6 Free Apps That Will Help You Save Money

Amassing enough cash for a down payment on a house could be considered one of our generation’s greatest day-to-day struggles. There are some clever ways to come up with a sizable chunk of change in a relatively short period of time (crowdfunding, dipping into your Roth IRA, for example)—but nothing is as expert-approved as just saving a bit of money every month.

But that, of course, is a challenge in itself: There are so many expenses competing for your dollars already! But if you can save money on some of the most common drains on your wallet, you can redirect more of that cash toward your down payment. The first step? Identifying what unnecessary expenses are sucking up your cash. Thankfully, doing this can be as easy as downloading an app or two.

Here, I’ve rounded up seven lesser-known money saving apps (six of them are free!) that can help you effortlessly save more money every day. Before you know it, your down payment savings account will be a bit more full, bringing you that much closer to closing on your first home.

Treats can be a great motivator for good behavior. Maybe you tell yourself you’ll earn a happy hour with friends if you hit the gym at least three times during the week: Suddenly waking up and throwing on your sneakers isn’t so scary.

Tip Yourself allows you to use this self-rewarding method, but with cash. For instance, you can set it up so that you get $10 in your “Tip Jar,” which is linked to your bank account, every time you make it to bed on time or do the dishes. The app is free and also has a social component, so your friends can keep up with your accomplishments and encourage you along the way.

So you’ve already cut down on restaurant meals in order to save some dough, but you still have to eat. Next up: Aim to slash your weekly grocery bill with Grocery IQ.

The app allows you to find which nearby store has the best price for every item on your grocery list. It also offers coupons and time-saving features like auto-suggest, aisle-sorting, and the ability to synchronize lists across multiple devices.

The money you spend at the gas pump can really add up. GasBuddy tells you which local gas stations have the lowest prices, and the GasBack feature gives you 10 cents off per gallon for your first fill-up and five cents off per gallon for all future fill-ups after that.

A basic account with GasBuddy is free—but there is a Plus option for $5/month (which gets you 20 cents off per gallon) and a Premium option for $7/month (which is the same discount, plus roadside assistance).

It can be time-consuming to look for coupon codes every time you shop online—but install Honey onto your desktop or laptop, and it’ll do the work for you. Whenever you go to buy something online, the app will find the best promo code with the most savings and automatically apply it to your purchase. It works with tons of big-name brands and sites, including Amazon, Sephora, and Crate & Barrel. Shop on your phone? They’re releasing an iPhone app later this month.

Trim analyzes your spending habits and helps you identify places where you can cut back. The app may show you that your Starbucks habit has gotten a bit out of control lately or that you spent way more on clothes this season than you had planned. Identifying room for improvement is half the battle, so once you have this info, you can start working on changing things.

The app also identifies recurring expenses and can help you remember to cancel services you’re no longer using. Remember when you signed up for Ancestry.com ages ago, but you never got around to that family tree project? Trim will help you say goodbye to that monthly fee.

Trim can even help you negotiate a lower cable or internet bill. It works with major providers such as Comcast, Time Warner, and Charter.

Joy is the KonMari method of savings apps. It asks you to rate whether your purchases make you happy or sad, with the intention of phasing out those charges that don’t really add any benefit to your life. According to the app’s About page, it helps you identify times to save, analyzes your unique habits, and connects you with a money coach for advice, suggestions, and even high fives. It’s an app that offers a more holistic view of your finances.

So technically this one charges $1/month, but it may be worth it if student loan debt is one of the factors preventing you from buying a house. ChangeEd was developed by two brothers who struggled with student loans themselves, and is backed by Mark Cuban, thanks to their appearance on “Shark Tank.”

It’s linked to your credit and debit cards and rounds up all your purchases to the nearest dollar. That change is automatically sent to your loan servicer, making paying down your debt something you barely have to think about.

What other apps have helped you stash away some money?