These 7 Coupon Apps Can Save You Time and Money at the Grocery Store

If you want to save money while grocery shopping, coupon apps should play a big part of your purchasing strategy. Rather than only sticking with the old-fashioned method of clipping coupons from the newspaper or printing out coupons you find online, grocery coupon apps can save you a lot of time – and money.

 

You can spend a lot of time on couponing, says Nermeen Ghneim, who runs the blog SavvyDollar.com and does most grocery shopping from home. “There is no shortage of grocery receipt scanning apps these days. You can get carried away if you are not careful and end up with a time-consuming task for claiming your cash back,” she says. “Each app generally has specific requirements to claim your cash back. So unless you are an extreme couponer, I would stick with two or three cash back coupon apps that work for you.”

 

You can also find yourself chasing deals for items that you don’t really need, says Becky Beach, the blogger behind the finance site MomBeach.com. “That just wastes your money in the long run. It can be tempting to purchase products you usually never buy with these apps,” Beach says. So if you’re looking for some coupon apps to help you save on your groceries, here are some of the many out there that you may want to try. Best of all, they’re all free and compatible with Android and iOS platforms.

 

Ibotta

With this grocery app, you can earn cash back at a variety of stores, including Walmart, Walgreens and Target, as well as regional chains, such as Kroger and Food Lion. What’s more, you can even use it at some online stores, like Amazon, for non-grocery purchases. Another benefit: You can receive cash back within 48 hours, either via PayPal or a Venmo account. You can also buy gift cards through the app. Simply download the app and look for offers from brands. You can link Ibotta to your supermarket’s loyalty card; then, if you buy anything with a cash back offer, the cash will show up in your bank account. You can also scan products while shopping to see if there are rebates associated with them. “I have gotten over $500 cash back with Ibotta over the course of a year,” Beach says. The only snag: If you encounter an issue while using the app, it may take a while to receive a reply from a customer service representative.

 

Checkout 51

Instead of clipping or downloading coupons, this saving app offers cash back rebates on products you’ve already bought. You can receive cash back after you shop. Here’s how it works: You’ll use the app to take a photo of your receipt; then, if there are purchases you made with rebates attached, you’ll get cash back deposited into your Checkout 51 account. You can also use Checkout 51 for online food and drink purchases. When your balance reaches $20, you can get a check mailed to you.  Ghneim says that she is a fan of Checkout 51 and Ibotta. “Checkout 51 does not have as many savings opportunities as Ibotta, but has many items that Ibotta does not,” she says. While you won’t have to worry about clipping coupons in advance, you will need to remember to scan the grocery receipt after you shop to get that extra money. Also, you’ll want to keep in mind that some offers have a limited quantity. The offers go live on Thursdays at 12 a.m., and expire the following Wednesday at 11:59 p.m., so if you spot an offer, act quickly and make sure to upload the receipt once you’ve made the purchase.

 

SnipSnap

SnipSnap allows you to search online for coupons and download them individually in the app, enabling you to take advantage of discounts without carrying a stack of coupons with you to the checkout counter. When you pay for groceries, the cashier scans your phone for each coupon code. What’s more, SnipSnap has some valuable features, such as alerts when coupons are going to expire and a social media component where you can follow friends and share coupons with them.

 

Coupons.com

Once you download this savvy app, you can take advantage of print and digital coupons and access coupon codes from a variety of grocery chains, including Kroger, Safeway and ShopRite. You can also easily link your grocery store’s loyalty card to your Coupons.com account to take advantage of savings at the register when you pay. You can also print out coupons if you prefer and hand them to the cashier.

 

Rakuten

The Rakuten app makes it easy to snag discounts on a variety of products. It’s primarily known as an app to use with online shopping, but you can also still take advantage of coupons by buying groceries online and picking them up. For instance, if you’re going to pick up groceries at Walmart (and you’re making the purchase online), you could save up to 5% on all your purchases. You can start getting cash back once you get $5 in cash back, and payments are sent every three months, either in the mail or to your PayPal account.  As an added bonus, if you use Rakuten for other online shopping purchases, such as purchasing clothing at Kohl’s (currently offering 3% cash back) or electronics at Best Buy (currently offering 1% cash back), adding groceries could make those quarterly checks even bigger. The downside: Rakuten is new to the grocery game, so you may find more coupons and deals with other grocery coupon apps.

 

SavingStar

With SavingStar, you can link your supermarket’s loyalty account or upload a photo of your receipt to earn cash back. SavingStar has numerous partners, including Safeway, Family Dollar, Dollar General, Food Lion and more. Here’s how it works: You’ll link your store card, select rebates and use your store card at checkout. Savings are added to your SavingStar account. Like many grocery coupon apps, you’ll get cash back when you reach $20; you can withdraw the money to your bank account or a PayPal account. How much you earn depends on the deal. Currently, if you spend $25 on Kellogg’s cereals and Pop-Tarts, you’ll receive $5. If you spend $15 on Skippy Peanut Butter spreads, you’ll receive $3.50 back. Like many of these grocery coupon apps, the interface is simple and easy to use. They also give you the opportunity to donate your savings to the nonprofit American Forests. Keep in mind, if your account is inactive for 180 days, you’ll be charged a $3.99 monthly inactivity fee.

 

Coupon Sherpa

This grocery coupon app will search for and store product-specific coupons with a variety of affiliated stores, including Krogers, Harris Teeter and Winn-Dixie. After you download the app, you can search for and save coupons to a virtual wallet. The amount you’ll save depends on what coupons are available. For example, currently you can save $1 if you buy two cans of Dole pineapples or get a $1 discount if you buy a Godiva Masterpieces Chocolate Bar. What’s more, you can find coupons based on your proximity to nearby stores.

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