Apps To Save Money On Groceries

[ This article is part of our series of articles on the price of food and how to save money on groceries ]

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It’s no secret that food costs are on the rise and on people’s minds. From articles about overall food inflation, to memes about skyrocketing egg prices, to widely shared social media posts celebrating low cost grocery hauls, the cost of food is now front and center in public discourse. That’s why it’s no surprise that people are increasingly looking for apps to save money on groceries. Well, look no further. Below we’ve compiled a list of select apps to help you save some moolah at the supermarket check out. 

Of course, as we’ve covered before, while shopping for discount items and using coupons can make a difference, engaging in meal planning and diligently managing your food inventory at home to prevent waste are most likely to meaningfully move the needle on your food costs. But until you’re ready to make the switch, we hope some of the below apps can still be helpful.

Reward and Rebate Apps

• Ibotta offers cash back on items you purchased. Take a picture of the receipt after making a purchase and the app will send you a coupon on any eligible items for the next time you buy it.
• Fetch works largely the same way as Ibotta does, offering coupons on select items in return for submitting a picture of your receipts.
• Coin Out is another player in the rewards for receipts space worth checking out. Submit those receipts to earn rewards.
• Makeena is the final app on our list that offers discounts in return for pictures of receipts, or barcode scans of individual products. Their focus is primarily on eco-friendly and healthy products, so rewards can be earned on products that may not be reward eligible on other apps.

Coupons

• Coupons.com allows you to find coupons that are relevant to you, which you can either print or add to your app. Simply show them at checkout to begin saving.
• Grocery IQ is focused on finding coupons for the items you regularly shop for. Once you create a shopping list it will find applicable coupons for you to consider.
• RetailMeNot is similar to Coupon.com in that it allows you to find and use coupons directly in your app.

Grocery Price Comparison

• Flipp allows you to enter items and find where prices for those items are the lowest, or if there are any sales. As a bonus you can also view weekly circulars for tons of groceries stores, which can be a lot easier than searching through the print versions. 
• Grocery King includes functionality to compare prices for items across grocery stores, as well as store loyalty card information.
• My Grocery Deals is only available through a web browser, but worth a mention on the list. You can enter an item like “milk” and your zip code to compare prices across different stores.
• Instacart is better known for grocery deliveries, but the app also lets you compare prices across stores. While you do need to navigate to each store separately to compare the prices, the upside is you can also order directly through the app.

Food Inventory Management

While these won’t directly save you money at the grocery store, given that on average we waste about one-quarter to one-third of the food we bring into our homes, improving how you manage your food once it’s in the home could save you even more than the rebate, savings, or coupon apps.

• Pantry Check is one of the original fridge and pantry management apps. It’s straightforward and makes it easy to know when items are about to expire so you can use them up beforehand.
• My Pantry Tracker is free to use and offers all the core functionality you need to keep tabs on food stored at home.

Honorable Mentions

While Misfits Markets doesn’t fit nearly into one of the categories above, we still want to include it on our list. Misfits Market will send you perfectly good grocery items that would otherwise have gone to waste (think of an oddly shaped pear or silly looking carrot) for a discounted price. They share Budgeat’s goals of saving people money and reducing food waste, so they certainly deserve a spot on this list.

Wrapping Up

We hope the above apps to save money on groceries are helpful in the never ending quest to conquer your shopping list. To truly win this battle we’d strongly recommend considering meal planning as well, given it’s widely recognized as one of the most fundamental approaches to save money on your food costs. Happy saving! 

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Related Articles

• Food Prices: Understanding The Dynamics and Saving on Your Groceries
• Thanksgiving Dinner: The Grocery Inflation Rate
• The Frugal Meal Planner
• App To Save Money on Groceries

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