Thrifty Thursday Debut

I've decided to start a new series on Thurdays called:

My husband and I are working hard to stick to a budget this year and save money where we can.  We are trying to save money at the grocery store, with household purchases, on-line purchases and eating out.  I'm excited to share tips with you about how you can save money, too.

You will NOT find any crazy extreme couponing tips here, any wacky meal planning for pennies per person or any tips for building stockpiles of sale items in your home.  I don't have time for those extremes so I have no expertise in any of those areas.  My goal is to share practical ways for you to save money with minimal effort on your part.  You'll get tips for stretching your dollars to allow you to get the most for your money.

Today's tip:

Download FREE apps to your phone to save money

I have the following apps in a folder called SHOPPING on my phone.  It's easy to find all of my money saving apps when I'm shopping since they are all stored in this folder.

Cartwheel

Target's discount app

You easily select the coupons/discounts you'd like to use, the app generates a bar code for you and then you have the cashier scan it at the end of the checkout process.  It also has a feature where you can scan items you are planning to buy in the store to see if there are any additional discounts you can apply.  Very user friendly and easy to use.

I've saved $24.29 by using this app.

Checkout51

an app for you to use on your weekly grocery list.  You select deals you'd like to use, purchase the items and then scan your products/receipts.  They get submitted, reviewed and credits are sent to your account.  You can cash out once you hit $20 for certain gift cards listed.

I've saved $8 using this app so far.

Hobby Lobby

40% off coupon access each week

Ibotta

another app for you to use on your weekly grocery list.  You select deals you'd like to use, purchase the items and then scan your products/receipts.  They get submitted, reviewed and credits are sent to your account.  You can cash out once you hit $10 for certain gift cards or your paypal account.

I've saved $24.50 with this app so far.

Jo-Ann's

often has several coupons to use and sometimes coupons for your whole purchase

Kroger

You can load coupons to your Kroger card, make grocery lists and it has a barcode for the cashier to scan to get your extra deals if you forget your Kroger card.  Tons of coupons each week!!

Michael's

often has several coupons to use and better discounts than just 40% off one item

QBOT

an app that lists local offers for discounts on tons of things - oil changes, food, event tickets, activities and more!  I've used it for $20 off an oil change and it has many similar features of groupon.  Check your area to see if QBOT might be something that you could use.  We used it in Arkansas but it doesn't have anything to offer us in Mississippi.  Odd...

Walgreens

clip coupons to add to your Reward's card to use in the store

Did I miss any great money saving apps??

Please share your favorites in the comments below.