Want to Make Extra Money Now?
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Research shows that there are 80+ apps installed on the average smartphone. But with that said, people aren't using all of those apps. The average person uses 9 mobile apps per day and 30 apps per month.
Are you using apps to save money?
Whether it’s preparing to buy a big-ticket item, building a nest egg for retirement, or just saving dimes and dollars for paying back student loans, saving money is crucially important.
But it doesn't have to be painful — especially with a powerful personal computer in your pocket disguised as a telephone. Here are 10 apps to help you save money — for today or tomorrow.
10 Best Money Saving Apps
1. Acorns
Acorns offers a mobile and web app. It functions by saving small amounts of money automatically, this time by rounding up your purchases to the nearest dollar on a linked account or card and by investing the difference in your Acorns account. The service recently launched “Acorns Later” — a full-featured retirement account that that's perfect for anybody without an employer-sponsored retirement plan.
Best for
Acorns is best for anybody looking to invest on the cheap. When choosing a savings account, you should consider Acorns. Because your money is being invested, it will be subject to risk from market volatility especially if you choose an aggressive portfolio that invests in stocks heavily.
Price
For just $3 a month, you can open an Acorns investment account and invest without even thinking about it. Use an Acorns sign up bonus to get up to $10 simply for joining.
In under 3 minutes, start investing spare change, saving for retirement, earning more, spending smarter, and more. Invest with as little as $5.
2. Qapital
Qapital is another mobile-focused savings app that makes automatic or manual deposits based on your income. But it goes a step further than some of the others by offering a social and family component, where you can save money as part of a group, as well as robust goal-setting features for when you have specific savings milestones in mind.
Best for
Qapital is best for anybody looking to save on a group level or who wants goal-based savings.
Price
Qapital is free to use with basic services. Upgrading allows for unlimited savings accounts, advanced goal-setting and automation based on triggers like time of day or location.
3. GetUpside
If somebody out there enjoys buying — and overpaying for — gasoline, we’ve never met them. That’s what GetUpside is for. It offers several tools for frugal drivers. First, it’ll show you the lowest gas prices near you. You can also use it to calculate MPG. Or, for long road trips, you can find the best gas prices in advance and add them as stops on your itinerary.
Best for
GetUpside is best for those who want to save money on gas and find the cheapest gas prices in their area.
Price
GetUpside is free to use. It makes money by advertising for gas stations and other products. Additionally, you'll pay a small extra fee if you want to add multiple stops in advance.
4. Robinhood
In underprepared hands, an investing app is a money-loser rather than a money-saver. Robinhood offers free stock and bond trading and an intuitive interface, so it’s a smart way to play the market while saving the money you’d otherwise lose to commissions.
Best for
Best for those who want to have an easy to use brokerage that lets you buy stocks, ETFs and crypto for free.
Price
Investing with Robinhood is commission-free, now and forever. They don't charge you fees to open your account, to maintain your account, or to transfer funds to your account.
Robinhood offers commission-free stock, ETF and options trades, a streamlined trading platform and free cryptocurrency trading. New users can get a free stock worth up to $225 just for joining.
5. Honey
Honey is a browser extension for Safari, Firefox and Chrome rather than a standalone mobile or web app — but it’s a potential life-saver just the same. After you install it, Honey keeps an eye on the checkout process at major internet retailers and automatically finds current coupon codes to apply to your order.
Best for
You should Honey if you want to stop wasting time and money by having them find coupon codes on 30,000+ sites.
Price
Honey is completely free.
6. Credit Sesame
Sometimes, saving money for the future or a major purchase requires a little personal finance triage first. If that’s the case, the Credit Sesame app is a good starting point for anybody who wants to find out where they stand credit-wise and get some practical tips for improving it, saving money on ordinary expenses while you do so.
Best for
Credit Sesame is good for those who want to see their credit score for free. Although, most credit card providers provide this, but if yours don't, it's a must have.
Price
Credit Sesame is 100% free, no credit card is required and it won't impact your credit score.
7. Ibotta
You can probably file this one under “sounds too good to be true but isn’t.” Ibotta is an app that works with 300 major retailers, including big-box stores, to help you get some money back, retroactively, on purchases you already make regularly. Some users report savings of up to $25 in their first month without changing their shopping habits.
Best for
Those who want a grocery savings app that's been around the block for years. You can get 10 dollars now by signing up and claiming your first offer.
Price
Ibotta is completely free to use.
8. Swagbucks
If you’re looking for a way to browse for cool deals, search for specific items, conduct paid surveys and generally earn a little bit back on all of the shopping research you’d be doing anyway, Swagbucks is for you. After you link a PayPal account, most of your activity on the app — from doing product searches to providing marketing feedback — helps you earn points toward cash rewards.
Best for
Swagbucks Coupons is worth using if you are already using Swagbucks to make extra money on the side. You can make $100 fast a month by using the site and earning through various ways.
Price
Swagbucks is 100% free to use.
If you want another quick way to make money online then give Swagbucks a shot. You'd be silly not too as the site has already paid out $441.9 million to its users.
9. Rakuten
Rakuten functions a little like an outlet store for 2,500 internet retailers. By making Rakuten your “shopping portal,” either through the web app or a browser extension, you have access to thousands of great deals — up to 40 percent off — on almost anything you can imagine, straight from your retailers of choice.
Best for
Rakuten is one of the best money saving apps available for avid online shoppers.
Price
Rakuten is 100% free to use.
10. Poshmark
You can think of the Poshmark app a little like a high-end thrift store. It’s a mobile-first peer-to-peer digital marketplace where people can buy, swap and sell clothing, footwear and fashion accessories by sought-after and luxury brands, sometimes for 70 percent off the “rack price.” For items where counterfeiting is a worry, Poshmark offers authenticity checks for purchases over $500.
Best for
Depending on your spending habits, Poshmark can save you a ton of money on used clothing, fashion, home decor, beauty, and more.
Price
Poshmark is free to use.
Best Money Saving Apps Summary
The best money saving apps can really help you curb your overspending and help you automate your savings. It’s a win-win for your financial goals and your wallet. Money saving apps go hand in hand with financial independence apps, so go learn more in order to curb the alarming rate of millennial financial literacy.
