10 Apps to Make And Save Money

You peruse sales flyers, make shopping lists, and even plan your errands to conserve gas. Your goal is to save as much money as you can on a daily basis, and you're off to a great start. What if you could level up your efforts and reach your savings goals even faster? You can, and the key to your success is probably in your hand right now. Your smartphone is the tool you need to make and save money.

Apps & Your Frugal Goals

What's the best way to live a frugal life and achieve your financial goals? I think the key to success is to take advantage of whatever tools are available to help you save and earn money. That's what the apps listed below have to offer. You can use these to save money on daily purchases, or earn passive income by way of cash and rewards. 

Note that the focus here is on saving money and passive income. Check out this post on side gigs and other options to actively earn additional income in your spare time.

1. Upside

Upside is a mobile app that offers discounts in the form of cashback on gas, groceries, dining out, and more. It's simple to use. Just install the app and connect it with your preferred payment method. When you are ready to shop, eat, or fuel up, open the app. Review the offers and tap the one you like. After you claim it, the app will even help you navigate to the right business. Make a purchase with your linked debit card or Upside Pay. The offer will process and your cash will appear in your Upside account. You can cash out via PayPal or gift card.

2. NCP Mobile

NCP stands for National Consumer Panel. This app rewards points that can be exchanged for cash and gift cards in exchange for information about your shopping habits. After you download the app you create a shopper profile for yourself and other household members. Then, when you go shopping you share information about your purchases, how you paid, how you used the items you purchased, whether you used coupons, etc. It just takes a few minutes to scan your purchases in, and the points stack up quickly. You can even play weekly games for additional points. 

3. Ibotta

Ibotta is a cashback app that you can use to receive rebates when  you purchase certain items. Start by going through the offers on the Ibotta app or website. Once you have selected the items, go shopping! Next, go shopping and get the items on your list. Check out and submit your receipt to get your rebates.

I've earned up to 40 dollars back on this from a single trip. But, there are some caveats:

• Many of the featured items are pricey and processed
• You have to get the exact item - use the scanner in the app to be sure
• There is a $20 minimum

Ibotta also has a browser extension if you prefer online shopping.

4. Shopkick

Get your steps in while you earn rewards and save money. Shopkick is a great app that offers several options for earning money. This includes:

• Walking into stores while you  have the app active with location tracking
• Purchase specific items
• Link a payment method and earn money back on each dollar you spend
• Scan items with your phone
• Watch videos
• Answer questions
• Refer friends

Check out these tips for earning kicks that you can convert to gift cards or PayPal.

5. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a GPT app that offers active ways to earn points such as taking surveys. For this post, I'm just going to focus on the shopping aspect of this app. That is, earning passive income by shopping. Here's how:

• Fill prescriptions using the Swagbucks prescription coupon
• Use the Swagbucks extension to earn extra money shopping online
• Travel with Expedia and earn up to 3% cashback
• Select items to purchase at local stores and upload your receipts

6. Rakuten

Rakuten is a website and browser extension you can use to get cash back on purchases you make online. There are dozens of retailers connected with Rakuten, so it's pretty easy to stack up cash. If you link your debit card to Rakuten, you can even earn cash for your in-store purchases.

7. Honey

Clipping coupons is a pain. Honey makes it easier. When you shop online, Honey scans the internet for coupon codes, and applies the best one to your order. You can also use it to compare Amazon sellers, and add items to a droplist to be notified when the price goes down.

8. Fetch

Save those receipts! With fetch you simply go shopping, snap your receipt, upload, and earn rewards. You can also shop special offers and refer friends to accelerate your earnings.

9. Capital One Shopping

This one is similar to Honey. You shop online, and the Capital One Shopping extensions finds and applies coupon codes. It even offers Amazon seller comparisons and price drop notifications.

10. Receipt Hog

This one is about as simple as it gets. It doesn't matter where you shop, just be sure you grab that receipt. Once you have it, scan it in, and get rewarded. You can take surveys to increase your points, but results are mixed. Still, it's worthwhile just getting rewards to redeem for shopping.

Making Apps Earn For You

Over the years, I've come up with a few techniques to help maximize what I can earn using these apps. The most important of these is consistency. You have to get your receipt every single time. You have to remember to check for offers every single time. Open the apps, scan, upload, etc. It becomes habit over time!

Stack your offers! Get the most out of every purchase and every shopping trip. For example, you can get a coupon code from Rakuten and then upload your receipt to earn Swagbucks. Scan an item for Shopkick, get additional kicks for purchasing it, and then earn cash on Ibotta for uploading your receipt.

Finally, get those referrals! Talk to your friends and encourage them to join you on your frugal adventures, and download these apps too!

Disclaimer: This post contains referral links. I earn a small commission or affiliate bonus if you purchase items here or sign up for some of these apps.