For college students, checking your bank account balance typically brings on one of two possible reactions: sheer, unadulterated joy (because it’s pay day) or just plain sadness and disappointment (because your bank account has yet to magically recover from the $100 you just dropped on new shoes).
Learning to manage your own money is one of the ultimate exercises in understanding that ancient proverb: “with great power comes great responsibility.” Wait—that actually might be from Spider-Man, but that’s beside the point. Whatever the case, for us collegiettes that great power is our credit card, and the great responsibility is, well, using it wisely. These 10 apps will help you spend smarter, rather than scratching your head and wondering where the heck all your hard-earned cash is going.
1. Mint
Mint is one of the most popular personal finance apps out there, and for good reason. “It is a really resourceful app that allows you to set your own budgets and track your spending,” says Malone Ryan, a junior at John Carroll University. “It's really cool because you can specify what a certain budget is going to be used for—like groceries or rent!”
Mint easily and safely connects to your bank account and is simple and user-friendly, which is perfect for college students learning to manage their own funds for the first time. At the beginning of the month, you can allocate a certain amount of money for each of your anticipated expenses, and you can also set certain financial goals, like saving up for a car. The app will notify you when you’re approaching your budget limit!
2. RetailMeNot
RetailMeNot is a must for any fashion-forward collegiette on a budget. “I use it whenever I go online shopping,” says Janine Eduljee, a junior at Northeastern University. RetailMeNot finds (and verifies the authenticity of) coupons from over 50,000 stores, including Macy’s, Forever 21 and American Eagle, among others. “I use it whenever I go online shopping,” adds Eduljee.
Rather than spending time scouring the internet to see which of your favorite stores is having a sale, RetailMeNot brings the sales to you! It can even tell you the average discount RetailMeNot users get from a particular store. And it’s not just for clothes, either—with coupons available for places like BestBuy, Ticketmaster and even Olive Garden, you can save on just about anything.
3. ShopSavvy
ShopSavvy is the quintessential app for finding savings on, well, just about anything. You can search by brand, specific product or category, and this app will tell you exactly where you can buy whatever it is you’re looking for. It also compares prices between stores offering the same products, so you can be sure you’re getting the best deal, and the app can also alert you to sales and discounts on various products. If you’re looking to download just one app to help you save, this one is probably it.
4. Poshmark
Poshmark is basically the world’s biggest (online) clothing swap. Whether you’re looking to make a few bucks selling clothes you no longer wear, or trying to score some new stuff on the cheap, Poshmark is the place for you. It’s sort of like the eBay of fashion.
Create an account, and you can put together a "closet" filled with clothes and accessories you want to sell; you can price items however you'd like. The app takes 20 percent of what you sell (which is much less than what a standard consignment store would take!), and the rest is yours to either deposit into your bank account, or to use to shop the thousands of other closets in the app. You can search by item type or by brand—there are tons of designer labels available on this app! Though most things are gently used, you’ll be getting them at a steep discount that won’t leave you feeling too guilty about the new Michael Kors bag you just suddenly realized you can’t live without.
5. BIGWORDS
“Don’t buy your textbooks from the campus bookstore!” is one of the first pieces of advice we hear when we start college, and it’s also one of the truest—we all know that the prices bookstores charge are borderline criminal. Even though sites like Amazon are often reliable in getting us a good deal, there might be an even better one out there.
BIGWORDS allows you to enter the title, author or ISBN number of a textbook and then searches the internet for the best possible deal—it even takes sales and shipping costs into consideration.
6. Campus Special/Eat Street
Created by the textbook seller Chegg and powered by the site EatStreet, this app allows you to enter your address to search for the nearest takeout and delivery places, depending on what kind of food you’re in the mood for. The app shares information about minimum cost for delivery, price of delivery, estimated delivery time and the best deal you can get at a particular place. It also offers a rewards program—every time you order takeout (which is bound to happen every once in a while) you can earn coupons and discounts for your next order!
7. Viggle
With this app, you can basically get rewarded for watching TV—yeah, you read that right. When you check into Viggle on your mobile device while watching a show, you earn points (1 minute of TV = 1 point) that you can redeem for gift cards or other rewards from brands like Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, iTunes and Barnes & Noble. You can earn even more points by playing in-app games or answering trivia questions. But beware, collegiettes—this app is only useful when used to earn rewards for time you would have spent watching TV anyway—don’t let it become an excuse to watch even more than you already do!
8. Level Money
Level Money’s website describes this app as “kind of like a financial GPS.” Sometimes, it can be more helpful to skip budgeting your expenses by category and just figure out how much money you’re able to spend at a given time. You link the app to your bank account, and then it immediately shows you how much you’re able to spend that day, week or month.
If you’re looking for more in-depth info, tapping the amounts can give you a picture of your past spending habits—you’ll be able to see just how much your daily Starbucks runs are adding up every month. If you’re looking for the simplest possible way of keeping track of your money, this one’s for you.
9. Slice
Ever ordered something online one day, only to find out that it’s gone on sale the next? If so, Slice is your new best friend. The app detects when the price of an item you’ve ordered goes down and helps you get a refund. In addition, it allows you to easily track your packages (no more bothering with tracking numbers!) and gives you easy access to receipts, so you won’t have to worry about losing them in case you need to make a return.
10. Onavo
Even the best of us can’t resist using up cellular data when there’s no WiFi available. Using Onavo, you’ll never have to face data overage charges again. Using compression technology, it runs in the background while you use data in order to find ways to save you from going over your limit. It also can give you a full report, broken down week by week, of how much data you’re using in each app.
Once you use these apps to find the best discounts and deals on whatever you’re looking for, you’ll be amazed at how much more money is left in your balance at the end of the month. If you want to know exactly how much you’ve saved, then it’s a good thing you downloaded those personal finance apps to help you find out!