New Grocery Store Apps Make Saving Money Easy

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - We all know we can save money with coupons, but most of us just can't find the time to clip and use them.

Now, some new, free apps let you skip the clipping, and instead, bring the coupons, specials and even recipes right to your phone.

Here are four of them:

Food on the Table:

You type in what foods your family eats... like casseroles, salads, vegetarian or low carb, and then it gives you recipes based on your preferences and what's on sale at the grocery store you select.

You can adjust the serving size, and the recipe automatically scales the ingredients to that new number. Then, the ingredients and amounts are automatically added to your grocery list. You can send that list to your e-mail and print it, or you can use it right from your phone while you're shopping.

Kristen and Mike Palumbo of Mt. Lebanon tried the apps for us, and they really like this one.

"Sometimes when you have three kids, they're not going to always eat what you make," Mike said. "You get stuck in a rut, so it gives you some ideas about other meal suggestions."

PushPins:

This also lets you chose your grocery store and tells you the weekly sale items.

You can scan items, at home or at the grocery store, and the item name and image appear.

You can then send your grocery list, with the items and images, directly to someone else's phone if they're doing the shopping.

Mike also liked this feature.

"When we talk about one person who makes the grocery list and the other person does the grocery shopping, I think this is helpful in that way," he said.

Grocery IQ:

This app incorporates coupons from the website Coupons.com.

You type in what you want to buy, and the app lets you know what's on sale in that food category. You simply touch to clip it. Then, you print out the coupons, either wirelessly from your phone or send it to your computer to print.

Grocery IQ also has the scanning feature, and you can speak to your phone and tell it what you need to add to your grocery list, and it will give you a choice of what to add.

Giant Eagle:

Giant Eagle recently upgraded its own app.

On this, you'll also find the weekly circular information on sales like you find on some of the other apps, and you can create your shopping list here, too.

This app also allows you to clip e-coupons and load them directly onto your Giant Eagle Advantage Card, so you don't even have to bring any physical coupons. And if your list is on your phone, it makes it easy to see exactly what the coupon is for.

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