Save Money on Dining with Smartphone Apps

 

This pains me to say, but congrats to the Detroit Tigers for winning last night and becoming the AL Champs. The team had struggled most of the season and turned it up in September, rolling into the playoffs and playing some solid ball. I do wonder if Verlander now regrets throwing the All-Star Game. Good luck against the NL without home field advantage (not that they needed it last series)!

As for my Yanks, great season. They made it a lot further than I expected when Rivera went down and looked on the verge of collapse the entire second half of the season. This is a testament to Girardi as a manager, who kept the team together to have the best AL record and advance to the second round of the playoffs. Watching Derek Jeter go down broke my heart, but he will have the surgery and rehab during the off-season to be ready by Opening Day. I’m excited to see the moves the Yankees make in the off-season- hopefully, they can get rid of A-Rod (I’ve never like him) though I can admit he gets too much blame. Swisher most likely played his last season in pinstripes as well and I’ll be sad to see a Buckeye go.

The NLCS has been full of offense and I think it will go the full seven games to crown a victor. I’m still up in the air for who I’m pulling for. The Giants surprised me after Cabrera’s suspension and their comeback against the Reds (who I thought was the most solid club this season), but the Cards are downright exciting to watch. Either way, the World Series should be a battle unless the break cools the Tigers’ bats. What are your thoughts on the playoffs? And for all of us without a team still alive, only 163 more days until we start up again!

Now for the meat and potatoes on saving money! Sorry, I just need to get my thoughts out and give some props to the teams still playing :). As I mentioned last week, Smartphone apps are a great tool when it comes to finding a deal and saving money. This post will give you a few apps to check out when it comes to dining and going out on the town:

1. Groupon and Living Social apps are compatible with both iPhones and Androids and offer tons of deals for local restaurants daily. Both can be used for sightseeing and attractions as well.

2. Meal Ticket is a great app for finding coupons and deals on local restaurants and it’s now available for Android users as well! There’s no need to print anything out, you can just show the restaurant your phone and it connects to your social network so you can get friend’s recommendations too!

3. If you’re looking for a restaurant recommendation and reading reviews try- TripAdvisor, Yelp, or Foodspotting. Yelp has also partnered with OpenTable an app that allows you to make reservations without the hassle of calling. All are available to both iPhone and Droid users.

4. Looking to save on drinks? Happy Hours and GoTime.com are great apps for searching for a cheap drink and if you’re really interested in saving money on alcohol. iPhone users can download the Bang/Buck app that optimizes your drinking by calculating your spend/drink content. Little hardcore but hey it saves money!

5. Last but not least- Kids Eat Free.  This iPhone app scours the area for restaurants offering up free meals for kids. A great tool for families looking to cut down on dinner costs.

All of the above are free apps that are available to smartphone users. There are other apps out there that offer similar services like Zagat, but free is always more appealing to me! If you have an app you’d like to recommend, please do! Always looking for the latest and greatest ways to save!