Sometimes saving money in college can be harder than college itself. You’d think that with so little money that you would have an easier time managing your finances. However, managing your finances as a college student tends to be more difficult when you start to calculate rent, groceries and other essential expenses, like phone bills and text books. If you barely have an income, how are you going to budget your life so that at the end of the month you have enough capital to pay for everything? If you have student loans, budgeting could be even more complicated. Luckily, there are a number smart phone and tablet applications that can help. Here are five great money-saving apps for the broke college kid.

1. This is a great application, because it can allow college students to save a tremendous amount of money on groceries and other essentials that they may need for the dorm – including toiletries and miscellaneous items. When it comes down to it, this application will let you know when the grocery store is having a discount or is marking off a certain item in store. The app will then give you a list of coupon codes that you can manage and organize.
2. Gas Buddy. For college students that do a lot of driving – maybe for a part time job – this application allows you to find the closest and cheapest gas stations in your area. In an era when gas prices ebb and flow between expensive and exorbitant, it can be important to find the best deals, because oftentimes, driving a car can be a luxury that many college students can barely afford.
3. This is another amazing application that is free and can be managed from a website account and from your smartphone or tablet. This incredible application is like your personal financial advisor. Mint will manage your grocery spending, bills, rent and even your student loans. All you have to do is enter a few specifications and this application will do everything for you. It will even send you notices if you have spent too much money on a certain category.
4. If you are the kind of person that keeps their receipts in an envelope, this application will make sure that you don’t have to anymore. With this application, all your receipts and proof of spending is kept safely in an application that you can download from your smartphone or tablet. The best part about this application is that you don’t need carry around those heavy envelopes, which can be burdensome if you have limited space.
5. This is a great app for all those college students out there looking for some free or inexpensive furniture for their dorm or apartment. Oftentimes, it can be too expensive to purchase furniture new, which is why this app comes in handy. All you need to do is fire up the application and find all the yard sales in your community. A cheap couch? – Coming right up.