Good financial habits are helpful for easing stress and are beneficial for getting a little bit more from your income. Your smartphone has a hand in the monthly budget so maybe it's time it pulls its own weight. Here are 10 to help trim the fat to save money and make your dollar go even farther.
Cross Platform
The juggernaut of the digital coupon crop is available across all smartphones and for good reason. Using Groupon is a good way of expanding lifes horizons with deals from everything from vacations to skydiving flights which can be purchased from your handset. There's nothing too small or big with coupons available for a wide range of restaurants, groceries, clothes or electronics. New coupons are updated each day so it's worth a frequent look.
iOS - Free / Android - Free / Windows Phone 7 - Free
Gas Buddy
Filling up at the pump can feel like playing the stock market. Take out the guess work and get a guaranteed good rate with Gas Buddy to find the nearest station that offers the cheapest rate. The app is entirely free and is dependent on its large user-base to report gas prices. Participating has its rewards with a point system that go towards winning prizes such as a $250 gas gift card that's given out each week. Unfortunately only available in the US and Canada.
iOS - Free / Android - Free / Windows Phone 7 - Free
Phone plans consist of picking and choosing features that are most applicable to what you need. We can't always predict when we'd need to use SMS to send a picture or a quick message to get ahold of someone nor do we want to pay for something we might not even use. WhatsApp acts like iMessage or BBM except that it breaks through platform restrictions. Pictures and messages can be sent through your data plan and message status such as sent, delivered and read let you know that your message got through.
iOS - $1 One Time Price
Android / Windows Phone 7 - Free the 1st year, $1/year afterwards
Skype
When you've got friends and family all over the globe, staying connected doesn't have to break the bank. Skype is the internet phone service others strive to be delivering video calling and instant messaging across the globe. The best thing about Skype is that there are few restrictions in the way of hardware since it's available for PCs, Macs, all the smartphones and even iPads.
iOS - Free / Android - Free / Windows Phone 7 - Free
iOS
Love shopping for the best price but hate googling model numbers and sifting through search results? Scandit takes the pain out of shopping and delivers price lists in a simple interface so all that remains are the numbers. With stores such as Best Buy, Walgreens, Sephora, Target, Borders, The Home Depot and hundreds more, the search radius is far and reliable. Just snap the barcode and Scandit will do the rest. Free
Also available for Android - Free
KidsEatFor
There are many things to consider when you go out to eat as a family such as location, environment or what's on the menu. Make the price the last thing on your mind with KidsEatFor which finds restaurants that offer a free meal for children with the purchase of each adult entree. Bon appetit! $3
Also available for Android - $3
Android
Don't you hate when you're in the store and are holding a guaranteed purchase in your hands but wonder if it's cheaper somewhere else? Do you dare take the chance to try other stores only to end up at this same place again? Google Shopper will not only find prices for you in other stores and online, it'll also tell you how many they have in stock. Products can be searched by scanning the barcode, cover art or even by voice search. Free
ShopKick
Shopaholics, this is the app for you. With ShopKick you can scan barcodes for the best deals from stores like Old Navy, Target or Best Buy however the more products you scan, the more points you recieve. Points can be exchanged for facebook credits, gift cards from Target or Best Buy, song downloads or even movie tickets. On top of that you get the chance to save money with new offers updated regularly. Free
Also available for iOS - Free
Windows Phone 7
Frequent flyers know the price of travel and how much every expense adds up to burn multiple holes in their pockets. Skyscanner is a handy app that makes shopping for plane tickets as painless as possible by finding all possible means to accommodate the users needs. With over 1000 airlines and travel agents in its itinerary, Skyscanner not only saves money by finding the best price but saves time by delivering quick results. Free
Grocery Total
Some of us are good at keeping a mental tally which is handy for grocery shopping. For the rest of us who intend to keep our spending at a certain cap sometimes get a shocker at the register. Grocery Total is a useful tool that properly tallies itemized grocery shopping and takes into consideration the proper taxes for food, alcohol and tobacco. The compare utility is an additional feature that helps figure out better value between products in terms of ounces and dollars. Free
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Maybe it's fixed now, but I gave up on Whatsapp. I found it had a habit of not displaying a "message received" icon a lot of the time on Blackberries so people constantly think you're ignoring them when in fact you haven't got any notice that they replied or messaged you (holy run on sentence batman). I found that app to be terrible...
Look at those hopeful gas prices on the gas app. I wish! ;)
Studies have shown that apps like Groupon do not save people money. In fact, they encourage people to make impulse purchases on things they don't need in neighborhoods that are far away. Then, the restrictive terms (which people frequently don't read) end up barring many people from ever using them.
Not sure if it's available Nationwide but i use Scoutmob. It has an iPhone and Android app. It works slightly different in that the deals are location based. Let's say, you're ray for lunch. You fire up Scoutmob and it tells what deals are available now in your location. You click the Use the Deal button and claim your discount. There's no buying ahead of time as there is with sites like Groupon or Amazon Local Deals, etc
Great article thanks so much and SF CHRIS I just downloaded scoutmob also!
Scoutmob is great. I've definitely used some of their nearby deals for lunch. And no need to pre-purchase anything!
@batsquatch I tend to agree that the average person does not save money, but if you exercise a little restraint and common sense you can definitely use Groupon and other similar sites to your advantage. I keep an eye out for things I know I'm going to buy anyway and pick them up. Half off at Whole Foods, Amazon, or Overstock is an easy decision for me.
Plus with the Groupon Now deals they currently offer in some cities there is less chance of forgetting about it and having your coupon go to waste.
Love Gas Buddy!
Living in the Northeast, gas prices can vary as much as 35 cents within a 15 mile area, the gas buddy app looks great. Thanks.
a lot of these apps are also available for Blackberry's too.
Thanks for this article. I just downloaded Skyscanner, and am looking forward to putting it to use! I pride myself on being a very diligent airfare shopper, but truly making a thorough search of all options can be challenging, even if you use a fare-watcher.
I agree with MichelleB, that Groupon and the like can be great ways to save money if you use them smartly. I am prone to impulse purchasing, but I have learned how to use these sites to my advantage--like buying deals that I can use for lunch near my office, house cleaning service, and spa services that I buy regularly anyway. That Whole Foods deal was awesome, by the way! Just like anything else, you can't blame the site if you fail to read the terms. But Groupon is responsive to questions about there deals and they stand behind what they offer.
Yikes! Their deals. I apologize for that typo (one of my pet peeves)!