[Archived Post]
As promised in our previous post, we'll be sharing some of our favorite money saving apps for New Yorkers, but the same can be applied to most major cities throughout the world. This post is not sponsored or affiliated with any of the brands mentioned - we know how difficult it can be to be living in a city with limited funds but a strong desire to dine out, and socialize so just wanted to share some of what's worked for us!
Pulsd - This app is fantastic for getting good deals on anything you can think of - restaurants, spa treatments, fitness, takeout, concerts, designer sample sales and more. We're talking seriously good deals, like $89 for a 1 hour massage, 1 hour facial and mani-pedi all in one type-good. We'll also use it sometimes to find out about upcoming events and things in our neighborhood, and you can also search deals by certain date ranges or type. This app is particularly good if you like getting discounts on bottomless mimosa brunches and Michelin star multi-course dinners! To use, you'll click into any deal/event that you're interested in, read all of the instructions and then purchase within the app and show it to the business when you go!
*Bonus* You can also use my referral link and invite code 895679 to get $5 added to your account when you sign up. Try the link on mobile if it's not working on desktop.
Fever - This is our go-to app for planning date nights and GNOs! It has all of the happening and unique events going on around the City and many times at a discount. They host their own events (such as the Beethoven by Candlelight and the Van Gogh experiences) as well as pairing with local restaurants and galleries. They even offer opportunities for helicopter rides, ski trips, graffiti lessons and more. You can search by upcoming events, monthly event calendars or by category. Similarly, you'll buy tickets directly within the app or online and show it to the business at the appropriate time.
*Bonus* You can sign up using our referral code KG33 to receive a $5 voucher.
Seated - This dining app is so unique and easy to use! You'll earn rewards from specific restaurants near you up to 30% off your meal check. They have options for delivery, dine in or takeout and you can make reservations directly in the app for local and big name restaurants including Nobu, Seamore's and more. After dining you'll upload a picture of your receipt and earn dollar values to be used with any of their partners including Nike, Uber Starbucks, NAACP, Ulta, Airbnb and more. They also give you the option of redeeming your rewards for experiences too such as wine tastings and bread making. This app is PERFECT for those nights when you know you want to go out to eat but you don't know where to go - simply pull up the app and see where the best deals are around and be instantly rewarding for spending money you were going to spend anyway! They often run additional promos to save extra $$$.
*Bonus* Sign up using our referral link (best user experience is through mobile) to receive $15 added to your account the first time you dine out!
SpotHero - Best way to easily find, book and save up to 50% on parking. You can either book in advance or on the spot so often times we'll see if we can find street parking first and if we can't, we'll book a spot through SpotHero. You can also use this for finding monthly parking and airport parking for discounted prices as well. It's been a godsend and saved us from many parking tickets and parking related anxiety. 10/10 would recommend. Couldn't find a referral link for sign up but they do have a section for promo codes so I urge you to do a quick Google search when you download to see if anything works!
SpotAngel- While the app claims to have parking deals we've never seen them, however, it is fantastic for finding street parking (especially in those pesky city streets where they purposefully make it unclear if you'll be parking illegally or not). Simply type in your address or desired parking location and it'll pull up a map of the street parking surrounding you, indicating where you can find free parking, timed parking, metered parking, places with available spaces, garage parking and garage deals. Guaranteed to save you on parking tickets and headaches! They do monthly parking as well. Great for Hoboken and Jersey City also. Could not find any discount codes.
MealPal - We used MealPal for lunch during our first year of working in Manhattan and can't even begin to tell you how much money we were able to save (compared to dining out every day). You choose from a couple of different plan options depending on how many times a week you want to eat lunch out, you'll average out about $6 per meal and "book" what you want to eat one day in advance from partnering restaurants (they've got a lot of options including Sweetgreen, Chipotle, CAVA, as well as non-franchise options) and then you'll pick it up during your scheduled time slot. During our experience as a MealPaler, there was a few times when we ran across issues with the app glitching, but the restaurants were always willing to give us our order despite the issues and MealPal would give additional reparations to make up for it which we really respected. This app is particularly good if you're someone who doesn't usually finish your whole meal at once and can get 2+ meals out of it.
Rakuten - We'd be surprised if you haven't heard of Rakuten by now (previously, Ebates) and it is not city specific but we SWEAR by it if you're an avid online shopper. To get the most out of it, we recommend downloading the chrome extension which will inevitably flash red whenever you're shopping on a site with cashback deals. Click the button and it will enable you to seamlessly activate cashback. They have most big name sites (think ASOS, Bloomingdales, Home Depot, Overstock, etc.) as well as smaller businesses and you can get pretty high cashback values (and often combine them with other discount codes) to save big (hint: look out for double cashback deals). Once per quarter Rakuten will send you a check directly in the mail or to your PayPal with the sum of the cashback you've accumulated. Particularly good for Black Friday shopping. It's such an easy way to save money on items you were already planning on purchasing and you can use it to differentiate between multiple retailers that carry a product when you want to ensure that you're getting the best deal! They also have the ability to automatically add promotional codes at checkout now too.
*Bonus* get $30 instantly by signing up using our referral link when you make your first eligible purchase.
Honey - Used pretty much exactly the same as Rakuten except that you're rewarded with points instead of dollars and gift cards instead of checks/PayPal. We have both downloaded and use whichever one has the better deal at checkout. You can redeem the money you save via gift card for major retailers!
*Bonus* sign up using my referral link for 500 Honey Points ($5)
We'd love to hear from you - let me know what your favorite tips, tricks and apps are for saving money!