When it comes to saving money, knowing how to take advantage of your smartphone or iPhone is a key advantage. Perhaps you have a favorite app to share? My favorite iPhone apps that I use to save money are the following.
GasBuddy
GasBuddy is an app that helps you find the lowest price gasoline. My family used it when we were driving to Florida last winter, and even in somewhat remote locations the information is usually up to date. It works because a lot of people use it, and the more people that use it, the better it works. It is basically an app that tells you, on a map from your current location, what the gas prices are at nearby locations. I was in Georgia at what must have been a popular stop (next to a Chik Fil A) and I ended up filling up at a station that was literally 25 cents higher than the gas stations a mile down the road. That was when I downloaded the app and I haven’t gotten screwed by a gas station since.
TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is another iPhone app that can save money. Personally, I have mostly used it to find hotels, but you can also find restaurants, flights and things to do. While this app does help save money by comparing prices, it also saves money by saving you time and hassle. If you’re like me, when you’re on the road looking for a hotel you don’t want to drive around looking for a decent hotel. With TripAdvisor, you can easily locate nearby hotels, but more importantly, you can read dozens of reviews. Because TripAdvisor is used by a lot of people, it has some of the most reviews out there. Also, you can use the information from the app to help negotiate lower prices. For example, we typically like to stay at Holiday Inn Expresses but they are not always the least expensive. By using TripAdvisor to find a lower priced hotel across the street from the hotel you want, you can call the hotel you want (by clicking a button on the app) and ask them to match their competitor. In almost all cases they are willing to lower the standard price (at least in my experience).
Hotel Tonight
Hotel Tonight is an iPhone app (also available on Android and iPad) that helps you locate steep discounts on last minute hotel reservations. As you can probably tell, I don’t typically book my hotels in advance when I’m on the go, so apps like these are very useful ways to save money on hotels. Whether this app is useful to you depends on if you happen to be in the 35+ cities that it operates in. If you are, you can often find savings up to 70% off the standard hotel room rates. If you’re not, you can still use another app such as Priceline’s Negotiator App.
In summary, those are the basic iPhone apps I use to save money. Let us know what your favorite money saving apps by leaving us a comment.