6 Apps for Budget-Conscious Moms

woman putting groceries in basket at a grocery store

Moms know how important budgeting and keeping track of spending is. They also know how complicated it is to keep track of paper coupons, in-store and online deals, rebates, sales, and those unexpected costs that pop up. Now, however, your smartphone can help you keep your budget in check and find deals even you didn’t know existed. Here are our top 6:


Coupon Apps


Looking for coupons? Let these four apps guide you to the savings you've been waiting for:


1. CouponCabin


CouponCabin is a website, an app, and a browser sidekick. Use the app to take pictures of paper coupons for scanning at the store, for getting notifications of nearby deals, and to find freebies and coupon codes. Deals can also be found on the website, and the browser sidekick will alert you to available deals when you are shopping online. There is even a blog that highlights savings you can take advantage of over the bustling holidays.


mom drinking coffee and using cellphone


2. Grocery Pal


Grocery Pal lets you browse weekly sales from a variety of grocery, drug, and discount stores, and you can set the stores you shop at. Build shopping lists, organize lists, share and send lists, and sync with other users. Compare prices across stores. There are also a wide variety of printable coupons available—just browse by category, choose, and print! One added benefit: multiple users can share and sync lists. How cool is that?!


3. RetailMeNot


RetailMeNot has deals, coupons, and notifications when you are near a deal. You can also save your favorite stores and coupons, and get notifications when your saved coupons are expiring. You can also search for in-store and online deals on the website. The Real Deal blog highlights holiday deals and ways to make the most of RetailMeNot. Are you a regular traveler? You can also connect to international versions of the app.


4. SnipSnap


Never forget a coupon again. SnipSnap utilizes the camera on your phone to get rid of that pesky stack of store and restaurant coupons. Just take a picture, and the app creates a scannable coupon that can be saved on your phone. You can also take a picture of an item you want to buy and the app will search deals for you. You can also search those deals yourself, and you can connect with friends to share your favorite deals. Notifications come up when you have an expiring coupon, or when you are near a store you have a saved coupon for. A blog with a blogroll offers tips and tricks.


Available for iPhone and Android, all of these apps are free, but require registration to use.


woman using calculator


Money-Back Apps


Who doesn't want to shop and get money back? We sure know we do. Here's an app that does just that:


5. Ibotta


Do you struggle with paper coupons? If so, try something different. Ibotta offers rebates on a variety of items and at a variety of stores. Simply go to the app and unlock cash rewards on items you are interested in. After shopping, take a picture of your receipt, scan barcodes, and you will have your rebate in your Ibotta account within 48 hours. You can also link a store loyalty account. By doing this, you won’t have to scan or photograph your receipt, for your card will do the work for you. When you have $20 in your account, you can transfer it to PayPal or Venmo, or convert it to a popular gift card.


Ibotta is free and you must register. It, like the other apps mentioned, is available for iPhone and Android.


Budgeting Apps


We understand that budgeting can be complicated, so we found this app that will help out in that department.


6. iReconcile


Need help sticking to your budget, whether yearly or even daily? This is the app for you. You just set up your budget, and you can select only the categories that you need. You can rollover money left from one month’s budget into the next month’s. Since this is an app, you can add your expenditures as you go about your day and follow a daily or weekly budget when on the run. Create reports, split transactions, and autopost recurring charges. There are video tutorials inside the app itself.


iReconcile is available for $2.99 for iPhone/iPad. Try out iReconcile Lite for free. The sync service is $1.99/month or $19.99/year; backup is $2.99/6 months or $4.99/year.