Money-saving apps to make you feel less skint

Your phone might be the most expensive thing you own – and the swishest – but once you’ve got that iPhone 7 set up or the new Galaxy S8 (you lucky devil), you can look forward to a lifetime of savings ahead. All you need are some savvy, moneysaving apps.

Now, we’re not talking budgeting or financial tracking apps – we wrote a brilliant piece on those here – but voucher apps, which let you do what you like best and still save. So, shop ‘til you drop, travel around the world, eat your heart out and give in to that Starbucks habit. Every. Single. Day.

To get the most out of voucher apps, expect to submit a few details about yourself after downloading the app, like location, so that offers can be targeted to where you are. Once that’s out of the way, the app can get to work and help you find the best deals. (Just be sure you’re using legitimate and approved apps, to be safe).

There’s no denying it: phones are good. And here are seven voucher apps to get downloaded onto yours ASAP.

Though travel’s meant to be fun, it can also be stressful. Not least because finding the right place to stay at the best price can be tricky. HotelTonight works with hotels to get last-minute discounts (up to a week in advance) on their empty rooms, which means that you can get the best deals. With lots of categories to choose from, it’s easy to customise and find the right hotel for your stay. Booking a room only takes 10 seconds – so whether you’re planning a longer holiday or a weekend adventure, this is the app to use.

One of the Moneysaving apps for students. Whether you’re into fashion, music, or the movies, the NUS extra app will show you exactly where and how you can save money at more than 150 stores and restaurants. You can easily see where the participating venues are and you’ll be the first to know about any new discounts as soon as they come up.

Fancy Tex-Mex tonight? Or Japanese for your date this weekend? With Tastecard you can get 50% off or 2-for-1 meals at participating venues. There are more than 7,000 venues to choose from and the app makes it easy to find the restaurants closest to you, see what other people have been saying about them, and save your favourite haunts into an easy-to-access list. After a free 30 day trial, you’ll have to pay a (small) fee to continue using the app. But just think of the sushi in your future.

HotelTonight is great for spontaneous, last-minute hotel bookings. Looking to plan further ahead? Then take a look at Trivago. It’s the world’s largest online hotel search provider with more than 1 million hotels on the roster, and you can easily search for the best deal by date and location. Through the app, you won’t just find the best prices – you’ll also be notified of new discounts and you’ll be able to read other travellers’ reviews of the venues.

HotelTonight is great for spontaneous, last-minute hotel bookings. Looking to plan further ahead? Then take a look at Trivago. It’s the world’s largest online hotel search provider with more than 1 million hotels on the roster, and you can easily search for the best deal by date and location. Through the app, you won’t just find the best prices – you’ll also be notified of new discounts and you’ll be able to read other travellers’ reviews of the venues.

The app promises to help you get the best discounts in the form of voucher codes and 2-for-1 deals with some of the UK’s most popular stores, restaurants, and attractions. Though the vouchers ‘only’ work with 2,500 retailers (fewer than vouchercloud), many of the codes are completely exclusive to the app, and will be sorted for you by closest location and brand. To make things even easier, the vouchers can be redeemed directly from your phone!