Apps that help low-income families.
There are a number of free apps that are designed to specifically meet the needs of low-income Americans. Driven mostly by government organizations and non-profit agencies, these iPhone and Android smartphone apps help to fill service gaps and provide those in need with more resources. They are free to use and download, making them very accessible. Get details on apps that help low-income families, including smart phone apps that help people with paying the bills, managing EBT food stamps or government benefits and more.
There are apps such as Propel, BNPL for loans to pay the bills, the Food Keeper app and others. The key to creating a successful smartphone application for low-income families is to have an actual understanding of what these families need. That's why the best of them tend to be either developed or supported by organizations such as the USDA and social services agencies.
Propel (formerly Providers & Fresh EBT)
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Providers not only makes it easy to manage your government benefits, including EBT balance (SNAP food stamps); cash assistance from TANF and others. It provides integrated links to useful benefits like coupons and recipes. There are also shopping tools on this free app (for both Android or iPhones), including tips on grocery shopping unit pricing.
The central feature of the app is its integration with the online EBT portal of every state, which is in effect the food stamp benefits (and your state’s equivalent). It also links with other social services in your state such as TANF. In many places, checking a current EBT balance means you have to either call a hotline or purchase something to get it printed on a receipt. Once it's set up, the Propel app shows you your current food stamp and cash benefit budgets and will update automatically after every purchase.
There are many other features provided by the Propel App that support low-income families. Including information on how to save money and also displays special offers (provided by non-profit partner organizations) and links to assistance programs that may be helpful. This includes food pantries, coupon websites or applications, and many others.
The Propel parent company makes money from the partners and coupons featured on the app. The one dicey bit of the whole thing is that it is necessary to provide your Social Security number to the app to link it to your state's EBT or other benefit portal. More on the Propel App.
Freebies Alerts for free stuff
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Find free stuff, products, samples and more from the Freebies Alert app. It is aggregator in that the one app lists products from other websites and apps. It is also a local service, in which low-income families or anyone in need can get items right in their community, neighborhood or town.
Freebies Alert pulls products and items that are listed from Facebook Marketplace, Craiglists, local classified websites and other apps. It is possible to find free clothes, furniture, electronic, appliances and many other gently used and/or refurbished goods, all of which will help low-income families save money on the things they need. Read more on the Freebies Alert app.
Free state government benefit apps
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Many states have apps that help residents find, and apply for, government assistance programs that are tailored towards helping low-income families. The names vary but include myBenefits / MyCase / YourBenefits and others. They combine state website portals with information on state specific government assistance programs that are listed on the free smartphone apps.
The services help families with managing government benefits, whether SNAP, WIC, Medicaid, TANF cash assistance and others. As noted, the availability varies by state but iOS and Android versions are available in most cases. Those seeking help can apply for, renew, or manage state benefits as well as get communication from caseworkers. Examples include YourTexasBenefits (Texas), MyBenefits NY (New York), MyCase (Utah, Indiana, etc.), MyACCESS (Florida), ConnectEBT and many others.
Created by a partner of the USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), WICShopper is an app that ties in with the local agency that administers the federal government benefit program. The basic purpose of it is to let you scan barcodes at the grocery store to instantly see if the item is WIC-eligible, but it also lets you check your current benefits balance and includes hundreds of low-cost healthy recipes.
WICShopper is freely available to anyone through the Google and Apple app stores, but it's important to note that not all of the WIC agencies currently support it. After you download the smartphone applications, you'll be presented with a list of eligible agencies. If your local agency is not listed, app creator JPMA asks you to email them at [email protected] to find out if and when it will be supported. Or find more details on enrolling in WIC for discounts.
This is a free app from the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture). It tracks provides insight, advice, and tips of food expiration dates. The main reason that this can help lower income families is that some items that a family may find at a food bank or pantry are past expiration dates. However those goods are almost always still healthy and safe to eat, especially for a household living on a budget or low income family.
 The FoodKeeper app comes from the Foodsafety.gov website, which is the public-facing source of safety information for the USDA. As the name suggests, it's meant to be a quick reference on the safe storage temperatures and conditions for different types of foods.
- The app gives you a list of food categories similar to the one you get at the grocery self-checkout, and you can navigate the menu from there to find out what the safe storage conditions, time to use and minimum cooking temperatures are.
- There are even some basic cooking tips included to make sure you heat foods fully and evenly.
- In addition to this giant library of food safety information, the app includes product recall updates and a series of food handling and cooking safety videos.
Surveys show the majority of Americans do not quite understand how those dates work and what they mean. The free FoodKeeper app can help people navigate the concept, and learn more on what food expiration dates mean.
SaverLife, formerly called Earn.org, offers a pretty powerful incentive to sock some money away in a savings account every month. It combines cash back with dollar matching saving incentives as well as financial literacy tips / courses that help you earn money over time. The app also offers some free financial coaching content, enough to keep you busy learning about budgeting and living on a low-income. This helps low income and other families understand money. Or use apps that teach financial literacy to kids.
You'll need to link a savings account to the app for tracking and for the eventual deposit from SaverLife, but it won't have the ability to draw money from your account so it is relatively safe. The app will simply check your account balance every 30 days to make sure it is at least higher than it was previously. The bonus is paid all at once at the end of the six-month savings period; you'll just need to take a quick exit survey to get it.
DailyPay - Get your wages paid daily using an app
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Several apps are available from banks and “fintech” companies that in effect allow you to get paid daily - if you are an hourly employee and work for a major employer. These apps can be a great way for a low income family to get their income much sooner than waiting for their weekly or b-weekly paycheck. Several Daily Pay smartphone applications are on the marketplace (for Android, google play, I store and iOS). Learn more about how daily pay services work.
Previously known as Fed 40, Full Cart is a virtual food pantry - food kit delivery service designed specifically for low-income families. It tends to provide more affordable yet healthy food. The non-profit US Hunger created the free app. The food is free for lower income families – they just need to pay for shipping costs.
Full Cart from US Hunger provides a set of basic, nutritious meals that are ready to cook using healthy dry ingredients like lentils, rice, oats, macaroni and dehydrated vegetables. Best of all, these meals are delivered to your door for less than what it would usually cost to buy all the ingredients at the store. The meals are designed as a complete vegetarian base, but one to which you can easily add an affordable protein such as hamburger or chicken.
There are several apps, banks, and lenders that offer this loan service to low-income families, including Paypal, Venmo, Affirm, Afterpay, Klarna and even banks such as Chase. These services help low income families as well as borrowers with bad or no credit as BNPL allows you to shop (and buy) items you need today and pay for them later - over the course of months or years. Most of the risk for Buy Now Pay Later goes on the retailer, but aware that some of these BNPL applications may have fees if you miss a payment.
The apps help low income families as it is a form of budgeting and money management. As using Buy Now Pay Later could allow you to say pay for some food (or critical “needs”) over the course of weeks or months, such as Paypal provides 4 month repayment terms. Find a list of Buy Now Pay Later sites for low credit borrowers.
Benefit finder (Benefits.gov)
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Benefit finder is a free federal government supported app/website that focuses on helping low-income families find, and apply for, government assistance. It is part of the Benefits.gov site. People who use the service will walk through an easy to follow questionnaire that helps low-income households find public assistance programs like SSI, SNAP, Medicaid, housing aid, and more.
It covers both state and federal benefit programs. There are also local resources listed on the app / site. It's sort of an all-purpose help finder for those in need. It can assist with locating local free food banks, different types of shelters, mental health resources, crisis help lines and support groups among other services
In addition, the app will link people to application sites based on their state and what they qualify for. As the fact is lower income people often miss out on the government assistance programs they qualify for but don’t even know exist - this free app created for people living in pr near poverty helps fill the gaps.
Discounted medical or dental care
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Virtual medical consultations from free to use apps are very useful for certain specific applications. They're especially helpful to patients with mobility issues (including senior citizens or the disabled) who have a lot of small follow-ups for treatment of a chronic condition, and they tend to cost only a fraction of what an in-person appointment would. The free medical apps are also great options for people that lack health insurance as it helps them find medical services including free community clinics.
There are many options - as an example Amwell is an app to check out as well as GoodRX and others Patients can speak to therapists, doctors, Nurse Practioners and psychiatrists to have a number of relatively minor urgent care issues looked at, speak to a nutritionist, and more. Another big advantage is that the urgent care services are available 24 hours a day. Even find other apps for low cost health care.
Conclusion
There are a number of iOS and Android smartphone applications that are focused on meeting the needs of low income families, the working poor, and those in need. Each one is free to users and is focused on addressing a certain need of the community.
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