The holiday season is coming up and can be stressful for some college students, especially those that are already a little overwhelmed financially. College students typically don’t have a lot of money. They have their own bills to pay including rent, power and cable, as well as paying for fun stuff like eating out with friends or shopping trips to get a new outfit for the big party coming up. There are also everyday expenses like gas and groceries. College students are adults now, and they need to be able to pay for the things they need and want. Here are a few apps that are out there that can help save you money.
1.Cartwheel by Target – Many college students go to Target for their shopping needs, whether that’s clothes, food, home items, or school supplies, and of course the stuff that they don’t really need but buy anyways. Cartwheel allows you to pick offers on the things you love and would buy. You add these items to your account. At checkout you can scan you personalized barcode from the app, and the offers you added to your account are automatically applied to the purchase. Now you can shop at Target to your heart’s content and save money. That sounds like a win-win situation.
2. Ibotta – There are some things in life that you are always going to buy, for example cereal and milk or easy to store snacks like granola bars. Wouldn’t it be great if you could get money back on items you buy regularly? Well that’s what Ibotta does. Before you go shopping choose the offers you like to your account. Then go shopping and buy the featured products at your favorite stores. Simply take a photo of the receipt and earn cash back for the items you bought. There are many product categories to choose from. Do you go grocery shopping a lot? Then add Kroger to your list. Do you travel a lot and book hotels through Booking.com or Hotels.com? Add those. This app is completely customizable for your shopping habits.
3. Amazon Prime Student – Did you know that you get Amazon Prime as a student simply by using your .edu email address? You get all the perks of Amazon Prime including free shipping, TV shows and movies, and even special deals only for college students. You can sign up for a 6-month trial, and after the trial is over, the annual membership is only $49, which is 50% off the normal price. Amazon is incredibly useful at this time of year because you can do all of your holiday shopping in one place and you can shop from anywhere. Need something soon for a birthday that you forgot about? No worries, Amazon has you covered. Shopping early for Christmas because you already know what to buy that special someone, again Amazon can help with that. Yes Amazon Prime does still cost you money, but the amount of things you get for that price makes the money worth it. If you didn’t have Amazon Prime and bought things often from Amazon, you could end up paying more than the $49 in shipping alone.
4. Groupon – With deals on restaurants, movie theaters, spas and stores, Groupon can help you find a good deal on something you really want. There are many kinds of deals and you could get up to 70% off of something that you would normally never do because of the price. You could get a spa massage valued at $100 for only $25 or dinner for a large group at a nice restaurant for 25% off. The options are endless and you could find something that you would like. Saving money is always good. There are daily deals as well that update every 24 hours so you can see what is new every day.
