Money Saving Duo

Discovering how to live a glorious life on less

Favorite Money Saving Tools

Exploring Alternatives to the Mint Budgeting App: Budgeting Apps to Continue Keeping Your Finances in Check

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In a surprising turn of events, the popular Intuit Mint budgeting app has announced its impending shutdown. For many users who have relied on Mint for years to manage their finances, this news may come as a shock. However, the world of personal finance management is vast, and there are several alternatives that offer similar features and functionalities.

Join us as we explore some noteworthy alternatives to Intuit Mint, discussing their pros and cons, to help you find the perfect fit for your financial needs.

YNAB (You Need A Budget):

  • Pros:
    • Zero-Based Budgeting: YNAB follows the zero-based budgeting philosophy, where every dollar has a specific job, leaving no room for financial ambiguity.
    • Real-time Sync: YNAB offers seamless real-time synchronization with your bank accounts, ensuring that your budget is always up to date.
    • Educational Resources: YNAB provides excellent educational resources to help users better understand and manage their finances.
  • Cons:
    • Subscription Fee: YNAB operates on a subscription-based model and some users may find the monthly or annual fee a drawback. The cost ranges between $8.99/mo if you opt for the annual fee or $14.99/mo if you go monthly.

Monarch Money

  • Pros:
    • Intuitive Design: Monarch Money boasts an intuitive and user-friendly design for a seamless budgeting experience.
    • Customizable Categories: Users can create and customize budget categories to align with their unique spending patterns.
    • Expense Tracking: Monarch Money provides robust expense tracking features to keep you informed about your spending habits.
    • Mint Leadership: If you loved Mint, Monarch was started by a former Mint leader.
  • Cons:
    • Newer Player: As a newer entrant, Monarch Money might not have the same extensive user base or history as some other options.
    • Subscription Fee. There is a monthly fee to use Monarch, although they offer a discount to those switching from Mint. And a free trial. Click here to try out Monarch for 1 month free!

PocketGuard:

  • Pros:
    • Automatic Categorization: PocketGuard automatically categorizes your transactions, making it easier to understand your spending habits.
    • In-App Bill Negotiation: This unique feature helps users find better deals on bills, potentially saving money on regular expenses.
    • Goal Tracking: PocketGuard allows you to set and track financial goals, motivating you to stay within budget.
  • Cons:
    • Limited Investment Tracking: Unlike Mint, PocketGuard has limited capabilities when it comes to tracking investments.

Empower (formally Personal Capital):

  • Pros:
    • Investment Tracking: Empower excels in investment tracking, providing a comprehensive overview of your investment portfolio.
    • Retirement Planner: The app includes a retirement planner tool that helps you visualize and plan for your financial future.
    • Net Worth Tracker: Empower offers a robust net worth tracking feature, giving you a holistic view of your financial health.
  • Cons:
    • Learning Curve: The array of features may result in a steeper learning curve for new users.

Goodbudget:

  • Pros:
    • Envelope System: Goodbudget employs the envelope system, allowing users to allocate funds to specific categories and spend accordingly.
    • Syncs Across Devices: The app syncs across multiple devices, ensuring that your budget is accessible wherever you go.
    • Debt Paydown Tools: Goodbudget provides tools to help users strategize and accelerate their debt paydown.
  • Cons:
    • Free Version Limitations: While Goodbudget offers a free version, it comes with limitations on the number of envelopes and accounts you can use.

EveryDollar

  • Pros:
    • Dave Ramsey’s Approach: EveryDollar follows Dave Ramsey’s zero-based budgeting approach, focusing on giving every dollar a specific job. The Money Saving Duo has seen huge results from those who follow Dave Ramsey.
    • User-Friendly Interface: EveryDollar features a user-friendly interface, making it easy for users to navigate and set up their budgets.
    • Financial Peace University Integration: Users familiar with Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University can seamlessly integrate its principles into their budgeting with EveryDollar.
  • Cons:
    • Manual Transaction Entry: EveryDollar may require users to manually input transactions, which can be time-consuming compared to apps with automatic synchronization.
    • Limited Free Version: The free version has some limitations, and the Plus version comes with a subscription fee.

As the Intuit Mint app sunsets, it’s essential to explore alternative budgeting solutions that align with your financial goals and preferences. Whether you prioritize real-time synchronization, investment tracking, or a specific budgeting philosophy, these alternatives offer a range of features to suit various needs. Take the time to evaluate your priorities and choose the budgeting app that will best support your journey toward financial well-being.

Our Ultimate Money Saving Grocery Shopping App List

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This post contains referral and affiliate links meaning that if you sign up for one of the apps discussed below, we may be compensated for that referral. The views expressed our ours alone and we do use these apps regularly for personal use. 

Looking for ways to reduce your grocery bill but don’t want to mess with the headache of coupons in the checkout line? If you have a smart phone, there is a better way. Take a look at our favorite apps that will help you save money with little extra effort.

Money Saving Grocery Apps

Over the years we’ve worked hard to get our grocery budget down and even with rising prices, we’re still keeping our budget under the USDA’s Low-Cost Food Plan recommendations with a family of six. These apps let me save even more by providing cash back or rewarding me with gift cards I can use on future purchases.

Related: Grocery Budget Calculator

Ibotta. If you’re only going to download one app, this would be the one I’d suggest. I’ve cashed out the most often with the Ibotta app and I really appreciate how easy it is to use. Unlike other apps, Ibotta will often have “no brand” offers on things like milk, bread, eggs, produce and general receipts. This means you can get cash back for buying some of the basics.

Want to give Ibotta a try? Sign up with our affiliate link and you’ll get $10 cash back when you submit your first receipt. 

Checkout 51. Checkout 51 works similarly to Ibotta in that it features various cash back offers on specific products. Offers are updated every Thursday and are often available in limited quantity. To be honest, the products featured typically aren’t the ones our family buys on a regular basis and sometimes the quantity required to purchase seems rather high, but every now and then we are able to find items and deals that do work for us.

Checkout 51 has also offered cash for watching videos in the past, but hasn’t done so recently; however, you can earn extra cash back at the gas station and by taking surveys through this app.

Want to give Checkout 51 a try? Sign up through our affiliate link and you’ll get $5 when you redeem your first offer. 

Receipt Hog. Another one of my favorites is Receipt Hog. With this app, you don’t have to select individual items to claim rewards. Instead, you simply upload your receipt and receive coins for each one you upload. There is a limit on how many tokens you can receive each week, but I’ve only ever reached that threshold once. And every week you upload at least one receipt you’ll get a chance for extra coins by earning spins on the slot machine. You’ll also get additional opportunity for more coins as you level up.

Occasionally Receipt Hog will give you bonus points for answering questions about a recent purchase. as well.

Want to give Receipt Hog a try? Sign up here. 

FetchRewards. This is another very easy app to use. Simply select which special offers you want to claim and select the brand names you typically purchase. When you scan your receipt you’ll get points for the items in your cart that fit under one of those brands or meet the criteria for your special offer. Every receipt you upload from the grocery store automatically gives you 25 points regardless of whether any specific items are present. Every 24 hours you’ll also be eligible for a receipt bonus you snap a photo of. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to apply to digital receipts just yet. Points can be redeemed for a variety of gift cards.

Want to give FetchRewards a try? Download at www.fetchrewards.com and use our referral code PD1CE to get 2000 points just for starting.

ShopKick. If you enjoy scavenger hunts, this app is for you. You can get “kicks” for walking into certain stores and for scanning bar codes on various items. This means it is possible to get rewards without having to actually make a purchase; however, if you happen to purchase the items you scan, you’ll get even more kicks to play with. Kicks can be exchanged for gift cards… or a Vespa. We’re always curious if anyone has scored enough kicks for that. We tend to use our kicks to redeem gift cards.

Want to give ShopKick a try? Use our referral code SHOP307617  when you download it and you’ll get 250 kicks once you scan your first item or complete a walk-in. 500 kicks = approximately $2.

Drop. This app is a little unique in that you don’t have to upload any receipts. Instead, you link your credit card and choose 5 stores or restaurants you frequent. Whenever you use your linked card to make purchases at those places, you’ll receive a certain number of points for every dollar you spend.

Bonus – once you’ve claimed 5 deals, you get to score bonus points by playing a Snake game! Aaron was made for this app.

We chose Target, Bath and Body Works, Starbucks, McDonalds, and Chipotle for our five core destinations. But other offers have come in since we initially signed up for this app. You can also get points for taking surveys in the app and by playing a basketball game twice a day.

Want to give Drop a try? Use our referral code x4u82 to sign up and get 10,000 points (equivalent to $10) when you link your first card.

Have used any of the above apps to get cash back or redeem gift cards? Which is your favorite? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.

Our Favorite Survey Apps That Will Pay You Money – No, Really!

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Please note: This post contains affiliate/referral links which means that when you click through them, we may be financially compensated for directing you there. We just thought you should know.

Looking to earn a little extra money in your free time? If so, you may be interested in a few of our favorite survey apps!

Money Making Survey Apps

Whether you’re sitting in a waiting room or are looking for something to do on your down time, there are plenty of ways to make money on your phone. From cash back apps to survey apps, Kati has brought in just under $2000 in 2022 by utilizing these resources on her phone. Want to get started? Here are the apps Kati has been using and would recommend.

Checkout 51

You may have seen us recommend this app on our Essential Cash Back Grocery Apps post. In fact, this app is a multifunctional one – you can get cash back on grocery purchases, gas and yes – SURVEYS! Cash out when you hit $20 and receive the funds through PayPal. Please note – this app seems to take the longest to hit the $20 threshold of all the apps mentioned here.

Survey Pop

This has quickly become one of Kati’s favorite apps! It features short surveys and has a withdrawal threshold of only $5. Choose to receive your payment through PayPal, a Visa gift card, or a gift card to your favorite retailer.

Sign up with our referral code (6QAAYJ) and you’ll get a $1 survey on sign up.

Drop

This is another app that serves multiple purposes. You can securely link your credit cards to earn points on everyday purchases and play games like Snake and Basketball to earn points daily. Drop also features surveys and you can cash them out for a variety of gift cards – including those to Amazon, Walmart, and various restaurants. This app has helped us pay for a lot of this year’s Christmas gifts.

Want to give this app a try? Sign up through our referral code (x4u82) and you’ll get 10,000 points ($10) once you link a credit card.

Pogo

This is the newest app we’ve added. Its also a multifunctional app, providing points for a variety of reasons including everyday purchases, surveys and location rewards. You do need to link your credit card to use this app. What we love about this app is that even if you don’t finish a survey you’ll still get points rewarded. Additionally, the cash out minimum is only 3000 points ($3 dollars) via PayPal.

Want to give this app a try? Sign up through our referral code (QJN3Z8) and earn an extra 250 points once you hit 1000 points on the app.

Do you have a favorite app you use to earn money by taking surveys? Share in the comments!

8 Ways to Save Money on Gas for Your Car

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With gas prices on the rise, you may be looking for ways to save on fuel. Discover a few top recommendations we’ve received to help make every dollar at the pump stretch its furthest.

Our family last summer on a camping adventure!

If you want to save money on gas, here are a few simple ways to get started:

Scope out the best price at the pump and get cash back on each fill up. One of my favorite cash back apps, Checkout 51, offers you great deals not only on groceries and prescriptions, but gas too! Pull up the gas tab and you’ll see the price of gas in your area and the amount per gallon in cash back you’ll get. We typically get ~$0.10-$0.15 per gallon, sometimes up to $0.25, in cash back through this app and can withdraw it by either PayPal or check once a $20 balance in cash back is hit.

Be a more relaxed driver. This one might take some practice, but is another great way to save on the number of trips you’ll need to make to the pump. In fact, the US Department of Energy indicates that if you ‘hit the breaks’ on aggressive driving – hard breaking, quick accelerating and speeding – you can reduce your gas mileage by 15-30% at highway speeds and 10-40% in stop-and-go traffic. That’s an equivalent gas savings of $0.36-$0.44 per gallon. Need some help, newer cars have a helpful gas mileage feature on their dashboard console.

Not sure what speed you should go? The most fuel efficient speeds have been found to be between 55 and 65 mph.

Check Your Tires. It may not seem like routinely checking your tires would impact your gas use; however, maintaining proper tire pressure will make an impact on the frequency of your fill ups. Underinflated tires can actually increase consumption by up to 3%.

Clean out your car. If your family is like mine, it doesn’t take very long for things to accumulate inside our vehicle. Those items not only clutter up the inside, but add to to overall weight of the vehicle. The more weight, the harder your car has to work and thus the more gas it has to use. Get rid of the heavy stuff just sitting there.

Park further away. No one likes parking further away. Especially in Michigan, in winter. But if you are able to find a spot more quickly by parking a little further away, do it! Not only will this use less fuel than if you spend your time circling around a parking lot or a street looking for a spot, but walking a little further is good for your body too.

Carpool when you can. This one may not be realistic for every family – I know its not for mine; however, it is when I think about some of the work trips that I take. When possible, I try to carpool with others from my office if we have a meeting outside the office we need to attend together.

Work from home if you can. Again, this one might not be realistic for everyone; but if your work allows you to work from home even just occasionally, this can help you save on gas too.

Join a Fuel Rewards Program. Another way to save a little money on gas fill ups is to join a fuel rewards program. Many gas stations offer them. For example, we save $0.05 per gallon at Marathon gas stations through their fuel rewards program. If you shop at a certain brand of gas stations more often than others, this can be another way to save a little more when you fill up on gas.

Hope this helps you save a few bucks at the pump. Have any additional ways you save? Share them in the comments.

Free Download: Make a Budget Worksheet

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Just starting out on your money saving journey? This free Make a Budget resource from the Federal Trade Commission might be a valuable resource to help you get your money on track.

Make a Budget Worksheet

This one-page budget worksheet will help you plan and track your spending – giving each dollar you have a purpose. You can download it for free and fill it out on your computer or order a tear-off pad at no cost to you.

This resource is made available through the Federal Trade Commission.