The Best Money Saving Apps

Jun 3, 2019 | Budgeting, Budgeting Tips, Finances, Make Money

Take advantage of the money saving apps that can easily be used on your phone to help you stick to your budget. We're sharing the best apps that give you cash back while you’re shopping!

woman using money saving app on phone, from Fun Cheap or Free

Freebs! You know that I'm all about budgeting and being intentional with your money. If you need help starting a budget, check out my simplest budgeting method, ever. It's my favorite system for managing money and it's so easy.

*Note: When you click the links in this post, we may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.

So I have a question for you. Do you use your phone to save money and get cash back when you’re shopping? If not, then you’re missing out on some money in your pocket! I’m talking about some of my favorite money saving apps today and telling you how you can get cash back while doing your normal shopping!

Are you ready to do this? Let’s go!


LET MONEY SAVING APPS HELP YOU

If you’re on a budget, then you’re probably always on the lookout for new and different ways to save money or earn some extra cash. Have you ever thought about being able to do that while you’re shopping? One of my favorite ways to get cash back in my pocket is by using money saving apps on my phone!

Now, let me be upfront and say that you can definitely blow a budget if you’re going out of your way to buy items that you wouldn’t normally buy just so you can say that you saved some money or got a certain amount of cash back. I only use these money saving apps when I’m already planning on buying something because I need it. Don’t blow your budget, Freebs! You work SO. DANG. HARD. to make your budget work. Let these apps that help you save money do just that; let them help you, not hurt you!


MY FAVORITE MONEY SAVING APPS

There are a lot of cash back and money saving apps out there. I haven't tried them all, but these are a few of my favorites.

IBOTTA

woman scanning a receipt into a money saving app, from Fun Cheap or Free

Ibotta is a cash back rewards app, and is definitely my most used and one of the best money saving apps! Before you go shopping, you add cash back offers in the app for the items that you want to buy. Then you go shopping at your favorite grocery stores or retailers (both in-store or online).

When you’re done, you upload your receipt or link your loyalty card and you get instant cash back! Once you reach $20 in your account, you can withdraw your cash. Cha-ching!

I always have my earnings go to my PayPal account, but you can also link to your Venmo account or have it go on one of your favorite retailer’s gift cards. I’ve been using this money saving app since late 2016 and I’ve gotten $261.25 back! I only use mine for groceries, but there is a lot of potential for getting more cash back if you’re already planning on shopping at retailers that are included in the app.


RECEIPT HOG

Receipt Hog is a fun money saving app that lets you turn your receipts into real cash! All you have to do is upload your receipts from any store or restaurant to earn coins and spins on the virtual slot machine (which can also earn you coins). Depending on what you purchase, you can also qualify for quick surveys that will earn you extra coins.

Once you reach 1,000 coins, you can redeem $5 in the form of an Amazon gift card, a Visa gift card, or have it go to your PayPal account, which is what I do. I’ve been using this money saving app since late 2016 and I’ve gotten $70 back! That’s not bad for taking pictures of your receipts and spinning a little slot machine that has a cute pig on it!


FETCH REWARDS

Fetch Rewards is a great money saving app that lets you turn your grocery receipts into your favorite gift cards. One of the great things about Fetch Rewards is that you don’t have to worry about browsing through the app before you go to the store.

You just upload your receipt once you have it and boom! It does all of the work for you and rewards you with points. Once I hit 5,000 points, I redeem it for a $5 Walmart gift card, but there are so many other options that you could redeem it for!


SHOPKICK

woman putting a credit card back into her wallet, from Fun Cheap or Free

Shopkick is another great money saving app that lets you earn gift cards without much of a hassle. In order to earn points, or kicks as they call them, all you have to do is WALK INTO A STORE. What?! Seriously! Just have your app open when you’re walking into one of the stores that are in the app and you’ll earn anywhere from 10 to 75 kicks.

If you want to earn more, you can scan certain items in some of the stores (without having to actually buy them), scan your receipt if you purchased eligible items to earn kicks on, or link your credit/debit card to a store and get kicks for money that you spent.

I’ve been using this money saving app since mid-2016 and I’ve earned $50 in gift cards. I don’t even go through the hassle of scanning items, I just do the store walk-ins. That’s my kind of easy reward!

Want to know the best part? This app will give you $5 after you download it and do your first scan within 7 days! Just use code JORDAN and you're on your way to FREE money!


TARGET’S CARTWHEEL & CIRCLE

If you shop at Target, then this is a money saving app that you need on your phone! Before you shop Target, either in-store or online, you should check out the Cartwheel offers. They always have hundreds of exclusive deals and offers that are categorized, so it’s easy to find something that you’re looking for.

You add the offers to your Cartwheel and then at checkout, you’ll see your savings! If you’re checking out online, the savings will be applied automatically. If you’re checking out in-store, make sure that you scan the barcode in the wallet portion of the app so that the savings will be automatically applied!

Target Circle is a great way to earn 1% cash back any time that you shop at Target (which in my case is juuuust enough). If you have some earnings from a previous Target trip, then you can go to the wallet portion of the app and check “pay with earnings.” Then you scan your barcode in your wallet and the earnings will be automatically applied to your purchase. Scanning your barcode also tells it how much your current total was and it adds that 1% cash back to the wallet for future use.

If you have a Target REDcard, then your cash back amount increases to 5%. However, I would only suggest doing this with their DEBIT card option. Please don’t sign up for their credit card option! You don’t want Target to be the reason that you go into debt. Seriously, Target should only be a happy place!


OTHER WAYS TO SAVE MONEY ONLINE

Now that you know about my favorite money saving apps, let’s talk about some that you can use when you're doing your online shopping.

RAKUTEN

If you shop online and don’t use Rakuten, you’re missing out! Even if you just shop on Amazon from time to time, you are definitely missing out on saving some money!

Like I said in my money-saving hacks to save $100 post, Rakuten is the LARGEST cash back site! They partner with over 2,500 companies and brands that you love and shop at already. All you do is sign up for Rakuten HERE, shop through their site or app, (or download their browser shortcut which automatically notifies you when you're shopping at an Rakuten partner site), shop as usual, and get money every quarter! It's INSANELY EASY!


HONEY

Honey is basically a personal shopping assistant that brings all of your favorite stores and the best deals together into one money saving app (or browser extension). Instead of having to buy from each individual website, Honey lets you put everything into the same cart and you don’t have to worry about multiple checkouts from different retailers.

Honey also automatically finds and applies the promo codes with the biggest savings. Crazy, right?! Honey sounds like my kinda gal, I think we could be besties for the resties!


Alright, well there you have it! I’d love to know, do you have any favorite money saving apps that I need to try out? Let me know in the comments!

Image with text that reads "the best apps to save you money", from Fun Cheap or Free

If you could use a little help with your wallet and these great money saving apps aren’t going to do the trick for you, check out my secret sauce Budget Boot Camp program! It's a super fun video program that makes money easy to understand. All you need is a screen and you're set!  

If you don't save at LEAST what you paid for the program, I'll refund every dime. You've got nothing to lose! Use the code FCFBLOG to get an extra 10% off just because I love ya! 😉


Need a few more phone hacks and tips?

App-y shopping!

13 Comments

  1. Lauren | Penny for Your Dreams

    Honey and Ebates are my two favorites! I buy mostly whole foods (not usually name brand/ prepackaged items), so Ibotta doesn’t usually save me much—except on non-food items. That’s when Ibotta comes in handy for me. 🙂

    Reply
    • FunCheapOrFree

      Yes! I love being able to use these apps to save money!

      Reply
  2. Tiffany

    Receipt Pal is another easy way to earn cash back! All you do is snap a picture of your receipt! I’ve been using it for about 3 years now and have made $100 or so!

    Reply
    • FunCheapOrFree

      Oh that’s good to know. Thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  3. Shannon

    There are tons of Apps to make a few dollars off of from all of your receipts! Including getting cash back for gasoline. You would be shocked. I use quite a few myself. I make close to 500.00 a year on just apps alone.

    Reply
    • Jordan Page

      Yes, you can really make some money using apps!!!

      Reply
  4. Maria

    Hi! Maybe it’s a silly question but I live in Europe, more exactly in Austria. You can use those apps over here as well or it is just for the Estates and $ related? Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Fun Cheap or Free

      Hi in Austria! These are probably all for the states if I had to guess, but you should look online for good money saving apps in Europe and see what you can find! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Olivia Lee

    Hi! Just so you guys are aware the code FCF for Shopkick doesn’t work anymore☹️

    Reply
    • Fun Cheap or Free

      Thanks for bringing this to our attention! The new code is JORDAN. It’s been fixed in the post 🙂

      Reply
  6. Tammie Monahan

    Hi! Is the referral code for Fetch Rewards still FUNCHEAPFREE? I’m getting ready to sign up but can’t remember where I’ve seen your code except in (disappearing) IG stories. Thanks!

    Reply
    • Fun Cheap or Free

      That’s correct!!! 🙂

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *