Black Friday, Coupons, Saving, and Shopping Apps

Since next week is Black Friday I thought that a good theme for this week would be apps that help you save money and compare prices.

Black Friday Deal Finder – (Free, iOS and Android) searchable database of 100-plus major store ads to plan your Black Friday and Cyber Monday strategy

TGI Black Friday - (Free, iOS and Android) hundreds of Black Friday deals, you can set-up alerts of specific items.



http://tgiblackfriday.com/black_friday_app

SnipSnap – (Free, iOS and Android) simply snap a picture of a coupon with your phone, the app will remind you of expiration date and in-store prompts. You can cconnect with friends and share your coupon list.

http://www.snipsnap.it/

Yowza!! – (Free, iOS and Android) instead of paper coupons it will notify you of deals in your geographic area, a lot of the deals come straight from the retailer and are available nowhere else. If you like a coupon or deal save it and make sure to have the cashier scan it at checkout.

http://www.getyowza.com/

Coupon Sherpa – (Free, iOS and Android) claiming to be the first coupon app it boasts a robust website along with the apps; get e-coupons, retailer deals, website discounts, and special offers from restaurants.

http://www.couponsherpa.com/mobile-coupons/

Grocery iQ – (Free, iOS and Android) make your grocery list and it will tell you what coupons and deals are available

http://www.groceryiq.com/

iBotta – (Free, iOS and Android) rebates on things you buy at grocery stores, mass merchandise stores like Target, and movie theaters. Now they have team bonuses for reaching certain rebate levels with friends. The rebates are paid by Paypal or Venmo gift card. {full disclosure I have and use this app, you can add me as a friend J}

https://ibotta.com/

Checkout 51 – (Free, iOS and Android) pretty much the same thing as iBotta but it has different rebates, what is nice is that sometimes it will be on a generic item like milk or bananas. {again, full disclosure I have this app too}

http://app.lk/AaP

Yipit – (Free, iOS only) aggregates more than 30 thousand new deals every month into its existing database. The app makes it easy by only sending alerts about deals you’re interested in.

http://yipit.com/

GoodRx – (Free, iOS and Android) compares prescription drug prices at pharmacies near you and online, it has coupons, and saving tips. Consumer Reports gave it high marks.

http://www.goodrx.com/mobile

Key Ring – (Free, iOS and Android) all of those little club, discount, loyalty, or membership cards can be scanned and added. They also have 13,000 brands and retailers that you can search for discounts. {I used to have this app but at the time it didn’t accommodate a lot of the cards I have. They claim to have added a lot more and updated.}

https://www.keyringapp.com/

RedLaser – (Free, iOS, Android, Windows) you scan the barcode and it will tell you the lowest price for the item, a lot of stores do price matching so this could save you money where ever you shop. It also allows you to add those discount / loyalty cards.

http://redlaser.com/

ShopSavvy – (Free, iOS and Android) scan the barcode and it will tell you the cheapest price it can find the item for online.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.biggu.shopsavvy&hl=en

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/shopsavvy-all-sales-in-one/id338828953?mt=8

Pricegrabber  - (Free, iOS and Android) comparison shop 26 categories (think cameras and tablets); the nice thing is it has ratings and reviews of products.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/ipad-iphone-android-app.php

RetailMeNot (Free, iOS and Android) with thousands of retailers you can search by category or retailer and see what deals are out there or sign up for alerts on things you are interested in buying.

http://www.retailmenot.com/mobile/

Shopkick – (Free, iOS and Android) you get points, called kicks, every time you go to a retailer. If you buy something you get more kicks. These kicks can be redeemed for gift cards. So even if you aren’t shopping or buying and just tagging along you could earn some free stuff.

http://app.shopkick.com/wr2/4ZYPFFW-4ZYX536

Bonus!

Two New Savings Apps that are Still in Trial / Beta

PriceJump – (Free, iOS only) you can scan or search for an item and it will tell you the cheapest price online and in-store. It will even compare Amazon’s prices and include shipping cost or savings if you are an Amazon Prime member.

http://www.savings.com/pricejump

SavingsCatcher – (Free, iOS and Android) only available in “test markets” you scan your Walmart receipt and it will compare prices to other advertised prices. If there is a lower price elsewhere the difference will be loaded on to a Walmart gift card for you.

https://savingscatcher.walmart.com/

Apps That Help You Give Back

With Thanksgiving coming up soon I thought that apps allow you to give back, help others, or make the planet a nicer place would be an appropriate topic.

Donate A Photo - (Free, iOS only) for every picture you share, it only allows one per day, Johnson & Johnson will donate $1 to Save the Children a non-profit that will use the funds to buy resuscitation devices for infants. Six pictures equal one device. Your pictures will
not be used for commercial purposes.

HTC Power to Give - (Free, Android only) this app uses your phone’s spare computing power to create a huge grid that provides computing power to a scientific project of your choice: researching cures for cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, climate change, or searching
for extra-terrestrial life.

Charity Miles - (Free, iOS and Android) I have personally used this app for over a year. For every mile you walk or run 25 cents is donated and for every mile you cycle 10 cents is donated. Each time you start you can choose a different charity and their is a really great
lists of charities. If you are already going out for a run, walk, or bike ride, this is a no brainer.

GoodGuide - (Free, iOS and Android) scan barcodes of products to quickly access GoodGuide’s science-based health, environment and social ratings for over 170,000 products. Know more about what you buy and it's impact.

iRecycle - (Free, Android only) find where to recycle almost everything quickly and easily

Seafood Watch - (Free, iOS and Android)  app helps make informed choices about seafood purchases. The database lists fish that are caught or farmed in environmentally responsible ways and if those are not available, the app suggests good alternatives.

True Food - (Free, iOS and Android) for those that are concerned about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) this app lists food items that have GMOs, ones that don't, information about GMOs, supermarket chains, labeling, and much more.

One Today - (Free, iOS and Android) created and run by Google it shows a different charity each day and what a small donation can help do, it will also share the charities your friends have donated to (if they wish)

Budge - (Free, iOS only) ever make a silly bet with a friend like who can get to a restaurant first or picking the winner of a football game or something else; this app allows you to setup a challenge where the loser has to donate an amount you agree upon to charity.

Volunteer Match - (Free, iOS only) with a database of over 97,000 organizations the app helps you find the volunteer opportunity that is right for you

Tree Planet 2 - (Free, iOS and Android) a very cute and stylish game where you grow trees, for every tree you grow a tree is donated, the Tree Planet Organization has already donated over 300,000 trees

PaperKarma - (Free, iOS and Android) allows you to scan the address label on pieces of junk mail and quickly unsubscribe saving millions of pounds of paper a year

Free2Work - (Free, iOS and Andoid) scan the barcode of a product you are considering buying and it will give a grade to the item allowing you to know whether child or forced labor was apart of the manufacturing process and the labor conditions associated.

Bonus Craft / DIY / Makerspace App:

Instructibles - (Free, iOS and Android) step by step instructions, pictures, and sometimes videos to make all kinds of stuff; many times out of left over stuff, garbage, recyclables, etc. There are some really cool projects that would make for an awesome teen or makerspace program.

Math Apps

This week I caught a news report on TV that was talking about how Math Apps are now becoming as big a change as calculators were for students. They mentioned one app in particular which is where I will begin my reviews:

Photo Math – (free: Android and iOS) take a picture and it will solve the problem, well that’s how it’s supposed to work but I found that for many equations it will simplify an algebraic equation but not solve for the unknown variable, and it does not work with hand written equations. The news report I watched said that students would be able to cheat or would not need to learn math because of this but the app is not that good. Even if it did you would still need to understand the basic concepts, logic, and type of thinking because it applies to problem solving in a host of other subjects. It has some limitations but could definitely help and it’s free. Nice design, layout, interface.

My Script Calculator – (free: Android and iOS) you hand write the equation and it will solve it for you. Go through the tutorial because it needs you to write things in a certain way, but one you learn the tricks it really works well. I had to turn off the auto solve because it wouldn’t allow me to finish writing before it would try to start solving. I really liked this app and I’m interested in other apps they make.

MathRef – ($1.99: Android and iOS) this is for the student or professional using advanced math. It has all the bells whistles of a graphing calculator with a beautiful interface and a lot of options. All the people that have reviewed it online love it, looks like they continue to add features which is nice.

Dewalt Mobile Pro – (free: Android and iOS) for the person working on home improvement to the construction professional it will take measurements and tell you square feet, volume, area, and has all kinds of tools: codes, reference, calculator, conversions, etc. Great ready reference tool.

Numbler – (.99: iOS) it’s like the game “Words with Friends” (or if you are not familiar with that it’s like Scrabble) with numbers. Your job is to make equations with a higher value than your competitor. It will help you refresh your math skills and give your brain a workout.

Digits – (3.99: iOS) this is more than I usually pay for an app but I might buy it because it meets a need: a calculator that keeps a tape (a record) of all your calculations and then you can tag, label, e-mail, store, or print them. You can also add comments and highlight things on the “tape”. I think it would be great for accountants or just at home people working on their finances like me.

Bonus:

Facebook released another app this week and it’s called Rooms (free: Android and iOS). It is like the chat rooms from the days of AOL and the early Web, but most rooms require an invitation so there is only 5 (at this time) openly available rooms for everyone, hopefully this will be fixed in the future. I think this shows a trend of app makers going back to things that were popular like chat rooms and bulletin boards and updating the display / interactivity to make it meet our current sensibilities. I think you will see a lot more retro based apps in the future. There have been several that have recycled old ideas and put them in a prettier and easier to use package.