This time of year always sneaks up on us. You know the time: when the boys are going out in public with shorts too tight and embarrassingly high above their knees, tee shirts and belly buttons playing peek-a-boo, and shoes that aren’t even passable for another kid’s hand me down collection. Living in Florida, we only see Winter for a few weeks and we’re just about out of that small speck of a cold season so, it’s a total purge of the kids’ closet…and dad’s wallet.
I’ve learned in my last 5 years of being a mother that nothing, ABSOLUTELY nothing should be purchased without a coupon, sale sticker, or discount, unless it’s necessary. As much as I wish that I was one of those moms who carries a binder full of coupons into the store with her, I just don’t have to time or patience to do so (*major kudos to those of you who do). BUT, unless my phone is dead or in someone’s hand under age 5, I can always be seen with a handful of snazzy mobile coupons taking anywhere from 20-50% off of my total bill!
That’s where this post comes in. I originally posted this in September of 2014, one month after the launch of The Happening Housewife but, it only included 3 of the 6 apps that I save with and I knew it was time for some major tweaking and updates. So, here it is:
1.Shopular-Â My absolute favorite shopping app is Shopular. It’s an easy to use, coupon and savings app.
Things to LOVE:
- Very user friendly
- Sign Up is simple You don’t have to go through a lengthy sign up process to use it
- Select your favorite stores to store at the top of your feed to save time when shopping
- Automatic sale finder (when Location Services is turned on)Â Set the app to use your location, when you pull into a shopping plaza or mall, the app will pop up with all of the deals available through the app in that location. & When you slide open your app, all of those deals will automatically move to the top so they’re easier to access!
- Outlet Store Coupons available
- Easy to Scan No zooming or downloading necessary
- Search Bar Makes it easy to find and search for the store you’re shopping at
- Shopular takes and uses your recommendations There was a time shortly after I posted the original content of this that I was really hoping for a small handful of stores to be added to the app. I sent them an email and within 60 days, the stores were all available in the app!
- Available on Android + IOS
2.Shopkick- An app that gives incentives and rewards just for scanning select product barcodes in a store registered with the app.That’s right- you literally don’t have to buy anything to start reaping the benefits of Shopkick.
Things to LOVE:
- User friendly The app updates daily on how many “kicks” are available for certain stores making it easy to include Shopkick your shopping trips.
- Reminders when on-site When you walk into a store that is registered with the app or has current “kicks” available, the app will remind you to “check-in” and use it (bluetooth enabled).
- Easy to scan barcodes It’s very rare that I have trouble scanning an item that is ready for “kicks” when using the built in barcode scanner.
- Incentives + Rewards The really great thing about this app is that the rewards are actually things that most people want or use. Oh, and don’t forget their referral program. Please feel free to sign up…HERE!
- Double + Triple Points Several times throughout the year, Shopkick will offer it’s users double or triple earnings for scans.
- Available on Android + IOS
3.Cartwheel- An app specifically designed for Target shoppers to easily save during their shopping trips.
Things to LOVE:
- User friendly After adding your savings to the Cartwheel app, all you have to do at checkout is show the cashier the barcode in the “Checkout” tab at the bottom of the app. It will tell you how much you’ve saved since the start of your Cartwheel adventures!
- Weekly new ad remindersÂ
- Easy to scan barcodes The app has a built in barcode scanner which will search the entire app for discounts on your items. Headed to the register and forget to search and add a few items to your savings? Scan those last few items to make sure you’re not missing savings! (There are times that I’m scanning while things are on the checkout belt!)
- Search Options Not interested in scanning with the barcode scanner or prefer to add your savings before even walking in the store? The search makes it easy to save your discounts without scanning.
- Combine with Target coupons and discounts You can combine your Cartwheel savings with savings, sales, and coupons from the Target app.
- Available on Android + IOS
4. Gmail-Â I know, this isn’t specifically designed for saving on the go. However, if you open an email account just for savings memberships and link it to your Gmail app, it totally works like a coupon charm.
Things to LOVE:
- Search Option The one thing I have always loved about Gmail is that the search tool is the easiest and most useful of any email search tool in my opinion.
- Easy to delete unused and outdated savings Gmail makes it easy to delete emails by checking them off and removing them in bulk.
- Multiple uses This goes without saying but, the Gmail app can be used outside of a coupon or savings app.
- Birthday Clubs Signing up for a membership with a brand or company that offers Birthday Clubs can lead to MAJOR discounts that you may not receive otherwise.
-  Extra savings Similar to Birthday Clubs, enrolling in memberships and promotions from retailers can get you tons of extra savings and coupons that other apps may not offer.
- Available on Android + IOS
5. Retail Me Not- This one isn’t my absolute favorite but, it’s my go-to when noone else has a discount code or coupon for a retailer that I know typically offers savings.
Things to LOVE:
- Search Option Is it obvious yet that I would never use a discount app without a search tool?
- Available online as well as mobile app The fab thing about RMN is that everything available on the mobile app is also available for use on the desktop.
- Viewable recent usage Although RMN doesn’t delete all of the older discount codes it has, the most recently, successfully used deal will be available at the top of a store’s feed! It will tell you if the discount has been verified by users and how many times a certain discount has been used through RMN.
- TONS of savings RMN offers more savings from each retailer than any of the other apps I’ve listed. I don’t know how they do it but, just today they have 35 available offers with 9 verified discounts for the Gap alone.
- Available on Android + IOS
6.Flipp-Â This app is fairly new in my collection but, it’s been really great so far.
Things to LOVE:
- Search Option Yes, again with the search feature. The Search tool in Flipp let’s you look for specific items and brands, not just stores.
- Over 800 Big Name Retailers Think of an app that offers all of those “Big Box” ads in one place…that’s what Flipp gives you. No more flipping through huge circulars when you walk into a store to see what their latest sales are. With Flipp, you’ll know what your savings will be before you walk in!
- Shopping Lists- This one makes it super easy to create a mobile shopping list before hunting down all of the ingredients for that delicious Pinterest recipe you’ve been craving!
- Extreme Couponing without the big binder Clip coupons in the app for instant savings at the checkout. (For US user only)
- Notifications before discounts expire Set reminders to use coupons before they  expire
- Available on Android + IOS
Happy savings!
[…] find out more about the Shopular app I referenced, read my post here on why it’s a must have […]