BUFFALO, N.Y. — As inflation takes its toll on Americans' wallets, more people are turning to apps like Upside.
"We've seen a huge uptick in users to our app. In the last three months, we actually were the number two app in the United States for about a month, for the last three months. We're consistently in the top 10 apps within the United States right now," said Wayne Lin, COO & co-founder of Upside.
Upside gives you cash back for gas, restaurants and groceries. All you have to do is create a free account, then head to one of the businesses on the app.
Once there, tap "claim offer" and you can save up for gift cards at a variety of businesses or put it into your bank account.
Almost sounds too good to be true, so what's the catch?
"The discounts you see in our app and the promotions, those are funded by the gas stations, restaurants and grocery stores on there. So the catch is there is no catch. The catch is the merchant, they want your business, so they're willing to share their profit with you versus someone else," Lin said.
Upside isn't the only option to save at the pump.
You could turn to GasBuddy, which has a free rewards card. The website says you can save up to 25 cents a gallon but you just have to link your checking account.
For groceries, try Fetch. Just upload your receipt and you can earn points for gift cards.
With so many apps, how can you check to make sure it's legitimate?
"You definitely want to check the app out on bbb.org or type it into a search engine and see what people are saying about it. If they're happy with the results, if it's an app that's not that familiar to you and it doesn't look like a lot of people use it, that's something you have to be wary about," said Melanie McGovern, with the BBB of Upstate NY.
If you don't want to use apps at all, McGovern offers these tips to help with inflation: buy in bulk, do not go grocery shopping hungry to avoid a higher bill, cancel monthly subscriptions you aren't using that often, and if you aren't sure about other ways to save, take a look at your finances from last year to see where you can make cuts.