This week's picks include a free month of coworking and hotel spas across Germany, 5% interest on savings if you're a freelancer or self-employed, part two of my kitchen favorites from Amazon, a new Gutschein management app I’ve been enjoying, and the usual supermarket freebies to add to your shopping list.
Note: this article contains affiliate links, which are marked with *.
🏷️ App of the Week: A Better Way to Manage Your Vouchers
Sponsored by Gutscheinify
If you're anything like me, your system for keeping track of discount vouchers is... not great. Mine involves a notes app, calendar reminders, snoozed emails, a rarely-opened screenshot folder, and the occasional unpleasant discovery that a €20 voucher expired two weeks ago. So when I came across Gutscheinify, an app built for managing your vouchers, I was really excited. It was built by Oleksii, who is, like many of us, a foreigner in Germany with a healthy interest in not paying full price for things (and, naturally, a long-time Smart Living reader!).
Gutscheinify works as a digital wallet for all your vouchers. You save them there, mark the value and expiry date, and, optionally, set notifications so the app reminds you to use your vouchers before they expire. You can add vouchers manually, or use the app’s AI features to speed up the process: take a photo or screenshot of a voucher and the details are recognized and filled in automatically. The Pro plan also lets you forward voucher emails to a dedicated address, and the app pulls out all the relevant details and adds the voucher to your wallet, which is a really cool feature.
Besides emails, you can also store your digital loyalty cards. The free plan covers up to 10 active vouchers and 10 loyalty cards, photo recognition and one push reminder per voucher. For power users, there is a Pro plan for €1.67/month (billed at €19.99/year), or €2.99/month on a monthly plan: it removes the limits on the number of vouchers, adds up to 3 reminders per voucher, and includes the email forwarding feature. The app is available for iOS and Android.
While importing my vouchers into the app, I already found a soon-expiring voucher I would have otherwise forgotten about – which tells me the app is going to be really useful. You can read more about Gutscheinify and download it here.
🔥 Hot Deals
☕ ATWorld: A Free Month of Coworking, Coffee and Hotel Spas
ATWorld is essentially the Urban Sports Club of coworking: one app, one membership, access to a network of hotel lobbies, cafés, lounges, and coworking spaces across Germany – with a free coffee or tea included at every check-in. Until May 31, the first month is free instead of the regular €99 – this is how I initially tried the app, and I really enjoyed using it.
Locations in the app fall into two categories. Touchdown spots are hotel lobbies, cafés, and more casual coworking spaces – good for a few hours of work/reading with a nice change of scenery. Premium locations are more “serious” coworking spaces, including names like Mindspace and Denizen. And in some cities, the membership also covers hotel spas and pools – which ended up being my favorite part of the free trial. I used it for two spa days and really enjoyed it.
ATWorld has a few different plans depending on the type of locations you want access to. The free month gives you the Classic plan (normally €99/month), which includes unlimited touchdown access and 4 premium check-ins. If you mainly want casual spots like hotel lobbies and cafés, the Essential plan at €29/month covers unlimited touchdown access and pretty much doubles as a coffee subscription. For more regular coworking, the Plus plan at €159/month includes 8 premium check-ins, and Unlimited is €229/month. Extra premium visits can be added on any plan for €20 each.
ATWorld is especially worth a look if you're remote or self-employed – but even if you're not, the free coffee and the occasional hotel-spa detour are reason enough to try it. In fact, one of their taglines is that you never have to pay for coffee again, which in a city with a lot of partner locations such as Berlin, rings true – you can find a place to have a free coffee literally anywhere. Use code SMARTLIVING_1FREE (advertisement) to get your first month free. The offer is only valid until May 31. Try ATWorld here.
Mindspace locations are absolutely gorgeous – and they are included as premium check-ins in the ATWorld memberships.
💰 5% Interest on Your Business Savings with Finom
If you're a freelancer or run your own business in Germany, Finom* is currently offering one of the best interest rates around – and it's not even close. For the first 5 months, you get 5% interest p.a. fixed on your balance, well above what any savings account is offering right now. After that, the rate depends on your pricing plan and goes up to 1.75% p.a.
There's no minimum deposit, interest is calculated daily, and the money sits in low-risk money market funds rather than a classic Tagesgeldkonto. You can transfer it back to your Finom wallet at any time without any withdrawal fees, so it stays accessible rather than locked in. Note that Finom is a business account, so it's only available if you have a registered business activity – as a Freiberufler, Gewerbetreibender, or similar. If that applies to you, it's a very easy way to put idle cash to work. Open your account here*.
💰 More Deals
Free NeoTaste + Uber One bundle: You can get 1 month of NeoTaste (my favorite restaurant discount app) plus 3 months of Uber One (cheaper rides, cashback, no delivery fees) completely free – a combined value of €21.96. Use code Uber1MCRM (advertisement) when starting (or restarting) your NeoTaste membership, and you'll receive a link to activate Uber One once your membership is active. Available to anyone without an existing NeoTaste or Uber One plan. If you're only interested in NeoTaste and don't need Uber One, new users can get two free months with this link* or with code SMARTLIVING2m (advertisement).
Amex Payback welcome bonus: Get 4,000 Payback points welcome bonus (worth ~€40) if you sign up until June 14. The card is free with no annual fee, and you earn points on every purchase. Read my full review or sign up here*.
Cheap Lime e-scooter rides: I love riding e-scooters when the weather gets warmer! The key thing is to never pay by the minute (it’s too expensive) and get a pass instead. Lime Prime costs €0.99/month and gives you unlimited rides under 20 minutes for €1.50 each – which is the best e-scooter deal I've found this year. If you're new to Lime, you can also get €5 credit with this link*.
PYUR internet: If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to Vodafone or Telekom, PYUR is worth checking out – their tariffs start at €23/month for 50 Mbit/s and €30/month for 500 Mbit/s, plus a €19.99 activation fee. As with any internet provider, the quality can vary by building and neighborhood, so it's worth talking to your neighbors before you switch. The promotion runs until June 2. Check plans here*.
All these years later, Amex Payback is still my most recommended free credit card in Germany.
🎁 Freebies
Wasa Selection crispbread: Buy a pack of Wasa Selection crispbread (Chia & Sea Salt, Protein+, or Poppy Seed & Sea Salt) and upload your receipt to get up to €2.49 back. Valid until July 31 or to 40,000 participants total.
Somat Excellence 5in1 Gel: For the lucky ones with a dishwasher – buy a Somat Excellence 5in1 Gel with the yellow promo sticker until June 30, then upload your receipt and a photo of the product here until July 15 to get your money back. Daily redemptions are limited, so upload early in the day.
Dove Advanced Care shower cream: Buy any participating Dove Advanced Care shower cream by May 24 (almost all variants are included – see the full list here) at dm, Rossmann, Budni, or Müller and test it for at least 7 days. This is a satisfaction guarantee rather than a regular money-back promo but in practice the only difference is that you need to include a short note explaining why you weren't satisfied when you upload your receipt. Upload deadline May 31.
Smol laundry & dishwasher tablets: Try Smol's laundry detergent (regular or sensitive) capsules and dishwasher tablets for free – you only pay €1 shipping per 9-capsule trial pack. You'll need to set up a subscription when you order, but you can cancel after your trial packs ship if you don't want to continue. Get your trial packs here*.
Money-back grocery and household product promos are one of the easiest ways to cut everyday costs. A lot of promotions from previous issues are still active – you can find them all here if you’d like to try more. For more free grocery products, Rewe product tests are worth a look as well.
A 9-capsule trial pack of high-quality detergent for €1 is a great deal indeed.
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