Uncensored Money Season Three: 8 Popular Apps to Save You Money
Melissa Browne: Ex-Accountant, Ex-Financial Advisor, Ex-Working Till I Drop, Now Serial Entrepreneur & Author, Financial Wellness Advocate, Living a Life by Design | 15/06/2022
Show Notes
There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about inflation rates, lifestyle creep, interest rates and the cost of living. So over the next few episodes, Mel and Lawsie will unpack these topics and share practical tips you can implement straight away.
In this episode, Mel and Lawsie share their 8 favourite apps to help you save money, including on groceries, fuel, eating out, energy and shopping.
During this episode, Mel also mentions a download listing 8 of their favourite apps: https://www.melissabrowne.com.au/moneysavingapps
If you know you need more help with your finances make sure you join the waitlist for the next round of the My Financial Adulting Plan.
If you're not already, come play over at insta at MelBrowne.Money and make sure you are signed up to Mel's Money Musings and Monday Money Moments (yep, we love us some alliteration) for more tips, tricks and ideas on how to best work with your money.
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Transcript
Mel: So this month, we're talking a lot about interest rate rises, inflation rates, and cost of living.And today, particularly we wanna talk about our eight favourite apps to help you with the cost of living. Because rather than you go and try and find out a whole lot of solutions or spend hours online, trying to figure out where is the cheapest lettuce. I mean, if KFC using cabbages because of the shortage and how expensive it is, you don't wanna spend an hour trying to find a) the lettuce that exists and b) the cheapest lettuce that exists. So we've found a whole bunch of apps that will help you with that from fuel to groceries, to happy hours, to eating out to bills and more. So, what we thought we would do today is to run you through them, to let you know a little bit about them, and then there's a download so that you can download them and play with them yourself. So, Lawsie. Take us away.
Lawsie: all right. Well, as we know, groceries are something. Well, I shouldn't say that everyone has, but I assume most people buy groceries unless you are very affluent and enjoy eating out all the time show.
Mel: Even if I had more money than I knew what to do with, I would hate eating out all the time.
Lawsie: No. Oh, me too. Yeah, me too. So on that assumption, we're gonna be that everybody spends money on groceries. And so our first two that we are gonna look at are focusing on ways to save money for groceries for you. There are heaps of ways to do this. I'll preface that as well, but these are just two apps that we like. And so the first one is Frugl. So F R U G L. Um, and what this app does is it allows you to compare the prices of items between the major grocery stores. And when I say major with looking at Coles and Woolies. It doesn't go across all of them, but what it at least can help you do is if you are needing to.
I know, particular loaf of bread or oats or whatever it is, whatever the thing is that you are needing, you put that product in and then it'll show you the price comparison between those supermarkets. Or if you've got an item in your pantry with the app, you can go and scan the barcode. And again, it'll do that same price comparison function for you. So it's just a super easy way to be able to compare who's got what the cheap. Um, again, it's gonna come down to, if you want to run around between all the different grocery stores to save the dollars, and then you wanna factor in your fuel if they’re, you know, on opposite ends of town, all that kind of stuff, but this is a starting point.
Mel: online and what their, uh, fee is to have it delivered.
Lawsie: Yeah. So, but at least that way, it's just something super easy for you to be able to compare and then you can build a list from it. So if, um, you know, there's particular items that you buy regularly, then you might wanna be able to have a look at those. And of course, then just applying logic to if cash flow permit, you might decide, oh, cool things are significantly cheaper. Well, as I might buy up several of those, so then I've got that, you know, storage thing, whatever it's called. I can't even think it.
Mel: Yeah. Bulk food. Bulk. Yes.
Lawsie: Keep buying it in bulk. Thank you. And, you know, keeping it in your pantry stuff. So you've got easy access to it. So yeah, Frugl is the first one on our list.
Mel: Cause there is something around, uh, where you pay more for convenience and loyalty. And if you are just, I'm a Coles person (and I’m not a Coles person). But if you’re like, oh I’m a Coles person, that's just where I always shop you are gonna pay a premium. For not doing your homework or not being prepared to do a bit of legwork. So, and this is part of our thing is what are you prepared to suffer for? You can complain about the cost of living, or you can look at how can I do put in place these things in order to save. So yes, it might mean opening multiple accounts so that you've got Coles online. Woolworths online. Aldi, what have you. Um, yes, it might mean doing some cost comparison and then doing a shop at more than one outlet. But as you just said, if you're buying in bulk, if something's cheap. So I buy a Carmen’s museli. If I found it on special, I'm gonna buy six of them cause I'm not gonna ravage them and therefore eat too much of them. Oh my gosh, I'm gonna have it for every meal. Cause I've got it. I will just have it over time or my oat milk that I have or you know, all your staples. This is a beautiful way to price compare. If you look at it and go, it's kind of worth it, but the shipping means that it's not really then, well, could I afford to buy six of them and therefore it outweighs that. Mel: So the other one is Super Cook. I really like this one. So my husband is the main cook in our household. So every Sunday he does a massive cook but he's an amazing recipe person. Uh, he's great at following a recipe. If he had to, if you said to him, I have a challenge for you with these four ingredients, what can you do? He's not gonna have a clue, whereas I'm the person that grew up with the Chinese with the Curry and the Scott with the, um, what was it called? A bubble and squeak where I do leftovers. Like if I was in the desert and you gave me six things, I could make a meal from it. That's my superpower. So I am the leftovers Queen as Lawsie has seen my dessert plate.
Lawsie: I have, I have indeed.
Mel: So, if you are like my husband, then something like super cook is fantastic. So you pop the ingredients you have at home into the app, and it will give you recipes you can make. So instead of you dashing to the shop because you need X, Y, Z, you don't need that anymore. Cause you've, it will throw out recipes for you based on what you've got.
If all you had is tamarind sauce and cottage cheese I reckon it's gonna struggle, but you know, you throwing some staples you're gonna be okay.
Lawsie: Yeah. And I think where that's a really nice thing too, is if you've bought too much particular, like say fresh produce and you've got only too many zucchini sitting in your drawer and you're going I don't know what to do with all of these zucchinis, at least that's gonna give you some different ideas as well. So it's yes, it’s helping you reduce that need to rush to the shops and buy extra bits that you need for this particular recipe. But also then it's using up food that you've already bought and that food's not going to waste. So you're kind of killing a few birds there. Yeah, that sounds a bit violent, but you know, ticking a few things off at once clearly.
Mel: Well, we did this with kale recently cause we used kale in a salad, which I can't believe I'm that person. We were throwing a lot out. But we just don't like it enough to be using everywhere else. And Tone when he did a search, he figured out that he could swap it for something that was in the cruciferous soup that we make all the time. So we swapped it for baby spinach and suddenly we're using all of it. So that's where I think these swaps are really helpful
Lawsie: or like massage it with some oil and put it in the oven and then it's like kale chips. Mm mm.
Mel: Yeah. I'm not gonna do that. that's so easy.
Lawsie: Next. All right. The next one, everyone has been talking about fuel. There's definitely a few, um, apps around that do this, but the one that we've selected is Fuel Map just because it works all across Australia. It relies on the everyday person putting in the fuel prices at the petrol station that they, you know, currently filling up at, or have seen on their drive and whatever, but, or just allows that you can then go into that app, search for petrol stations near you find who's got the cheapest fuel and then go and fill up there. So that's just sort of a really easy way. For most places you've got multiple petrol stations that you can choose to go and fill up in. So you might have to drive slightly further or you might have to do a U-turn cause it's not convenient. But given the huge variation that we're seeing in petrol prices this is just something that could be really helpful for you to use. Um, there's other State based ones as well. And in New South Wales, it's got government one and other States have got different versions as well, all sort of operating to do the same thing, but find the one that works for you and take the 10 seconds before you need to fill up to see which one is the right thing for you. And also if you know that there's a particular petrol station, say for us as prime example, our closest petrol station is notoriously more expensive than anywhere else. Um, and it's because of their location, they can be. Cause there's a big difference between where they are on either side going up and down the mountains and so they are more expensive. So it's also just being a little bit savvy about that too, or just going, yes. I really wanna get home, but I know that that drive home is gonna mean I have to use that petrol station the next time I go. So being a little bit proactive and going, okay, where is a cheaper place that I can fill up before on my way home or before I need to. So then you therefore avoiding having to use that more expensive petrol station, unless you wanna push your car down the hill too.
Mel: Yeah, the next, next one. And, oh my gosh. I hate putting petrol in my car. So again, I'm that person. But it's, I'm trying to make a habit at the moment, too, of keeping my eye out. If I see cheap petrol, I'll get it. Even if I've still got half a tank. Which it's ridiculous, but that's where we're at…
Lawsie: but it's all to save dollars.
Mel: Exactly.
Mel: I really like the next one. So it's called Eat Club. Uh, and so this is if you love going out, but you're finding the cost of going out is actually really causing stress and really something that you can't afford to do at the moment, or you really wanna challenge your cost of eating out. So it's one called Eat Cub. And what it does is yes, you couldn't do potentially, you know, if you went, I want a Saturday night date. That's gonna be a bit harder to do, but if you were someone that could be a little bit flexible and you were like, you know what, I wanna go out one day this week, one night, but I don't really care when it is. When restaurants have empty tables, they upload them last minute deals that you can redeem where they're cheap. And also the thing that I really like about it is it reduces food waste. So if I'm there on a Wednesday night, I can jump on and see which restaurants are near me that have uploaded their tables, what deals they have, and then I can book in. So it's a cool way of saving money, but also helping with food waste. and it's gonna be cheaper than Uber Eats. So, and let's be honest. It just, if you go to a restaurant it's always better quality than the Uber Eats that you are ordering in.
Lawsie: Yeah. So, and it's kind of fresher and hotter and all those things too.
Mel: Yeah, exactly. So if you can get a deal on eating out, then Eat Club's the one. Yeah, but it's not just eating out the next one. I kinda like too.
Lawsie: And this is where I think this highlights too, that we are not total killjoys. That it's yes. We're trying to find ways and show you how to be more savvy with your dollars and save. But we also wanna be realistic. I mean, I know you and I certainly wanna be able to go out to dinner every now and again. And of course go and have a wine. Or two or three . So our next one is called the Happiest Hour. Look, to be honest, it is probably a little bit more focused on the capital cities, but it lets you know when and where to grab a great deal on drinks and local happy hours near you. And it also does food. So that's just a nice way that you can go out. I think the other thing that's really good with it is it means that you can go and see or visit other places that you might not otherwise, cause I think we can all be a bit guilty of going, oh the local, we always just go there or we particularly like this bar and that bar could be amazing, but also it's nice to be able to must be forced (in inverted commas) to go try out other places and see what they've got to offer. And if you can do that and still get some treat cheap drinky drinkies, we're all about celebrating that. So yeah, that one's the Happiest Hour.
Mel: no, I love that one too. Especially if we, we used to go down into Melbourne all the time and we go, oh, where should we go out? And you end up going to the same place. Whereas I love this as a way that you can go and experience different places in a city that you're not used to as well. And you're not gonna get stung for the cost of drinks. The next one's to do with energy. So we are back on being killed joys. No, no. We want you to be warm in winter.
Lawsie: We do.
Mel: So this is called JouleBug, J O U L E B U G. As we say, we've gotta download for all of this, with links and everything. So what I really like about this one is this uses gamification, so that you can have energy savings and sustainable living to help lower energy bills and reduced waste. So yes, there are apps that help with light bulbs. Yes, there are apps with understanding how much your new appliances are gonna cost, but I really like this because it's the gamification. And if you've got flatmates, if you've got a family, it's getting them involved as well. And actually having it be something fun, but also reducing the cost, which especially in winter can be a major cost. And especially if you're working from home, you know, it's so easy. I was doing some work at home today like I do. And during the middle of the day, I'm in an apartment in the city for part of the week. And it can just be really a bad habit just to leave the air conditioner on in here and forget about it. And it was about 10 o'clock. I'm like, oh no, that doesn't actually need to be on. So it's just, if I had something like this, I just know that I would wanna win
Lawsie: you've been nerding out on it.
Mel: so it's a cool way. And it's just about sustainability as well. What can you be bringing in and doing, and understanding what you should be putting your air conditioner as settings for it to be most efficient and leaving lights on and all that sort of stuff.
Lawsie: wearing a jumper if you need to. Revolutionary. As I sit here in a jacket and have a blankie over my knees.
Mel: Yes. I love it. The next one's one of my favourite Law-dog.
Lawsie: It is your favourite one. I feel like should let you do the spiel on this one, but, Shop Back. So it is a bit funny in terms of it saves you dollars, but not directly. So it's not like going to Frugl or something going cool, I can save $5 on this particular product. But what it does mean is that if you, you know, you can have it as an extension on your browser, you can use it as an app if you're buying stuff on your phone. If there's a deal that can be had, or like a shop back arrangement on a particular good or service that you're buying, then you will get a credit for that. And it sits in your little Shop Back account. So you don't get an immediate discount. It will sit there because obviously if you buy something, you can still take it back to the shop. So there is a wait time before you will see the dollars for this, but you will see that start to build up in your account. And then you can choose to either purchase something directly through that using those funds or transfer it to your bank account, but it's just a nice way, particularly if you're doing a lot of shopping online, or even if you're doing clicking collect for certain things.
Mel: I do all my shopping online.
Lawsie: Um, Yeah, it just means then that you can have those things and you're just getting that extra perk and you know, where let's be honest, if you're shopping around on price with things, you're gonna be looking at multiple sites. So you may as well have this working in the background for you as well because something might go, you might go, oh, that is the best price. But hang on, if I factor in my Shop Back, I'm actually saving a little bit more. So it's just one of those things. So easy, like if you and I can set it up and when tech challenged at the best of times, most people will be able to set this up and get benefits from it. Um, and I think as well, like they, I mean, it's a marketing platform, let's be honest. So yeah, there is different times too, where you can get extra Shop Backs and things. So again, it's keeping an eye out for those deals. If I know I see it for some dog food things, and other random things, if I'm gonna get extra Shop Back points for something that I'm gonna buy anyway well, Of course, I'm gonna buy that and then it can just sit there for when the dogs need it.
Mel: Look, I love it and I know there's different, as you said, there's different versions of this, but this is one that we use and we know. I have, and I think it was you that told me, cause I used to forget all the time to use it. But I just put the extension on my browser. So that way, if I'm in a site and as soon as I open it, it pops up to tell me there's a Shop Back deal and all I have to do is activate it and keep shopping. There's nothing else I have to do. And it's used on everything from Bunnings to The Iconic, to, Dan Murphy's to Net-a-Porter. And I have over the couple of years that I've been using it saved, like I've got thousands of dollars on Shop Back, which is probably a testament to how much I spend online, but it's so been worth it and I'm not shopping anymore. So I actually don't opt into their marketing emails. So you can receive marketing emails where it tells you about the specials they have in the stores where they'll offer you a higher percentage.
So you could potentially look at that and bulk by based on that. But I would just rather not have spending trigger. I always unsubscribed for many of those marketing emails anyway. So I naturally unsubscribe from Shop Back, but it's just, if I'm gonna shop anyway, I may as well have that activated and earn me some quite literal cash. And then you can choose what you do with that. That could be for investing for me. It's for crypto. For someone else that might be for Christmas, then you can then choose what you put that towards.
Lawsie: Yeah, definitely.
Mel: And the very last one is called Get Reminded. So part of reducing your cost of living is not paying extra on bills simply because it's life admin and you've forgotten or the dogs eating your homework or something. So this reminds you when bills such as car insurance are due, so you avoid late payments and you shop around for a better deal. So it's called Get Reminded. And I just really like it because it is that little precursor to go, hang on. This is coming up, have a bit of a shop around and then make sure you pay it on time. I mean, you should have your bills automated anyway, so that you are paying them ahead of time. But for some of them like council rates, et cetera, you, you may not. So at least this way…
Lawsie: Yeah. And I think with this app, yes, you do need to spend time in setting it up. But the nice thing with it too, is even things like phone contracts you can put in and whatever. So if you're on a two year phone plan, at least you're gonna get that reminder in advance. And so you don't just default roll over to whatever they're doing because in that time, as we all know the phone plans change and things generally get cheaper or you can be getting more for the same amount. So it is just that, um, reminder to shop around and look at all of those things, particularly when you can be in control of it, like you council rates and stuff, obviously. That is what it is. But if you've got, you know, your different insurances, phone bills, anything that is more discretionary, just making sure that you're getting the best deal as much as it can be painful and looking at all those things, spending those few minutes, each time when those things come up will save you dollars in the long term.
Mel: Yeah. Absolutely. So where we suggest you start is start with either the quick wins. So start with the one that you go, ooh, that sounds fun. Or gee I need help with that. Or gee, that's my most expensive thing. That's the one I'm really struggling with at the moment. So if you are really feeling it with food, start with food. If you heard about Shop Back and went, oh, that sounds good, start with that. So start with one at a time and maybe over the next eight weeks, add another one. And that way you are not trying to overload with more life admin by more apps, but it is using technology to your advantage so that you are not having to do the legwork, and you are letting someone else do the legwork for you. We've put the link in the downloads in the show notes so that you can just download it and then run off and use it. As we said, it's not exhaustive because we didn't wanna overwhelm you, but it's eight of our favourite apps.
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