probably explains why ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft are so popular. But some of us can’t use ride-sharing for legit reasons. For that, the Gas Buddy app is super-helpful. It searches for gas stations around your area and route, and gives you the different prices of each gas station. That way, it’s easier to spot which gas stations give you the best bang for your buck, and allows you to plan your route accordingly.
Shop Savvy
Shop Savvy is a pretty game-changing app. The app has a built-in barcode scanner, and whenever you scan an item in a store, the app shows you where you can get the same item at a cheaper price. As I said, it’s a game-changer! Back in the day, I could only compare products in the same store. But now, I can check off other stores are selling the same item at a lower price. That’s smart shopping! Shop Savvy is one of my favorite apps. Give it a try, and I’m sure it’ll be one of your favorites, too.
ShopKick
Most of the apps on this list offer you savings. But ShopKick offers you rewards – and the best part is, you don’t even have to actually buy anything. All you have to do to earn those rewards is to enter a shop designated by the app, switch on, and that’s it! With ShopKick, you’re basically being rewarded for window-shopping. For a greater reward, you can use the app to scan certain items. Shops that work with ShopKick include major establishments like Target, Toys R Us, Old Navy, Best Buy, JCPenney, Macy’s and many more.
SavingStar eCoupons
Couponing, or the act of clipping coupons from magazines and newspapers, is a time-honored tradition when it comes to savings. Apps like SavingStar eCoupons take couponing to the next level. You link your grocery or drugstore loyalty cards to the app, and it adds digital coupons to your account. Whenever you use your loyalty cards during purchases, you get the savings back as cash rewards. And the savings are cumulative – if you have regular coupons, you can still use those for even greater savings. If you prefer using your desktop computer over smartphones, don’t worry. You can use SavingStar eCoupons on your desktop as well!
Target Mobile Coupons
The Target Mobile Coupon isn’t an app per se. Simply put, it’s a phone-based coupon program. When you text OFFERS to 827438, you will receive coupons via text each month – up to 5 coupons a month, to be precise! And just like the eCoupons listed in the previous item, you can also use your Target Mobile Coupons with regular coupons for even bigger savings.
Target Cartwheel
Target seems to be doing a lot as far as mobile-based promotions go. Target Cartwheel gives you 30% off whenever you make a purchase at Target – and that includes all departments, such as grocery, health, beauty, and clothing! And yes, this stacks with your other coupons as well.
Amazon Kindle
Here’s a savings method if you love reading books. If you use the Kindle app on your mobile phone, you can get lots of books for free. That’s pretty well-known. But in addition to that, Amazon and other top sellers also hold lots of promos that let you get books for free, or at super-steep discounts. Try it now!
GrabPoints
GrabPoints isn’t an app. It’s a website, but it’s very mobile-friendly, so I would argue that it doesn’t even need an app in the first place. GrabPoints is a rewards site. You do a bunch of simple tasks like answering surveys, watching videos, and completing surveys. For each task you complete, you earn points. And you can later redeem these points as cash or gift cards.
This isn’t a savings method per se, but since you can redeem your earnings as a variety of gift cards – from Macy’s to GAP to Target, it’s almost like getting free money. And that’s definitely better than savings!
Checkout 51
Checkout 51 is a cash-back app. This means that whenever you purchase items in any of their partner stores, you can be eligible to get part of the money you spent back. Note that you might have to take a photo of your receipt to be eligible for your cash-back perks. And the cool thing about Checkout 51 is that you can even take offers from budget stores. This means even more savings – savings on top of savings, pretty much.
Ibotta
Ibotta (“I bought a…”, get it?) is another cash-back app. If you can find an offer you like on Checkout 51, or vice-versa, you can always try Ibotta. The app has a huge range of offers, from hardware to restaurants, to department stores. And the cool thing about Ibotta is that they’ve introduced offers where you get rewarded for any brand of a specific type of product. Meaning you won’t have to get a brand you don’t like just to get the cash-back rewards. And again, like Checkout 51, you will have to verify your purchases before getting your rewards.
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