Let’s face it; the life of a college student can be a struggle. Trying to balance school, work, a social life, and a budget can be hard on an inexperienced young adult. But, there are two apps that can make the balancing just a little bit easier. Hooked and TasteBud are two apps made to help you save money at restaurants around town. They each help save money in different ways, making them the two must-have apps for college students.
Hooked describes itself as “The #1 College Food & Drink App,” and it is clear why. Launched by Tim Rothwell and Brett Berman, Hooked is an app that gives you exclusive deals. Think, “Retail Me Not” but with an hourly time limit.
On the app, you log in, and on the “Hooks” page, you find a list of the current promotions that Hooked has to offer at the restaurants near you. Deals such as buy one get one free, 50% and 20% off of the total are their most common. This app is useful for saving money and just for finding new places in your area to try. The catch is, these deals do not last for long. Under each restaurant is a time limit for the promotion, and it is usually within hours or minutes. The good news is, the deals are always changing, so if you don’t see something you like, within the hour there will be new promotions to choose from.
TasteBud, on the other hand, uses a different approach to save money. Upon logging in, a list of restaurants will appear with different discounts. From this you pick the one that you want to eat and lock in the discount. The app requires you to put in a debit card, so upon paying for your meal, TasteBud immediately refunds the discount. This method cuts down on awkward coupon scanning and no one knows you are using it. The deals change depending on the restaurant and the time of day, so there is always a different value to choose from!
While TasteBud typically has better discounts, Hooked has more restaurant options. Both save money, which is crucial, making them some of the smartest apps you can download!
