As you probably know by now, I’m the mother of three rambunctious but awesome young boys. They live life at a pretty fast pace, whether they’re running around our backyard or going from this month’s hot new video game to whatever the big fad at school is next month. My little guys are almost always in a big hurry for something. Lately, they’ve all been in a major rush to grow up. Not to take on adult responsibilities (none of them are at all interested in that, not yet, anyway), but to get taller.
In fact, I recently went down into our basement and found them trying to stretch to make themselves taller. It was so cute, but it also got me thinking about how fast they’d be growing up, which then got me thinking about their increasingly gigantic appetites, which then got me thinking about something else: ways to save money on groceries, and more specifically to save money on groceries with an app. These days there so many great shopping rewards apps out there, some of which are offered by the stores themselves, others that modernize the old coupon clipping experience, and—my personal favorite—those that give you gift cards for shopping habits you already have.
All of this can be a little overwhelming to the uninitiated shopper who’s trying to stretch her budget, which is why today I want to talk about my own strategies for how to save money on groceries with an app. Hopefully, you’ll find them to be just as helpful as I do!
How to Save Money on Groceries with an App
Tip No. 1: Consistency is Key
One of my most important tips for how to save money on groceries with an app is to find a way to do it that is consistent. This ties into a lesson I’m always trying to teach my boys. They’re always in such a hurry to do new things, to try out for the basketball team, to advance to the next grade, or even to beat this month’s hot new video game as soon as possible. Sometimes they get frustrated when these things take longer than they expect.
So, what I preach to them is to remain consistent. The same is true for stretching your budget with a great shopping app. If you don’t use it consistently, you won’t maximize the amount of rewards that you can earn with it. It’s as simple as that.
Tip No. 2: Online and Offline Points Are a Must
Another little tip when trying to save money on groceries with an app that I’ve learned from my boys is to make sure you find an app that helps you save money both online and off. My little guys get lost in their digital worlds so easily, that it always makes me think about how in 20 years even more of our lives will start to be lived online, and that includes grocery shopping.
I’ve started to do even more of my grocery shopping online, using programs like Amazon Pantry. This is especially the case when there are three soccer practices in a week, and I just can’t eke out the time I need to run to the store. A few clicks on Amazon and I can have chips for their lunches, Clif bars or breakfast cereals sent straight to our door. That’s why I need an app that also helps me save money when I’m shopping online. It’s absolutely vital.
Tip No. 3: Find the Perfect App
The last tip that I have for you today is also maybe the most obvious, but you simply must make sure that you find the perfect app. For me, that app is called Shopkick, and how it works is that it gives you points for the shopping activities that you already do every day, things like looking at products online, going down the aisle browsing products, and making purchases. You can then trade those points in for free gift cards.
What’s great about Shopkick is that it’s super easy to use, which makes it no problem to use it consistently.
What’s great about Shopkick is that it’s super easy to use, which makes it no problem to use it consistently. It also turns every trip to the grocery store into a fun little scavenger hunt for points. In other words, I enjoy using Shopkick so much, that it’s not even a chore to make sure I use it consistently. Oh, and it’s one of the best shopping apps out there for rewarding you for the grocery shopping that you do online. It’s just so versatile and fun! I highly recommend it!
With three growing boys at home, correctly managing my grocery shopping budget tends to be a never-ending battle, much like satisfying their appetites. However, with a great app like Shopkick, it all becomes so much easier.
The guys can’t wait to be taller, and I get that. I also know that there are going to be so many more grocery bills between where they are now and the day they reach their maximum heights. This can bring on a bit of anxiety sometimes, but with an app like Shopkick to help me save money, you know what? I think I’m ready to handle it.
Ready to start finding your own ways to save money on groceries with an app? Download Shopkick for free and join a community of loyal Shopkickers who’ve already discovered how rewarding—and fun—shopping with us can be!
And, if you love using your smartphone to stay up on social media, join us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for daily shopping inspiration.
Image courtesy stokkete

I haven’t even told my old friend Jeanette about this yet (I’m going to surprise her!), but I’m happy to share it with all of you because that’s how helpful it’s been for me. My secret for how to earn a free Starbucks eGift card is this simple new concept called a shopping rewards app, and how it works is that it gives you rewards for shopping. What kind of shopping? Basically, all of them! From clothes shopping to
My first suggestion for earning free Fandango tickets is to sign up for the Fandango VIP+ program, which you can do right on Fandango’s website. This is a pretty simple, tried-and-true customer loyalty points program. For every ticket you buy to a movie like
I’ve always loved shopping with my friends. It’s just so much more fun when you have someone to help you decide if you should purchase that cute top, or even to brag a little bit about the deal you got on shampoo last week. I also, of course, love saving money with helpful apps, I mean, who doesn’t? That’s why combining the two is such a no-brainer for me, and I’m 100 percent sure that you’ll love these apps, too!

Memrise is a language learning app that helps you attain basic conversational fluency in a variety of languages. Developers call the process “elaborate encoding,” and it works by using word associations to lock in information. There is a free tier, with a variety of courses to get you started, as well as a pro level. For me,
That’s true of many things in life (ahem,
I’ve given many of the contenders for best grocery app a whirl over the past year or two and now, to save
Whether you’re saving up for a big payout for the holidays, a birthday, or a family vacation; you
March 3, for example, was National Cold Cuts Day, so we went out and made ourselves some deluxe cold cut sandwiches. Another good one: October 7 is National Inner Beauty Day, which we honor at our house by celebrating the personal qualities that make each member of our family special.
Times have, obviously, changed since then. For starters, my house doesn’t have a landline and we certainly don’t have a giant lime-green refrigerator. I also don’t have a notepad pinned to the wall. But, like my mother, I never go to the store without a list. I simply use my smartphone, specifically a grocery list app with prices, instead.