Everyone has to grocery shop, so why not save some money on your groceries while you’re at it?
While I would love to say that I’m an extreme couponing queen or a great stockpiler, I don’t have the brain power or time in the day to attempt something of the sort! My husband and I both work full time jobs outside the home, so we do the best that we can when trying to save money on groceries.
I’m happy to say that free phone apps have saved us hundreds over the years, and I think everyone should use them!
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Here are my 7 favorite free apps that save you the most money on grocery shopping. (All are both for iOS and Android!)
My Top 3 Apps to Save Money on Groceries
I mainly use mobile apps to save money when grocery shopping. Most of them are ones that you have to scan your receipt (and/or purchased item) for and they reimburse you with a gift card once you reach a certain amount.
1. Ibotta
Ibotta is my favorite app because it has the highest payout and the largest selection of items at a wide variety of online and physical stores. There are so many great features of Ibotta, and they keep introducing more!
They offer:
- Coupons on any item/general items.
- Bonuses that you can earn by buying certain types or numbers of items, you can purchase multiple items at once and earn more on some offers,
- Linking of your store loyalty card.
- The ability to pay through Ibotta at a physical store– you can earn additional cash back on your entire purchase in addition to your other offers, and you don’t have to upload a receipt!
- Teams, where you join a team and earn more together, faster.
- Savings when making online purchases, even at Amazon!
- And it works with Walmart Grocery Pickup! (Affiliate Link) Link your Walmart Grocery account in Ibotta, unlock your coupons before your Walmart purchase, and after your pickup is complete, Ibotta will automatically credit your account with cash back.
If you’re a new Walmart Grocery Pickup customer, you can use my referral link to get $10 off your first purchase of $50 or more!
You might have to watch a short video, answer a survey question or look at a recipe to “unlock” a coupon.
Pay attention to the stores and expiration dates on each coupon though, or you could buy something at the wrong store and not be able to use the coupon.
Depending on how much I shop and what coupons are offered, I easily make at least $10-$15 a month back on this. Some months I have made $20+ and one month with bonuses I made $35!
If you haven’t tried it yet, they’re giving you a $20 welcome bonus just for using the app! Download the app today and start earning!
2. Checkout 51
This app has a good variety of offers, but they are limited and can “run out” if they are popular and are claimed a lot.
They also offer bonuses for buying certain items or number of items. When you reach a $20 balance, you can cash out.
Sign up using my referral link.
3. SavingStar
SavingStar has a nice variety of offers, including savings on produce.
You can link your grocery store savings card, or scan and upload your receipts.
A unique feature of it is that they offer one or many coupons- where you can meet a spending goal to earn even more money over multiple shopping trips. When you reach a $20 balance, you can cash out.
Other Reimbursement Apps with Good Reviews
I’ve recently downloaded these and are going to give them a try. They have great reviews.
4. Coupons.com
Coupons.com has a wide variety of stores and allows you to link your loyalty reward cards so that you can add additional coupons to your store loyalty card.
5. Fetch Rewards
Fetch awards you points for buying certain items or brands, and then you exchange these points for gift cards. This is great if you buy brand name items, and it doesn’t matter what store you shop at.
There’s a pharmacy savings card inside the app too, and you’re rewarded points for using that in addition to saving money on prescriptions!
Use my referral code to sign up and you get an additional 2,000 bonus points after you submit your first receipt: M1DXX
6. CoinOut
CoinOut is new, and different from the other apps in a couple of ways.
First, they award you cash back from scanning a receipt from almost any store (including restaurants), instead of specific stores.
Second, they award you a random award per receipt. So you never know what you’re going to get. They also send out surprise special bonuses to frequent users!
They let you earn cashback from online shopping, and have bonuses that you can earn. They were on Shark Tank too, so check them out!
Related Post: How to Save Money Eating Out
Specific Retailer Apps to Save Money
Check your favorite grocery stores for their own apps and then stack with these others when you can for even more savings!
7. Target Circle
If you shop at Target and don’t use Target Circle inside the Target app, you’ve gotta get going on this!
I mean sure it might make me buy some things I don’t need, but if I’m going into Target, I’m going to do that anyway, so I might as well save some money on that stuff!
Circle saves you money instantly at the cash register with it’s many offers, saves you 1% when you shop to redeem at Target later, has manufacture coupons and special birthday coupons, AND you can help decide where Target gives to organizations in your community!
For Target RedCard credit/debit cardholders, you can save 5% on your purchases (instead of the 1%), get free shipping online, and special exclusive coupons!
If you bring your own bags at checkout, they’ll also deduct 5 cents a bag from your bill. Every little bit adds up!
In both Target and Walmart, I recommend scanning items that are marked with sale or clearance prices at their price checker stations. I’ve found things that are even cheaper than marked!
Also scan items on their apps to see if it’s a lower price online. If so, ask if they’ll price match it in-store.
Don’t Forget!
When submitting a receipt, be sure to pay attention to the time period allowed or you could miss out on the savings.
What are your favorite ways to save money on groceries?
