If you’re planning a summer road trip you can use your smartphone to save extra cash to help pay for the additional expenses. There are many great apps that can make it easier for you to keep track of your cash, spend it more wisely, and save when you can. Mark your calendar, plan your trip and save up with these notable apps.
Key Ring
Price: Free
Phones: Android and iPhone
The Key Ring app can help you save money every time you go into a store that has a rewards program. Instead of carrying a bunch of plastic cards to get your discount, you scan the barcodes and put them in your phone. You’ll never have to worry about paying full price again.
Key Ring also gives you information about weekly sales so you always get the best price in your area. This app might not automatically save you money, but it does save you time by doing research for you. You’ll never have to flip through the Sunday paper’s ads again.
Loan Shark
Price: $4.99
Phones: Android and iPhone
You might need to buy a new car for your upcoming road trip. If so, then Loan Shark will help you save money by choosing a low-cost loan option.
Loan Shark makes it easy for you to:
- compare rates
- see how a higher down payment affects future payments
- see how an extra payment affects your loan
- review your payment history
- determine how long it will take to repay your loan
- see how much interest you will pay
Seeing all this information in front of you makes it easier to decide whether you want to accept or decline a loan.
Loan Shark can also help you keep track of who owes you money. That comes in handy when you need to get money back from someone before heading out on your road trip.
MoneyWise
Price: Free
Phones: Android and iPhone
Where does all of your money go? MoneyWise answers that question by keeping track of your expenses. You can follow everything from your mortgage payments to the money you spend on groceries.
The information gets stored by date and category so you can view your spending history. It’ll even show you graphs so you can see whether you’re meeting your budget goals. Try to identify areas where you can save cash. For instance, if you see an opportunity to lower your car insurance premiums, you can get instant quotes using a service like http://www.autoinsurance.us/car-insurance-quotes.html to get the most for your money. Every bit adds up, so be on the lookout for new ways to save.
A Pro version of MoneyWise is available for $6.99. The free version works well for most people, but you may want to invest in MoneyWise Pro if you get serious about tracking your expenses.
GasBuddy
Price: Free
Phones: Android and iPhone
Since gas will keep getting more expensive, you may as well learn to start comparing prices now. GasBuddy uses your phone’s GPS to find the cheapest gas near you. You can also search for gas prices by zip code and city.
This app relies on users who submit accurate gas prices. To encourage people to share, GasBuddy gives you points and awards for posting prices. You even get a chance to win a $250 gas card every week that you submit a price.
Do you know of other apps that can help people save money? How would you spend that money during your road trip?
