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Must-Have Holiday Shopping Apps

by Larissa, posted to Style

Here are the best holiday apps to help organize your holiday shopping, track your spending, and find the best deals - including Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

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RELATED LIST: Money Crasher's Top 6 Free Black Friday Mobile Shopping Apps for Droid & Apple iPhone

Worried about losing track of the best deals and getting flustered as you shop during this Black Friday? Well, luckily for you, if you have a smartphone, there are some great phone apps to help you shop smarter and simpler this Black Friday.

moneycrashers.com

2 Likes 1 Comment

Suggested by Money Crashers:

Black Friday Ads is an awesome app that allows you to organize all the ads for stores in your area in one single place: your phone. Forget trying to keep track of all the sales & deals. This app will ensure you're getting the best bang for your b...

Larissa: Love this list and will check out the Santa's Helper App. Would love to see your holiday tips, you should create your own list and embed it on MoneyCrashers. Also be sure to add to this Black Friday list http://www.skinnyscoop.com/list/citychic/black-fri...

PLAN: Better Christmas List

For the third year running, Better Christmas List continues to be the must-have app for keeping your holiday shopping on time and on budget. No more missed gifts, no more overspending. Keep your family AND your wallet happy!

itunes.apple.com

2 Likes 2 Comments

This one's an Apple "Staff Favorite" two years in a row.

Claudia: Perfect for women on the go. They can do everything using their phones!

EmmaOlsen: The holidays here, that means terrible music and a lot of shopping. The “Discount” available for signing up for a retail store's charge card is not what one might think. You could end up requiring payday loans to pay off the debt you get this year. http://personalmoneynetwork.com/moneyblog/2011/12/...

PLAN: mGifts

mGifts helps you to plan and track your gift giving needs for any holiday or special event. mGifts makes it easy and convenient to see how many gifts you’ve purchased, still need to get, and how much money you've spent by person.

Suggested by Kevin Doel:

mGifts allows you to simply and quickly view what gifts you need by a given store, event or person. mGifts will help you keep on budget while giving you the assurance that you're not missing anyone when it comes to celebrating your special day.

COMPARE: ShopSavvy

Find the right product at the best price! Now the fastest, most accurate and most comprehensive scanner around. It won’t find everything in the world, but it is close. Now you can be savvy when you shop!

itunes.apple.com

3 Likes 1 Comment

As recommended by Babble.com: We guarantee that after you score your first ShopSavvy deal, you’ll never buy anything the same way again.

Claudia: Just downloaded this app. I'm big on my deals and I like that there are coupons right on here that I can use on my next purchase.

TRACK: Delivery Status Touch

Delivery Status Touch (US$2.99) supports more than 25 delivery services, like FedEx, UPS, DHL, and the good old USPS. Additionally, there's built-in tracking for packages coming from Amazon, Adobe and, of course, Apple.

I buy most gifts (most things actually) online so this app is a godsend to track all my shipments and delays. “An essential tool for your package-tracking arsenal” says Gizmodo.

TRACK: Savvy

Savvy eliminates the common problem of post-purchase price reductions once and for all.The Savvy app navigates price adjustment policies for consumers and applies any savings automatically.

itunes.apple.com

7 Likes 1 Comment

Suggested by Allie.rosenberg:

Shoppers no longer need to bring back the goods within a period of time to activate price reductions. By simply snapping a photo using their smartphone, the Savvy app ensures that consumers only pay the best price possible.

Larissa: Great suggestion Allie! I downloaded and researched this apps and it's fantastic!! Also highly recommended on Lifejacker "Savvy for iPhone Makes Sure You Get the Best Price—Even After You’ve Bought Something": http://lifehacker.com/5860558/savvy-for-iphone-mak...

NAVIGATE: FastMall

Now you can navigate any mall map WITHOUT the need for GPS or WIFI. Once you download any mall map you can get interactive navigation even without an Internet signal!!!

itunes.apple.com

5 Likes 1 Comment

Killer feature: Need a bathroom? Shake your phone and it will show you where to find one.

Wavvyfella: Most definitely!!! best way to get around the mall by far!!! Easy to use too,must have ,especially with the holidays coming up

COMPARE: Price Check by Amazon

Ever wondered if you were getting the best price on a product when you were out shopping? With Price Check by Amazon, you can use your iPhone to instantly compare prices with Amazon.com and its merchants while on-the-go.

Amazon’s Price Check Might Be Perfect Smartphone Shopping App, according to Wired.com

SAVE: FatWallet Black Friday Deal Finder

itunes.apple.com

4 Likes 3 Comments

Suggested by Natalie Sipos:

FatWallet's Black Friday Deal Finder app makes it easy for holiday shoppers to sort through all the best Black Friday deals, and search by store, product, brand or price.

Larissa: Great suggestion Natalie, the interface and selection of deals seems a lot better than other apps I've seen.

Brent Shelton: This app will let the user compare prices, so those on a budget can quickly sort through all the thousands of Black Friday deals within their spending limit. That's convenience.

Heather: I love that it allows me to sort by item, category, store, or price to figure out what's the best deal. It's a good thing for the skinny budget of a busy mom of 3 with a big family to buy gifts for!

View All 3 Comments

SAVE: TGI Black Friday

Black Friday (November 25th, 2011) is the busiest shopping day of the year. Use this app to plan your holiday shopping weeks before Black Friday ads are available in the newspaper. Please check the app frequently for new ads from your favorite stores...

As recommended on CNBC: This app allows you to easily scan the Black Friday ads for all major retailers before they show up in the your local paper and make a personal shopping list with a touch of a finger.

TRACK: FreePriceAlerts

The FreePriceAlerts app will REVOLUTIONIZE the way you shop! Search or scan a barcode for almost anything, get a list of the current best offers from hundreds of thousands of retailers.

Suggested by FreePriceAlerts.com:

FreePriceAlerts ties your online and offline shopping experience together, effortlessly. Do your research at home on just by browsing your favorite Web sites or the FreePriceAlerts.com web site. Add products to a wish list and access them instantly w...

SAVE: Coupon Sherpa

Finally, an application that provides hundreds of in-store coupons for many merchants right on your iPhone or iPod Touch. Save money on clothing, shoes, restaurants, electronics, travel, jewelry, sporting goods, books and more.

As seen on Mashable's 5 of the Best iPhone Apps for In-Store Savings: It’s not the coupon motherload, but you’re sure to save some money. Another bonus: Coupon Sherpa is currently free.

PLAN: Grocery iQ

You'll feel like a genius with Grocery IQ because you'll never forget to restock something you just ran out of. Use the barcode scanner to point your camera at any product's barcode and Grocery IQ will automatically add it to your list.

This FREE app is must-have for planning your holiday grocery shopping! Grocery IQ Is a Brilliant Grocery List Application, according to Lifehacker http://lifehac.kr/cwxalS

SAVE: Shopkick

This mobile app that gives you rewards and offers simply for walking into stores. You can collect kicks and bonuses at nearly all places around you.

Words can barely explain how insanely amazing this app is, as recommended by MomFinds.com.

SAVE: CardBank

CardBank stores all of a user's store savings cards in one place in a convenient interface that can be scanned at any checkout register.

itunes.apple.com  |  Saved from Larissa

1 Like

Ladies Home Journal and NY Times recommended app to save time and money.

CALCULATE: SaleQ

SaleQ provides a convenient way to calculate the final price of an item on sale. Enter store price of the item using the numeric keypad and set the Sale to the desired percentage. You can also apply an additional discount to the sale.

itunes.apple.com  |  Saved from Larissa

My husband teases me for using this app, but it's really handy when I'm shopping! It's such a pain figuring out the final sale price of an item is, especially when there's an additional savings on top of it, also calculates taxes too - LOVE.

RELATED LIST: Best Retailer Shopping Apps by Michele McGraw

Shopping from home is so much better than braving the crowds. What should I add to this list?

Michelle handpicks the best retailer apps from the Gap, Zappos, and more. Check it out!

RELATED ARTICLE: How to Shop for the Holidays

Is there a sweet spot between giving yourself enough time to anticipate upcoming holidays and simply starting the festivities too early?In our house, we have a tendency to prepare for holidays (um, ok and practically everything else) at the very last...

Babble's shopping tips, avoid Back Friday: The really good lost-leader deals are often limited to a small number of customers. These offers are simply there to lure shoppers into the stores, where you'll hopefully overspend in a Black Friday frenzy.

RELATED LIST: Fashionable Apps for Style Lovers

Snapette, Pose, Poshmark...I've seen all of these apps on some of my stylish blogger friends pages. Here's my list of the best fashion and shopping apps for the digital fashionista.

Here are the best style apps for finding the perfect holiday outfit (and reindeer sweater)!

RELATED LIST: The Nest's 10 Life-Changing Holiday Helper Apps

During this crazy, chaotic time we call the holiday season, technology can be your most trustworthy friend. Don’t believe us? Check out these nifty apps that’ll make your holidays much, much jollier.

Some solid app recommendations here, includes my personal favorite Photogram, Tripit to survive holiday travel, check it out at the link.

SAVE: dealnews Black Friday App

Suggested by ML3883:

Browse "leaked" ads from over 60 major retailers. Keep up-to-date on deals that are as good as, or better than, the best deals on Black Friday.

Show more...

comments (18)

Larissa asks: Add your favorite shopping app.

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dlmilli added:

 Very cool free new iphone app. Totally Tipster allows you to get product reviews and recommendations directly from friends through social media. Fun and easy to use. While shopping, just take a picture or scan a barcode - any product - add a message, and just like that your potential purchase is posted for comments from friends. Love it.

Totally Tipster

itunes.apple.com

Like (2)

Prachie Banthia added:

 It's fantastic! It's easy to use, and makes Black Friday a day to sleep in and enjoy. I also love the feature where you pick your own price, because you may forget about the item on your own later!

Savvy

savvy.com

You take a picture of your receipt, and it tells you if any item you bought goes on sale, so you can get a price adjustment! Also, it tracks prices so you know if something you wanted to buy goes down to a price you'd be willing to pay.

Like

Dmitry Pakhomkin added:

 It has most comprehensive search functionality for local inventory of nearby retailers in the US

Kyle Eberly added:

 Awesome shopping app for iPad! Keeps everything organized, from budget, people to buy for, shopping lists, wrapped, mailed, days left to shop, to do list.... You can even shop within the app online! Easy to use, and keeps everything super organized!

GiftsHD

macspots.com

Like (1)

Allie.rosenberg added:

 Shoppers no longer need to bring back the goods within a period of time to activate price reductions. By simply snapping a photo using their smartphone, the Savvy app ensures that consumers only pay the best price possible.

TRACK: Savvy

itunes.apple.com

Savvy eliminates the common problem of post-purchase price reductions once and for all.The Savvy app navigates price adjustment policies for consumers and applies any savings automatically.

Like (7) Larissa promoted this suggestion

Allie.rosenberg added:

 Users can seamlessly find gifts for friends and family in one of Yipit’s 100 daily deal markets. Yipit lets you select gifts and deals for loved ones in any major U.S. city, all at 50-90%

App Store - Yipit - Daily Deals, Sales and Coupons

itunes.apple.com

Yipit is a one stop shop for daily deals like Groupon, LivingSocial, Gilt City and and 800 more. Search through ALL the deals, based on where you are and what you like.

Like

mommyme added:

 This app is fully customizable & an amazing tool for keeping track of all stages of planning and shopping. Single budgets can be added to set the overall budget, and each tab can be sorted to show the data you want. Check off gifts as you shop.

Santa's Bag - Christmas Gift List

itunes.apple.com

Santa's Bag is the one-stop app for Christmas planning and shopping. Keep Recipient preferences, and view & share Gift lists by Recipient, Store, or Status. Visually track Recipient and Occasion budget progress. Store photos for Recipients and Gifts.

Like

ML3883 added:

 Browse "leaked" ads from over 60 major retailers. Keep up-to-date on deals that are as good as, or better than, the best deals on Black Friday.

SAVE: dealnews Black Friday App

dealnews.com

Like (1) Larissa promoted this suggestion

Kevin Doel added:

 mGifts allows you to simply and quickly view what gifts you need by a given store, event or person. mGifts will help you keep on budget while giving you the assurance that you're not missing anyone when it comes to celebrating your special day.

PLAN: mGifts

itunes.apple.com

mGifts helps you to plan and track your gift giving needs for any holiday or special event. mGifts makes it easy and convenient to see how many gifts you’ve purchased, still need to get, and how much money you've spent by person.

Like (1) Larissa promoted this suggestion

Jeff Deville added:

 WishGenies is an eHarmony for gift recommendations. We send recommendations from members with the same interests as your recipient!

Meggan Finisecy Manson added:

 Shoppers can use SaleLocator to find and sort sales by location, keyword, category or through special holiday tabs, e.g., Black Friday, Christmas. Sale items, expiration dates, merchant contact info, maps and driving directions are available.

SaleLocator.com - The best local sales in real shopping stores near you!

salelocator.com

SaleLocator is a free app and search engine that helps consumers find the best local sales and comparison shop for hot holiday gifts like toys, e-readers, televisions and cameras. The app offers local in-store sales information from 1,000+ retailers.

Like

FreePriceAlerts.com added:

 FreePriceAlerts ties your online and offline shopping experience together, effortlessly. Do your research at home on just by browsing your favorite Web sites or the FreePriceAlerts.com web site. Add products to a wish list and access them instantly w...

TRACK: FreePriceAlerts

itunes.apple.com

The FreePriceAlerts app will REVOLUTIONIZE the way you shop! Search or scan a barcode for almost anything, get a list of the current best offers from hundreds of thousands of retailers.

Like (5) Larissa promoted this suggestion

Andrea Delesdernier added:

 Interact, share and shop with direct purchase options. Features include a virtual wine cellar, cocktail recipes complete with video demonstrations by master mixologists, a selection of the world’s finest and rarest spirits, and much more.

Robb Report Host Guide 2011

itunes.apple.com

Robb Report, the definitive luxury lifestyle brand, invites you and your iPad to celebrate the season with the most dynamic and innovative resource yet for hosts who entertain with only the best. The app was designed by New Wave Entertainment.

Like (1)

GoodGuide added:

 The app makes it fast and easy to find safe, healthy, green, and ethical products, instantly delivering the information you need, when you need it most — in a store and on the go.

GoodGuide

goodguide.com

The world's largest source of information about the health, social and environmental performance of the products you buy. Scan a product and instantly reveal how healthy, ethical and eco-friendly it is.

Like (1)

Natalie Sipos added:

 FatWallet's Black Friday Deal Finder app makes it easy for holiday shoppers to sort through all the best Black Friday deals, and search by store, product, brand or price.

SAVE: FatWallet Black Friday Deal Finder

itunes.apple.com

Like (4) Larissa promoted this suggestion

Claudio Miranda added:

 Givvy is incredibly useful for finding and sharing amazing gifts with your Facebook friends!

Givvy - Social Gifting Application

apps.facebook.com

Givvy is a social shopping app that helps users discover, share and curate gifts with their Facebook friends. Every gift on Givvy is submitted and ranked by users, making it the world's first user-driven shopping experience on Facebook.

Like (3)

William McCraney added:

 When going out an buying ribbon it can be hard to find quality & the right quantity for the Christmas tree. With a yardage calculator, tips on the type of ribbon to look for & pictures of ribbon to go with themes it makes shopping os much easier!

App Store - How To Tie a Bow

itunes.apple.com

Not the full Show Me Decorating app but everyone should know how to tie a bow for any type of decorating, especially Christmas! Step by step instructions with text, pictures & videos anyone can be tying bows in no time!

Like (6)

William McCraney added:

 Check out the recipe list! It changes based on the theme you choose! With recommendations on what to look for (and how much) in the store for the tree, ribbons, florals, balls & decorative ornaments in each step it helps you become a better shopper!

App Store - Show Me Decorating

itunes.apple.com

"This was so helpful! I turned a really sad tree into a fun and exciting Christmas tree!" -lkiddtalkalot "I am not that great at tying bows, they really simplify it on this app. I can now!" -Ksriff99 Decorate Your Tree with this simple app!

Like (9)