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Saving money these days is more important than ever. Luckily, heaps of technology exists to help you do so! Whether you want to track your spending, learn how to budget, or earn cash-back, there’s an app for you. Today we are going over the best apps to help you save money, do all of that, and more here. Let’s go!
Using Apps to Help You Save Money
We are living in a digital age and there are apps for literally everything! Using apps to help you save money as budgeting tools, cashback for everyday purchases, and savings seems like a no-brainer.
The apps we’ve put together on this list will make your life (and dealing with your finances) easier.
Best App for Budgeting: You Need A Budget (YNAB)
You Need a Budget is a software and app made specifically to help you budget. The app goes wherever you go, so you can stay on track all the time.
This is not a set-it-and-forget-it budgeting app that just tells you when you’ve overspent. YNAB teaches you how to manage your money and get ahead… for good. Whether you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck or just can’t seem to grow your savings, this app will not only keep track but teach you how to do it.
According to their website, new budgeters save $600 in their first two months and more than $6,000 in their first year on average.
This is a paid app that offers a 34-day free trial. After that, you just pay $12/mo or $84/year. If you end up saving as much as they say, it pays for itself in the first month! It’s an app to help you save money.
Best Free App for Budgeting: Mint
Mint is a free budgeting app that connects to all your accounts and tracks your spending, your net worth, and your credit score.
You can add bank accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, brokerages, bills, and more. This free app has over 15 million users and helps you see all your accounts and all your bills in one place.
Mint can also help you set up and fund savings goals to help you save money in a timely fashion. Learn more on Mint’s website here.
Best for Saving Up an Emergency Fund: Qapital
Qapital is a great app to help you save money automatically. If you struggle to save money, check this app out. It does all the work for you!
With Qapital, you connect it to your accounts and set up savings goals. Anytime you spend money elsewhere, a small amount of money is taken by Qapital and put into your savings goals. This way, you are saving money in small increments without having to do any of the legwork. They use a roundup rule: every time you spend money, the app will round up by $2 and place the $2 into your savings account.
Qapital has a free 30-day trial, and after that, you can choose plans from $3 to $12/mo. Learn more on their website here.
Best for Saving Money for Retirement: Acorns
Like a squirrel hiding away acorns to get them through the winter, the Acorns app helps you hide away money for the fall and winter of your life – aka your retirement.
Acorns is an investment app that lets you automatically save spare change on purchases and places that money into a personalized stock portfolio.
Acorns uses a roundup method, rounding up the spare change on your purchases to the next dollar. Once your roundups reach $5, it will be placed into your investment portfolio.
Forget the idea that you have to have a ton of money to start investing – Acorns makes it easy by simply using your spare change!
However, Acorns also lets you choose to make larger investments if you desire. Acorns is a paid app, but the prices range from $1-$5/mo… less than a cup of coffee. It’s an app to help you save money.
Save Money while Shopping
You can save money while spending money, too. Check out these apps to help you do that!
Ibotta
Ibotta is a popular cash-back shopping app that helps you earn money on everyday purchases. You can shop online or in-person. Submitting qualifying orders is easy and it works at thousands of retailers. Check out Ibotta here.
Shopkick
Shopkick is a free app that helps you earn rewards from your everyday shopping. You can earn rewards (points are called kicks) for completing various tasks. Sometimes, all you need to do is walk into a store to earn kicks. Kicks can be redeemed for gift cards to your favorite stores! Check out Shopkick here.
RetailMeNot
RetailMeNot is a service that helps you shop and save with coupons and cash-back offers. This app and website aggregates coupons from around the web to help you get the best deal on your purchases. This app can be used in-store or on your computer and features a browser extension that automatically helps you find deals when online shopping. Learn more about RetailMeNot here.
Save Money on Groceries
Groceries are definitely a necessity… Saving money on groceries is a major bonus! Here are some great resources to help you save money on food purchases. We also have an article on other great ways to save money on your grocery bill.
Coupons.com
Coupons.com is an app that helps you save money on groceries with printable coupons, promo codes, and more. This website has coupons for so many major stores and can be used online, too! Learn more about Coupons.com here.
Save Money on Experiences
More and more people these days are valuing experiences over material possessions… and for good reason! Of course, memories are more precious and fulfilling than material items could ever be. Save money on experiences with these services.
Groupon
Groupon allows you to search by geographic area and find insanely discounted deals on experiences, medical services, and so much more. Stores will partner with Groupon to create crazily discounted deals to get more customers… and that’s a win for you! Browse experiences in your local area on Groupon, or plan some fun things to do for your next vacation using Groupon.
Save Money on Fuel
One of the biggest expenses that can eat up your budget fast is gas… Especially if you take lots of road trips! We have previously talked about how we save money on diesel with TSD Logistics so we didn’t include it in this list. Here are the other best apps to help you save money on this essential purchase.
GasBuddy
The app GasBuddy is an app that helps you find the cheapest gas station closest to you, or along your route.
GasBuddy also has services that help you earn gas money on everyday purchases and a card that can help you save up to 25 cents per gallon on gas purchases. Since gas really adds up, this is an invaluable app! Learn more about GasBuddy here.
GetUpside
GetUpside is an app that helps you earn cashback on purchases for things like food and gas. This program also helps the businesses, too. When you claim an offer, you get the most value on your purchases. You can earn up to 25 cents per gallon cash back on gas!
GetUpside partners with local businesses who want to win you over by offering great deals. Check out GetUpside here.
Saving Doesn’t Have to Suck
Saving money, investing, and earning cash-back doesn’t have to suck. These apps not only make it easy and automated but fun!
These apps can be used alone, but we think it’s best to use various apps in combination to (literally) get the most bang for your buck. Cheers to savings!
Hi Jason and Rae!
My hubby (Ted) and I watch you and Rae all the time. Just wanted to let you both know that we really like your channel. Thank you for all the helpful information you share.
We are from Minnesota, have travelled a lot for short winter getaways. However, my hubby retired in July so this is our first year that we are experiencing long term travel. We left MN December 1st and will probably return home around the first week in April. It’s so nice being able to take our time and not have to drive 10 hours on travel days!! We have been mostly Boondocking all around AZ. We have stayed at a few campgrounds just to enjoy a few days of full hook up, and to dump and fill. We are loving it so far!
We also took advantage of the Black Friday deals and bought us some battle born’s. YAY! Thank you for letting us know about that great sale! Hubby installed and is still tweaking the system but we can tell it will be a wonderful thing to have cuz we love to boondock in our GD Reflection 367bhs.. We hope you guys and your family are saying safe. Thanks again for your channel and your knowledge. Maybe our paths will cross one day. Happy travels guys!
P.S. if you ever want to come to MN, we would love to host you! We are Boondockers Welcome hosts. We have full hook up and a beautiful heavily wooded 2.5 acres in Walker MN.