Which Money Saving Apps Are Worth Your Time?

My husband and I are always looking for ways to save money. The best way, obviously, is not to spend any. But all of us need to eat something. And David has a penchant for smart home gadgets. 🙂 So we try out multiple apps and techniques for spending less on things we buy regularly (especially groceries). Some of the apps are wonderful; others haven’t been as successful. Here is a list of 11 money saving apps and our opinions on which ones are actually worth the time it takes to download them and figure out how they work.

Money Saving Apps: Which Ones Are Worth Your Time?

1. Ibotta *****5/5

   By now, you’ve probably at least heard of iBotta from friends or family who are using it. iBotta is probably my favorite of the non-store-specific savings programs. It may seem a little complicated at first, but it’s really simple.

    

   How does it work?

   Just click on the store in which you’ll be shopping (for example, Walmart), and touch the category of deal you’re looking for. (Like produce.) Choose an item if you can find something that’s the same or similar to what was on your grocery list, answer a short question or read a paragraph, and add the coupon to your collection. Then, after you’ve gone shopping, just scan your receipt and collect your money.

   iBotta is really Walmart-friendly now–you just have to scan the bottom of a Walmart receipt and iBotta will figure out which things you bought that you have added coupons for. Some other grocery stores are still the old-fashioned take-a-picture-of-your-whole receipt, but even that’s not difficult. The best part about this money saving app? You can send money directly to your Paypal account every time you reach $20 in savings from iBotta. And once you have a network of friends using it, you can help each other get bonuses. Sign up here: iBotta Sign Up.

2. Shopkick **2/5

   If you spend a lot of time around shopping malls and stores, this app can be the source of a fun family scavenger hunt. David and I have had a “date” before that consisted of us walking around store aisles, scanning items in the Shopkick app. Sometimes, you get “kicks,” or points, just by walking into the store. But it takes a long time for “kicks” to add up to real money. So if you’re easily frustrated by technology, Shopkick is probably not the best choice for you.

   On the other hand, if your whole smartphone-holding family loves saving money and doing scavenger hunts, go ahead and download it to try it out! It’s fun to walk into a store and see your account automatically go up! The link to download for iPhones or Androids is here. We’ll both get points toward a free gift card if you use the code DEAL315011 when you download. 😉

3. Checkout51 ***3/5

   The idea of Checkout51 is very similar to iBotta, and it is fairly simple to navigate. But there are fewer options for deals, and they don’t as of now offer “any item” deals like iBotta does. (In other words, no matter what you bought at Walmart, you get 25 cents back if you downloaded that week’s any item discount on iBotta.) The produce offers right now are pretty good (any type of cherries, celery, etc. the week I’m writing this), but they are only unlocked if you buy something that’s brand name. (For example, you buy Glade fragrances or Bic pens and use their discounts.)

   Checkout51 is an okay app, but it’s not my everyday go-to app.

   Again, though, I recommend at least trying it out and seeing if you like it, because you may absolutely love the brands that are offering discounts on the app. (Once you reach $20 savings, you can request a check!) There is no bonus currently for referring friends to this app, so unfortunately you can’t “save money together” with your family and friends.

4. Walmart Savings Catcher ***** 5/5

   Walmart Savings Catcher has replaced their “we’ll match any price” in some stores. The app scans offers from other stores in your area and automatically refunds any extra money that you spent at Walmart. This app doesn’t make you much money if you only ever buy the Great Value brand, but if you have favorites in other brands (for example Nature Valley, Tide, or Doritos), you’ll “make bank” compared to most other savings apps.

   Walmart has also made its receipts extremely easy to scan and save, even if you don’t use Walmart Pay. Note: This app isn’t specifically made to be one of the money saving apps; it’s just Walmart’s normal app.

5. Local Grocery Stores *****5/5

   I highly recommend downloading any apps for the grocery stores in your area that are normally more expensive than Walmart. (For example, Kroger or Albertsons.) While most of their groceries and home/office products may be more expensive, they often offer incredible deals to get people to walk into the store. Last week, David and I each got a 32-load bottle of his favorite laundry detergent. 64 loads worth for $1.98 between the two of us. We had downloaded every coupon for detergent that was on the app, but were still surprised by our 99-cent total. We also got high-quality ground beef (chuck) for less than $3/lb., which means I made meatballs and sauce for my Italian husband!

6. Earny ****4/5

   The only reason I’ve only given Earny four stars is that you have to give them information about your credit or debit card, because Earny takes its own small chunk of the refunds it finds. Some people may not feel that is as secure as linking to Paypal. However, it’s very easy to link your Amazon account, and Earny just scrolls through that as well as your old emails to find items you’ve bought that have since gone down in price. When they go down in price, Earny collects your refund for you. It’s like magic!

   (For example, I just got almost a $3.00 refund for a book of Spanish/English nursery rhymes I’d bought for Baby J.) Note: This app is 5 out of 5 excellent if you have a Chase or Citi credit card with 90-day price protection. If not, you may prefer Paribus, another refunding app that checks your email for receipts. However, a user of both apps who has had them for quite a while (several years with Paribus) says that Earny works better.

7. Saving Star * 1/5

   I found that Saving Star had so few offers on it compared to any of the other apps I’ve used that I deleted it after a few days. You can try it to see if you would use it, of course. But I didn’t think it was worth my time, partly because of the incredibly slow load time. (All these apps can run fairly slowly, but Saving Star is the worst.) I will probably check it from time to time, just to see if their options improve.

8. Groupon ****4/5

   I usually use Groupon for things I’m already going to buy or do (there are event discounts as well). Our queen-sized deep-pocket sheets were a Groupon find, for example. I just wait until there’s a really good deal advertised for something I’ve been wanting. Warning: Groupon can be a very addicting app. You may not want to open it in the bathroom if you ever want to emerge. 😉

9. Ebates *****5/5

   Ebates is another rebates site that actually works and is super easy to use. All you have to do is start on their app or website and then click the name of the website you wanted to shop at. I’ve not made as much money on Ebates as on iBotta, but David has used it a lot and gotten a number of their “Big Fat Checks.” Yes, they actually send you a check for the amount if you make over $5.01 in rebates! There’s no $20 minimum like in iBotta. Sign up to start saving here.

10. TopCashBack ****4/5

    If you’re trying to keep the numbers of money saving apps on your phone down, I’d choose Ebates before TopCashBack. It’s a very similar shopping experience, though, and it never hurts to check both. Between the two of us, David and I have gotten back a little over $40 on purchases using TopCashBack.

    Sign up here if you want to try it out, or click the hummingbird app icon on the right.

11. Gas Buddy **2/5

    I was so excited about this app when it came out. However, it’s so difficult to figure out the closest good deal on gas to your current location in this app, and it isn’t updated regularly enough to be truly useful. If you are totally unfamiliar with a town, it might be a good idea to take a look at Gas Buddy. But I wouldn’t count on it when my gas tank was almost empty.

We are always trying out new money saving apps, but these are the ones I’ve consistently looked at or used.

How about you?

Have we missed out on any amazing money saving apps that you think are worth our time? Or have we not been fair to one of the apps listed above? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!