Five iPhone apps that can save you money
Keep BetterDeal on hand at the grocery store to figure out which size offers the best deal.
As I often tell people, it's not the price of the iPhone that bothers me--it's the monthly fees! (Grumble, grumble, AT&T, grumble.)
Alas, while there's no way to get around that $70/month minimum, at least I can use my iPhone to save money on other things: gas, groceries, books, DVDs, and even energy. Let's take a look at five killer apps that can help you pocket extra cash.
- BetterDeal Next time you find yourself standing in a supermarket trying to figure out which size box of corn flakes provides the best bang for the buck, fire up BetterDeal. This 99-cent app lets you compare prices for up to four packages to see which is, well, the better deal.
- Gas Buddy Saving a nickel or dime per gallon of gas may not seem like much, but it adds up over time. Gas Buddy ($2.99) shows you which nearby stations have the lowest prices (and provides maps if you don't know the area), so you can pocket that extra change every time you fill up. (Obviously this app works best for those who live in densely populated areas--and drive a lot.)
- MeterRead You know the mantra: Save electricity, save money, save the planet. But does turning off lights when you leave a room really make an impact? MeterRead helps you find out by keeping tabs on meter readings (which you record periodically) and projecting your energy usage. It's strictly an informational tool (one with a mediocre interface), but if you're serious about saving energy, this 99-cent app should help.
- pic2shop So you're at Target, about to plunk down your cash on Firefly: The Complete Series on DVD (good call), but then you wonder: Is this the best price? Find out fast with pic2shop, which scans product barcodes and quickly pulls up the prices from "thousands of online retailers" (according to the developer). The live (i.e. real-time) barcode scanning is seriously cool, and the app itself costs nothing. Win-win!
- Yowza Mobile Coupons In an ideal world, your iPhone will serve up proximity-based coupons, like "get $1 off now!" when you drive by a Jamba Juice. For now, Yowza (free) is the closest thing. It finds deals in your area, though only from merchants that have partnered with the service. That may limit its viability for some users (get more partners, Yowza!), but I found about half a dozen coupons within 15 miles--including one for Finish Line, and I'm in the market for new running shoes. Score!
I know a lot of people are partial to AAA Discounts, which serves up deals near your location. Great app, but only if you're a triple-A member.
I'm also a fan of the suggestion over at Wise Bread to use Pandora instead of buying music, though why limit yourself to one music-streaming app? Grab Last.fm and Slacker while you're at it.
OK, you've got my picks. Now tell me what apps you've used to save money--and how much you've saved!
Rick Broida, a technology writer for nearly 20 years, is the author of more than a dozen books. In addition to writing CNET's The Cheapskate blog, he oversees BNET's Business Hacks. Rick is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. Disclosure. Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers. Follow Rick on Twitter at cheapskateblog.
is a GREAT spot to find price drops and FREE apps
Main site is here:
http://www.148apps.com/
Flash
http://centrisity.com
Yes, it adds up to not a lot. If you drive 15,000 miles a year in a car that gets 25mpg, you're using 600 gallons of gas. Shaving a nickel per gallon results in an annual savings of $30.
There are far better ways of saving money (and perhaps more importantly, time) than driving around trying to save a nickel per gallon.
Not really. You save money by spending less when you need to spend. It's a philosophy. Your philosophy of pissing on small savings that add up to noticeable savings is actually a pretty crappy way to save anything at all.
You would be far better served by saying "that's great, but not if you have to spend more in gas and lost wages, to get there than what you save".
Either will save you money. GasBAG found one station just blocks off my drive home that saved me $0.15/gal. on a full tank (nearly $2 on the tank). GasBAG also has international support.
GasBUDDY has the better database with incentives for submitting prices (mainly through the nationally known gasbuddy.com site). Unfortunately it works like the parent site and only works well when listings stations for ONE zip code at a time. The map is slow and shows all results at once making a mess.
GasBAG has a (far) superior interface using a (fast) map for locating stations, ADDING filtering results on zoom out so you can see if there might be a better price further down the road. It also has a fuel mileage (sub-)app integrated into it so you can monitor your MPG. As suggested, it's Achille's heel is that the database is spottier than GasBUDDY's.
The "dream app" would be GasBAG running off GasBUDDY's database and with the later's incentives.
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=333189493&mt=8
http://www.thebestdeal.me
Also, Skype on the iphone. This is great - I use it to call overseas and it's just like using my cell phone as long as there's a wifi hotspot. Pretty cool!
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by Tanay2035
November 20, 2009 4:37 PM PST
- Once you purchased an iPhone, you have the option to personalize it according to what you want. With thousands of different applications that you can download to your iPhone, you can be sure that you will definitely make your iPhone a unique iPhone.
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(26 Comments)Today, almost everyone has an account in some of the most popular social networking websites. For some people, these social networking websites are now considered to be the primary means to communicate with family and friends. If you are one of these people, then you may want to download a special application for iPhone that will enable you to visit your account in either Facebook or MySpace. With this application, you will be able to check your social networking account in Facebook or MySpace anytime and anywhere you want.
Another great iPhone application is called Showtime. WeatherBug is another iPhone application that is generally for anyone who is always on the go. You can also look out for Inotes,ZRx Prescriber,Travel Guides by Frommer,iOnce,World Racing GTS, etc
http://howtomakemoneywithiphone.blogspot.com/2009/10/new-apps-for-your-iphone.html