Acorns: The Automatic Spare Change Investor
You know that loose change jangling around in your pocket? What if I told you it could grow into thousands of dollars without you even thinking about it? Acorns reported over $8.20 billion in assets under management across a user base of around 5.7 million users, with an estimated average account size of around $1,439. This micro-investing app rounds up your everyday purchases to the nearest dollar and invests that spare change into diversified ETF portfolios. A 2024 study of Acorns users who started in 2015 showed that the average customer contributed about $4,700 per person over nine years, with a net amount of about $1,750 after withdrawals, plus another $750 in investment returns, ending up with roughly $2,500 in total from their roundup savings. It’s like having a financial advisor in your pocket who works while you sleep. The automatic roundups at Acorns make saving and investing easy, and most investors will be surprised by how quickly those pennies accumulate. Starting costs just $3 per month, making it accessible even for college students who get a free year.
Rakuten: Turn Shopping Into Cash
Shopping online has become second nature, but what if every purchase could put money back in your pocket? Rakuten has become one of the 15 million users who use Rakuten to get Cash Back. Since 1999, we’ve paid our members over $3.6 Billion in Cash Back. This cash-back powerhouse partners with over 3,500 stores, offering anywhere from 1% to 40% back on your purchases. Our managing editor uses Rakuten for most of his online purchases and has earned over $1,100 in just under four years. The beauty lies in its simplicity – just click through Rakuten before making any online purchase, and watch the cash accumulate. For the most part, the amount of cash back you receive will depend on the brand you’re ordering from; cash back can be as low as 1% and as much as around 20% — and there’s no limit to how much money you can cash out. You get paid quarterly via PayPal or check, turning your regular shopping habits into a steady income stream.
Ibotta: Receipt Scanning Made Profitable
Your grocery receipts are literally money waiting to be claimed. In 2023, the company surpassed $1.5 billion cash rewards paid to over 50 million consumers since the company’s founding. Ibotta revolutionizes the mundane task of grocery shopping by offering cash back simply for scanning your receipts. More than 2,400 consumer packaged-goods brands were using Ibotta. Brands using the network experience a 42% rate of new-to-brand conversions. There is a 41% lift in incremental units sold for brands leveraging the network. Ibotta offers cashback rewards on purchases made through its partnered brands – typically 5-10%. The most popular products being purchased through Ibotta are produce (18%), followed by packaged food items (12%), health & beauty items (11%), household items (7%), and alcohol (6%). The app has expanded beyond groceries to include restaurants, clothing stores, and even alcohol purchases. What started as a simple receipt-scanning app has evolved into the largest technology IPO in Colorado history when it went public in 2024.
Oportun (formerly Digit): The Set-and-Forget Saver
Saving money is hard when you’re constantly thinking about it, but what if an algorithm could do the heavy lifting for you? Oportun, formerly known as Digit, is an automated savings app that tracks your checking account’s activity and periodically moves funds into savings. Its algorithms analyze your spending patterns and determine safe amounts to transfer — ensuring that you’re never left short on cash. This app is perfect for those who identify more as spenders than savers, as it takes the decision-making process out of your hands. Oportun helps you save money without overthinking it. After a free 30-day trial, Oportun costs $5 per month. With this fee, you gain access to its auto-savings feature and the ability to set savings goals directly within the app. The beauty of this approach is that it works in the background, quietly building your savings without disrupting your daily financial routine. Think of it as having a financially responsible friend who automatically stashes away money for you whenever they know you won’t miss it.
YNAB (You Need A Budget): The Financial Reality Check
The YNAB subreddit boasts 205,000 subscribers, proving that people are serious about taking control of their money. Unlike other apps that work passively, YNAB demands your active participation in planning every dollar you earn. You have to be committed to keep up with YNAB. By design, it works best for users who want to get hands-on while planning for their money. This zero-based budgeting approach means assigning every dollar a job before you spend it, whether that’s rent, groceries, or your emergency fund. YNAB costs $14.99 if you pay per month, or $109 if you pay annually, although you can try it out in a free 34-day trial. College students can use YNAB for free for a year. The investment pays off quickly – users report breaking the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle and building substantial emergency funds within months. It’s not just about saving money; it’s about fundamentally changing your relationship with spending.
Goodbudget: The Digital Envelope System
Remember when your grandparents used to stuff cash into different envelopes for various expenses? Goodbudget brings that time-tested method into the digital age with remarkable results. Goodbudget is more about planning your finances than tracking previous transactions. This app is based on the envelope budgeting system, in which you portion out your monthly income toward specific spending categories (called envelopes). Instead of physical envelopes, you create virtual ones for groceries, entertainment, gas, and other categories, allocating specific amounts to each. The psychological impact is powerful – when your “restaurant” envelope is empty, you know it’s time to cook at home. The free version allows up to 10 envelopes and one account, while the paid version offers unlimited envelopes and multiple devices. This system forces you to make conscious spending decisions and prevents the mindless swiping that destroys budgets. It’s particularly effective for couples who want to coordinate their spending without constant check-ins about finances.
Capital One Shopping: The Smart Comparison Tool
How many times have you bought something online only to find it cheaper elsewhere the next day? Capital One Shopping combines competitive reward rates with a sold automatic coupon code tool. However, what truly sets it apart are its targeted deals — offers that sometimes appear a day or two after browsing a site. These targeted discounts can far surpass what you’d typically get from other cash-back apps. The browser extension works like having a personal shopping assistant who never sleeps, constantly scanning for better prices and applicable coupon codes. I’ve personally taken advantage of these to get as high as 27% cash-back when checking out at Saks 5th Avenue. Capital One Shopping combines publicly available discount codes with crowd-sourced codes from other app users to try and find the one that will give you the highest discount among available tested offers. The price comparison feature is especially powerful on Amazon, where it immediately shows you if the same product is available cheaper elsewhere. This free tool has saved users millions in unnecessary overspending by doing the comparison shopping automatically.
Empower Personal Dashboard: The Financial Overview Master
Managing money across multiple accounts can feel like juggling flaming torches while riding a unicycle. Empower is a free app that allows you to link all of your accounts in one place, including credit cards, checking accounts, savings accounts and investment accounts. With the Empower Personal Dashboard, you can get a bird’s-eye view of your finances, with several tools to help you dive into the details. Along with tracking your net worth, you can run retirement scenarios and add different savings goals, such as buying a second home or paying for your child’s college education, to see how they affect your plan. The app goes beyond simple account aggregation by offering sophisticated planning tools that were previously only available to wealthy clients with financial advisors. You can track your spending patterns, analyze investment performance, and even get fee analysis for your investment accounts. The retirement planning calculator shows you exactly how much you need to save to maintain your current lifestyle, taking the guesswork out of long-term financial planning. It’s like having a team of financial advisors working for free, providing insights that can save you thousands in fees and help you optimize your entire financial strategy.
