Do you consider yourself a financially responsible person or are you easily shaken by the winter’s shopping fever?
We all know that we need to shop smart, and we need shopping lists, patience, cosy and comfortable clothes and shoes, snacks and water when waiting in the lines, etc., and although I have never had problems keeping track of my finances, I have found apps that made my life much easier and organized. Below is the list of apps that might be life-saving for some of you , in financial terms or course.
If you wish to know where your money is going, you need to consider using MoneyDashboard. It has been a while since this app was introduced, however, if you haven’t been using it by now, you should think about it. With MoneyDashboard you will have a great insight into all your accounts.
Once you have a clear picture of your incomings and outgoings, you can plan your budget effectively. You can access your financial data easily, and you need not to worry about your data protection.
The app one can use to save money, is SavedPlus, because you save money every time you buy something. With SavedPlus you connect your accounts and select the per cent of every purchase you would like to save, and every time you buy something that percent of the amount is transferred to your savings account. If you set your per cent at 10, each time you make a payment, 10 per cent of that amount will be automatically put into your account. The app is available on iOS and Android, and web, and it is free.
For shopping, you can use RedLaser to compare the prices or to buy items directly from the app and pick them up later. It is great for finding items online or in the nearby stores. RedLaser is available on iOS, Android and Windows Phone, and it is also free.
TheFind is another very convenient app that integrates with your personal preferences on Facebook, and becomes your personalized shopping search engine. You can shop from your favourite brands and stores anytime because you receive alerts when the products are on sale, for instance. TheFind also helps you compare prices in stores and organize your shopping in every possible way. This app is free and available for Android, iOS and Web.
If you have, however, planned on traveling abroad for the holidays, you can use Skyscanner to find the best deals on flights from more than 1,000 airlines, and to find hotels and car rentals, and you can also use HotelTonight or Hot Hotels to find last minute discounts on 150 locations. And if you are travelling by car, and your car breaks down suddenly, you need the best mechanic. Use RepairPal, tell them your car’s model, and you will have a repair estimate and the info for the best repair shops in your area.
And for the next year, we might have a solution for countless cards in our wallets. A new company called Coin, founded by PayPal veteran Kanishk Parashar, created a plastic card that will substitute all the other cards you have. Once you load information from other credit cards into Apple or Android smartphones, the Coin will receive those information via Bluetooth (which means no internet connection is necessary) and you will have all your cards data on one card. In case one loses its phone, or the battery dies, it will lock and send the alert to the user. If Bluetooth loses connection, the card can also be unlocked with a code. In case you miss the alert, you can still stop other people from using your card because users can determine a period of time after which the card will be automatically deactivated. We should wait and see how this works out. Moreover, maybe we’ll just transfer to digital currencies next year, and wouldn’t have to worry about a thing (at least that’s the idea, in theory).
For shopaholics, there are many more interesting apps on the market. Shopular is a coupon app that provides access to coupons from top retailers, and if you need help for Christmas shopping you need Gift It – A Christmas Shopping List. Organize your gifts for your family and friends and never forget a present again.
If you, however, need some ideas for Christmas presents, read Dejan Levi’s list of ideas for gadget gifts, you will find it very useful.
Many of these apps have been on the market for a while, still I consider them the most useful. For those who have been panicking due to the upcoming busiest shopping days of the year, they can stop now, and use these apps to shop smart and save some money.
