6 Must Have Smartphone Apps to Save and Spend Wisely

Dear Gruhinis, do your kitchen jars run empty in middle of the month? Do you scramble for gift wrapping paper just before leaving for a birthday party or end up planning a holiday when long weekend comes closer?  Are you reminded of that store that stocks that special brand of Jam/Jelly that your kiddo loves, only once you have crossed it in your daily commute?

Let’s face the truth. Sometimes no matter how much we plan, things tend to go out of our hands. As if trying to fit in purchases in our ever inflationary times is not enough, we also have to manage purchasing or bill payments in the constraints of our daily life! While lightning strikes once, this “Bhoolne Ki Bimari” or the “Curse of the Forgetful” has stuck us Gruhinis many many times over!!

The loving husband swooped in and rescued me from these self destructing habits. One day he just downloaded two applications (Apps as there are referred to) on my smart phone–one to record my purchases and one to list out my grocery list. And there I was, swiping in the phone to record a brown bread purchase of Rs 30. I have been using these apps for two weeks and I am getting better day by day in atleast recording my expenses. I am hoping that I will start following a budget too. I know that some amongst us would find the usage of our smart-phones as a budgeting/shopping device to be a tad inconvenient, but surely that nifty little thing can be put to better use than to browse through those annoying Facebook posts!!

I am compiling a list of simple, free to download and extremely easy to use applications. Pick those which you need the most. You can download these apps on https://play.google.com for smartphones with android software or https://itunes.apple.com/in for Apple phones.

6 Must have Smart Phone Apps

Expense Manager: To track spending (By BishiNews): Get a quick snapshot of your income and expenses at one go. It lets you add income and expenses under various heads. You can enter the cheque details, payee details and funds transfer details.

Toshl Finance (By Toshl Inc): Iphone users can use this app to track expenses.

Out of Milk: For grocery lists (By Capigami Inc): It’s a simple replacement for writing the list on paper. It quickly adds and deletes the grocery items. Since it doesn’t have an Indian version yet, we can’t add the value in rupees. Iphone users can download it from App Store.

Delight Circle: For discount lovers (By Pipal Tech Ventures): Instead of mall hopping, use this app to first find out where you will find discounts or offers on apparels, groceries or electronics or even restaurants. It helps discover shops and malls that keep your desired brand. But it’s only available in 9 metro cities as of now. Iphone users can download it from App Store.

My Smart Price (MSP): For OnioManiacs (By A group of technology entreprenuers): Cut down on your search time on the online retail stores such as flipkart, naaptol croma etc. MSP will list the lowest price across electronics, kitchen, home appliances, mobile phones, laptops from these online stories. It will let you compare and alert you when the price drops.

Pricedekho (By GirnarSoft) Iphone users can check this app which has similar features as My Smart Price.

Skyscanner: For frequent holidayers (By Skyscanner Ltd): Cut down the time you spend on finding the cheapest tickets across the dozens of travel agents and their portals. This app will scan for the best fares across these portals for your itinerary. Save the itinerary details, browse for the fares every-day until you find the one which suits your budget. You can share flight searches and book through mobile. Iphone users can download it from App Store.

Life Reminders: For everything you tend to forget (By Cameleo-Tech) Once you record the important dates for bills, birthdays, anniversaries, it will show up in notifications on the required dates so you can’t miss it.

Alarmed ~ Reminders + Timers (By Yoctoville) is a similar app for Iphone users.

For your stock and mutual fund tracking, Gyani Gruhini suggests that you download the app provided by your stock broker or mutual fund as it will be the most authentic source for prices and net asset values (NAV).

For any other app suggestions or feedback, give me a shout at thegreatgruhini@gmail.com