(Links in this post are affiliate links. I will be compensated when you make a purchase by clicking those links. See my disclosure page for more information)
Even though owning a smartphone can be expensive (although it doesn’t have to be mine costs me $20 a month) you can use certain smartphone apps to help you recoup back some of that expense.
Saving money or earning money with these apps isn’t time consuming. You probably won’t earn much with each app but when you combine the earnings of several apps together it can start to add up to a nice sum of pocket money.
10 Apps Thrifty People Use To Save & Earn Money
5 Apps That Save Thrifty People Money
1. ibotta
Ibotta is a rebate style App. It isn’t just for groceries but also for movies, clothing, and more. You can cash in your rebates for either Paypal deposits when you reach $5 or gift cards to Starbucks, Regal Entertainment Group, and iTunes when you reach $10. You can read my full tutorial that contains step by step instructions on how to use ibotta for all the details.
2. Receipt Hog
Receipt Hog is a super simple app where you simply upload your receipt and earn points that you can cash in for Paypal deposits or Amazon gift cards. You can go here to sign up. enter the code YECT1667 to get a bonus spin that could help you earn points.
3. Gas Buddy
Gas Buddy is one App I don’t mind using some of my precious data for as what I learn from it will pay me back and then some. The app uses your devices locator system to show you the cheapest gas prices in the area you are driving through. Very helpful on road trips where you don’t know what station has the best prices in town.
4. Text Free
Those of you with unlimited texting plans won’t benefit from this app but those of use with pay as you go plans will. I use the text free app to text my hubby at work where he uses his text free app to text me back. This saves us several texts per day. My daughter also uses it on her iPod to text to my cell phone while I am out and she is at home with her older brothers.
5. BerryCart
If someone in your family has a gluten allergy then you are going to want to sign up for BerryCart. The app allows you to earn cashbacks on gluten free items as well as organic and natural items. You can check out my tutorial on how BerryCart works here.
5 Apps That Earn Thrifty People Money
1. Shopkick
Shopkick is a fun way to earn points while you shop by checking in and also scanning certain items. I wrote a tutorial of how shopkick works that you might want to read to learn all the ins and outs of how Shopkick works.
2. Swagbucks
Swagbucks has 3 different apps (update now the total is 6) that help make it possible to earn at least $30 a month from Swagbucks if not considerably more.
3. Inbox Dollars
Inbox dollars has an app that allows you to check your earnings on the go as well as do you daily earn mail.
4. My Points
My Points has an app that allows you to do your monthly earning searches right from your device as well as make purchases around the web for Mypoints, redeem points for gift cards and more. If you are unfamiliar with Mypoints check out my post on 7 ways to earn gift cards using MyPoints
5. Bing Rewards
Bing Rewards has an app that allows you to preform web searches for points that you can then convert to gift cards for Amazon or other retailers.
What are your favorite apps for saving and earning money?
Follow Victoria @Snail Pace Transformations’s board Saving Money Tips on Pinterest.
15 Websites And Apps You Can Use To Earn Gift Cards
Get snail-e-mail in your inbox each week!
Jen @ Save to Splurge says
October 31, 2014 at 1:12 pmI love ibotta and Swagbucks! I’ll have to try some of your other suggestions. Thanks!
Victoria says
November 1, 2014 at 11:23 amYour welcome. I love ibotta and Swagbucks too.
Holly says
May 4, 2015 at 11:55 pmi know this is an old post but I saw it on Pinterest and was interested. I want to comment on your smart phone issue. Assuming you’re still using a tracphone, you should check out consumer cellular.. The hubs a me I just switched from dumb phones to smartphones by using them. Rate number 2 nationally above al, the “main 4 ” providers. We pay $30 per phone/month for 1.5G data, 1500 minutes and unlimited texts. We use wifi mainly, and only turn on the data when needed. We haven’t even used half of it between the two of us lol. The best part is it isn’t a contract, so you can raise or lower your data, minutes, texts, as you need to and pay accordingly. Pretty amazing company 🙂
Consumercellular.com
Holly says
May 4, 2015 at 11:56 pmWow lots of typos I hate typing on my iPad lol
Victoria says
May 5, 2015 at 12:36 pmI have typos even when I am not typing on an iPad :). My fingers can never catch up to my thoughts.
Victoria says
May 5, 2015 at 12:35 pmThanks for the tip. I actually just recently switched to Ting. I bought a refurbished iPhone 5c through them and my first bill was just under $18 https://snailpacetransformations.com/how-to-get-smartphone-service-for-under-20-regardless-of-brand/. I am really liking the service so far.
MsCrookedHalo says
August 1, 2015 at 5:36 pmThere are so many apps to earn or save money, that I have decided to start trying and reviewing them too. I forgot about Shopkick. Swagbucks recently made some changes and I am not sure that I like them. Don’t forget that their are apps that are only available on Android and other apps that you can also use on Apple and run them at the same time.
Victoria says
August 2, 2015 at 11:44 amThanks for the tip.
Steph says
January 2, 2016 at 11:05 pmGreat article! One small correction-iBotta app has a $20 minimum to cash out to PayPal or venmo. As for the gift cards, it appears all have $25 minimum, except iTunes with a $10 minimum.
Victoria says
January 4, 2016 at 11:59 amThanks for the update, those limits have changed since I first wrote this article.