We have technology at our fingertips. Why not let it work for us when it comes to saving and spending money – especially spending less money. Apps for mobile phones help us in all areas of our lives. Why not find a budgeting or couponing app to help make your life simpler and help you keep your money in the bank?
Couponing Apps
Saving money should be a given. Why spend more on the things you need or want to buy than you absolutely have to? But many of us fail to do a good job with couponing for a simple reason – we forget to find the coupons before we need them.
While you might have time for a quick phone search while standing in line, most of us simply promise ourselves that we’ll be better about finding coupons next time. Fortunately, there are apps to help you before you shop or while you’re out and about. That means next time, you really will have coupons ready to go. Some of the most popular coupon apps include the following.
Coupons.com
With a name this simple, how can you go wrong? The coupons.com app picks up where the website left off. Using the app you have access to hundreds of digital coupons across various brands and stores including Walmart and Target. You can add the coupons directly to your loyalty card at the various stores so that they are ready for you when you go to checkout.
The Coupons App
Not to be confused with Coupons.com, The Coupons App collects deals and promotions as well as coupons. With more than 100,000 stores and retailers in the app, you can create lists of favorite spots to shop or search on the go. You can even search weekly ads for local stores through the app and then show the discounts or coupons right on your phone.
Cashback Apps
Would you pick up cash if you saw it blowing down the street? Presumably so. We love to find extra cash, especially when we don’t have to do anything to find it. Cashback apps are exactly that. Found money that you don’t have to do anything extra to secure.
You simply shop and buy the things you normally do online, and when you check-out through the app, a bit of extra cash is saved through the app on your behalf. Like credit cards that save up points or give you cash back on purchases, cashback apps let you get extra cash for just about anything you buy online. Looking to start collecting cash back? Consider starting with these apps.
Not just a clever name, Ibotta is an app that promises (and appears to deliver based on popularity) cash back when you’re shopping in person or online. You don’t need to find a coupon or a code beforehand. Instead, you search for the offers you are interested in, upload a photo of your receipt and earn cashback. Or you can buy the item with a loyalty card or with a debit card linked to the app.
Fetch Rewards
Ever increasing in popularity, Fetch Rewards helps you save money when you are shopping for groceries. All you need to do is take a picture of the receipt and you’ll earn points that can earn you gift cards you can use on future purchases.
Budgeting Apps
Have you made a budget? Have you stuck to it? Many of us struggle to stick to a budget, even when we have the best of intentions. Keeping track of the money in your bank account can be a challenge with payments coming and going at all times.
Fortunately, budgeting apps can help. Budgeting apps all work in their own ways, but across almost any budgeting app, you’ll find some similar features:
- The budgeting app will link to your bank and credit card accounts to track spending or it will allow you to enter those numbers.
- The app will let you set up categories of spending and then assign values of how much you want to spend in that area this month.
- The app will make it easy to track exactly how much you’re spending on what every month and how close you are to your limit in each category.
Ready to save some money? Try starting with these popular budgeting apps.
PocketGuard
If you like simplicity or you’re just starting out with your budgeting app, consider PocketGuard. This free app will connect to your bank accounts and can identify your reoccurring bills every month. It will subtract those bills for you and show you what’s left across your various spending categories. It will start with automatic categories, but you can create custom categories if you’d like as well.
Mint
You connect to your financial accounts through Mint and then it will track and categorize your spending for you. Additionally Mint will monitor your credit usage and send you alerts when you’re over your budget or if there is a large or suspicious purchase or even if you’ve paid ATM fees. Best of all, Mint is free.
YNAB
YNAB, short for You Need a Budget, is not for the casual budgeter. This is a zero-based budgeting system which means you have to make a plan for every single dollar in your account. This can be daunting if you’re just starting out, but can save a great deal of money if you’re a committed budgeter. There is a price associated with the app – $84 annually or almost $12 per month. You do have a chance to use it free for the first 34 days and students can get the first year free of charge.