Favorite iPhone Apps to Save Money

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

my favorite money saving iphone appsTripAdvisor 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.

{ 5 comments… add one }
  • dhintaka August 27, 2012, 2:07 am

    This is a superb article. Thanks a ton. Though mostly we think that if we don’t plan our trip, or if are left with no options, then at the last minute, we have to shell out more money. However, after reading this blog, I think we can still save our money. Most of the Apps that you discuss here can help us when we might get stuck. I, especially like the GasBuddy App. I am going to download it now.

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  • KennyK August 30, 2012, 4:42 am

    The only one I’m using right now is TripAdvisor. I’ve been a huge fan of that website since the beginning. You can find a lot of valuable information in there that can help you to make decisions about where you go and where you’ll stay. The app is very easy to use as well. I definitely recommend it.

    Reply
  • Jameson August 30, 2012, 2:19 pm

    Great article! There are a few other apps that you may want to make a future post on, as well. Apps like SavingStar allow you to load coupons onto your phone that are tied directly to loyalty programs at your local grocery store/CVS/etc. With these, you can build up money that will eventually be deposited into an amazon account, or can be direct deposited into your checking, etc.

    Another tool that I use to save money is actually UrbanSpoon. While I try to avoid eating out at all costs, there are nights where it is inevitable. Using the search feature, I lock the price feature to the “$” category in order to find inexpensive food that is close by. In doing so, I cut down on the gas that I use, in addition to avoiding some sticker shock by just picking some random restaurant as I drive by!

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  • KennyK September 24, 2012, 7:22 am

    Thanks for sharing those tools Jameson. It really helps to search in your area for places where you can eat good without high bills. It happened to me more than once where I just went somewhere to be surprised by the price of meals. As we were hungry and didn’t have so much time, we decided to stay and pay the price. But with a small amount of time spent using an App on your smartphone or just online, you can find better and more affordable places to eat out.

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  • L J October 4, 2012, 11:09 pm

    Thanks for the post! I have never heard of GasBuddy, I am going to download that right now. I can’t tell you how many times I have stopped for gas and then seen it significantly less at the next exit. That is a horrible feeling!

    The apps that I have found useful for saving money are Redlaser and Mint. With Redlaser I can scan the barcode on anything I am thinking of purchasing and see if it is cheaper anywhere near me or online. I saved so much at Christmas last year with that!

    Mint allows me to input all of my account info for bank accounts and credit cards and they update as soon as I open the app. You can also set a budget for certain categories and you will get an alert if you are over budget for that category. With my husband and I keeping separate accounts, plus separate cards, it makes it much easier for me to see at a glance where we are financially at any moment.

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