As college students, we often have one type of stress constantly in the back of our minds: money. With the cost of tuition, rent, bills, gas, and everything else, saving money can be pretty tricky. Thankfully, there are apps for iPhones and Androids that are guaranteed to save you a couple bucks at grocery stores, liquor stores, clothing stores, or restaurants. Here are five apps worth adding.
1. Hooked.
If you haven’t already downloaded this, or haven’t been encouraged by your friends to get it, consider this your wake up call. Hooked posts deals from different restaurants near you, each deal lasting a couple hours or less. You order at the restaurant as usual, pull out your phone, show the cashier that you have selected the deal, and you’re set. Qdoba, Cold Stone Creamery, Noodles and Company, Subway, Cosmo’s Pizza, The Alley cat, and Buffalo Wild Wings are just a few of the different restaurants that are often featured. It’s time to get Hooked on this app.
2. Ibotta.
Hold onto your grocery store receipt, you can actually get cash back for some of the items you’ve bought. Ibotta allows you to redeem rebates at dozens of retail, liquor, and grocery stores. Simply select the items you plan to buy to unlock them, scan the products’ bar-codes once you buy them, and then take a photo of your receipt. You should receive a notification with the amount of cash you’ve gotten back within 24 hours. Your cash-back can then be redeemed in the form of gift cards or through Paypal.
3. Retail Me Not.
This is a go-to coupon app. Retail Me Not provides both online and in-store coupon codes for most major retail stores including Kohls, REI, Ulta, and H&M. The app also provides users with available coupons based on their location. Simple and convenient.
4. Flipp.
They say the best way to save money is to plan ahead, that is why Flipp is the best way to guarantee that you get the best deal on the things you need to buy. Simply put in your shopping list and Flipp will compare the weekly ads and recent coupons from local grocery and retail stores for each item on your list. Input your King Soopers or Safeway Loyalty card to have the available coupons for each store right at your fingertips.
5. FiveStars.
You know all those punch cards you have stuffed in your wallet? Now you can have your store/restaurant loyalty cards on your phone. Like a loyalty card, this app keeps track of the amount of points you have earned based on the amount you have spent at each business. You may claim a reward once you reach a certain amount of points at each business. Many businesses on this app may occasionally send their customers free bonus rewards and deals. Although this app is fairly new and does not have a large selection of businesses on it yet, FiveStars has the potential to grow into a major money saving resource.
