#1. CineMode. This little button can be found in the lower left-hand corner of the CineMark app, and it is advertised before every movie that plays in Cinemark theatres. It is basically a reward for not touching your phone during the movie. As soon as it is advertised on the screen, you open it up, turn CineMode on, put your phone on silent, and don't answer calls or texts during the movie. Actually, just don't touch your phone, put it out of temptation's reach (I use my husband's pocket). After the movie is over, turn CineMode off and you'll receive a coupon code for snacks and stuff at your next visit. The first time it's used it gives the best coupons where you don't have to purchase anything to get a free item. It's usually popcorn or a fountain drink, but once my hubby got a free poster for the upcoming Star Trek movie. Big Hint: as soon as it comes up on your screen, take a screenshot of it and leave it in your camera roll. These tend to disappear as soon as you exit the app if you didn't sign in to a Cinemark account.
#2. GasBuddy. I drive a little Toyota Matrix (V4, 1.8L) for which I only spend about $25 a week on gas, and even then I HATE paying a few extra cents per gallon. With the help of GasBuddy, I quickly figured out that the price per gallon at stations around my work/office is always about 10 cents cheaper than in town. It hardly makes a difference with my car due to the small amount of gas I put in, but with my hubby's huge Dodge Ram that fills up with $140, it's a big deal. He usually drives the 3 extra miles down the highway on Fridays, meets me for lunch, and then fills up at the gas station near my office. This also comes in useful when we travel to bigger cities and need to re-fuel for our drive back home.
#4. Target Cartwheel. This is a new app that was just introduced this year (mid 2013). You have to create an account, but afterwards it allows you to choose products to add to your list to save money on. For example, if I were buying groceries, I'd go to the groceries section and select the items I was going to get, add them to my cartwheel list, and then hand my phone to the cashier at checkout for her to scan the barcode and apply the discounts. The majority of the items offer a 5% discount, but Target always has special offers going on. For example now, during the summer and times of beach bonfires, they have marshmallows at 20% off. These little percentages can add up little by little, and also be stacked with Manufacturer Coupons + Target Coupons for bigger savings. (Stacked = you're able to use them at the same time)
#5. Yowza!! I came across this app while reading an article about "apps every college student should have" and decided to try it out. I don't use it very often now, but during the 7 months of wedding planning I went through, I visited Hobby Lobby almost weekly and never paid full price for an item. This app holds a list of stores that offer mobile coupons. It reads your location and tells you the address and how far away you are from the store and the offers it has. Since Hobby Lobby has different things on sale every week, I always used my "40% off one item" coupon for a big item which was not on sale that week. Beware that some store cashiers will have no idea these things exist. Ironically, during the very last of what had to be at least 20 weekly shopping trips to Hobby Lobby, the cashier told me the store did not take mobile coupons and it had to be done online. I'd never had a problem using these before so I stood my ground and argued that I had used it many times prior to this visit. She finally gave in and, because she didn't read the coupon correctly, gave me 40% off my entire purchase.
#6. Shopkick. I haven't actually earned enough points to get a gift card yet, but it does not hurt to have this app sitting in a corner of my iphone for when I need it. You basically earn "Kicks" every time you enter one of the stores listed in the app, and once you earn enough Kicks you get a gift card to your choice of store listed. Beware, this is an extremely loud app that does not respect the "silence button" on your phone, so don't turn it on if you're in a no-phones-allowed place. It also tends to go off when you're driving by one of the stores which offers Kicks and prompts you to walk into the store and claim them. I have learned to ignore it every time I drive on the highway because I pass by the mall, Target, and Best Buy on a regular basis. It also gives you one Kick each day you open the app, which can slowly add up to a gift card over time.
#7. Plink. Last but not least on my list is Plink. You'll either love it or hate it, depending on how much you care about personal information. It asks you for your login information that you'd use to check your bank account online (username and password) and then links that debit or credit card with your Plink account. Any time you make a qualifying purchase at a store or restaurant with that specific card, points are added to your account. Once the points add up you get to choose your choice of gift card to certain stores listed under Plink. I happened to sign up during a promotional period where I got 1,000 points for a purchase at McDonalds. I bought a medium fountain drink ($1.00) with my Discover card and received 1,000 points about a week later, which are the equivalent to a $10 gift card to either Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Walmart and other well-known retailers. I just haven't decided where I want those $10 to go to, so the points are sitting in my account unredeemed. I don't have anything against linking this to my Discover card, since it's a credit card and has nothing to do with my bank account, but some people might be a little more doubtful and hesitant about things like that.
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