If you’ve spoken with me lately, then you know I have a new toy–an Iphone! I’ve had it for a month now and WOW!! I never thought I’d be one of the iphone brigade, but now I can see why so many of you urged me to get one when I asked a few months back about smartphones! I simply LOVE my iphone!

I was featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer today talking about the various money-saving apps for smartphones. These are fairly new and not available on all smartphones, but the technology is pretty impressive! From what I’m reading, expect to see many of these on blackberry, android and many other smartphones by the end of the year!  Don’t have a smartphone but want to see some of the savings?  Many of these are fully functional on their websites so you can test them out from your computer!

I’ve been testing many apps for the past month. So, here are some of my favorites for helping you save money (or just being more organized while saving money!)

• Mobiqpons–one of my current favorites.  On the iphone, it takes my gps location and then tells me all the stores with coupons in a ten mile radius of where I am.  For example, the other day I wanted to get paint for my kitchen cabinets while I was out.  I opened Mobiqpons, and it told me Ace Hardware had a $15 off $75 coupon.  Done!  I was out shopping for clothes with my mom one day and we wanted to know if any of the local stores had q’s off children’s clothes.  Opened up the app and found Children’s Place had a 20% off coupon.  Even better?  No printing!  They simply scan or hand enter the coupon right from the phone!
• Slifter--similar to Mobiqpons, only you can search by item, not just by location.  Looking for new carpet and wondering what store has a sale or coupon?  Or maybe you’re out searching for a baby pool and you want to know if there are any specials.  I did that, and found one at Kmart!  Slifter is available for both Iphone and BlackBerry.
• Gas Buddy–Gas Buddy takes your location and tells you the prices of gas stations nearby.  You can also search by zip if you want to find a station along your route.  It will also map out where they are and how to get there!  No more guessing if this is the lowest price–now you KNOW!
• Cellfire–Cellfire is available on all cell phones if you have a texting or data plan.  Cellfire offers electronic coupons for your Kroger plus card, plus many others!  Arby’s, Sears, movie rentals, and more!  The coupons are either texted to you, or appear on your phone screen, and like others, the coupons are simply scanned by the cashier.  (And yes, they scan!)
• CouponSherpa is another coupon app that gives you dozens of online coupons based on your location.  For example, the other night I was at a friend’s house and he was mentioning an upcoming road trip with his kids and that he needed a rental car.  I opened coupon sherpa and sure enough, there was an Alamo coupon there for $20 off his rental, or one free day!  A little while later, my friends and I decided to go out to eat.  Where to eat?  CouponSherpa found a BOGO Entree q at TGI Fridays for us!
• Out shopping and want to know if what you’re about to buy really is the best price?  I love Pic2Shop for this one!  I take a photo of the barcode, and it searches the web for prices of that item.  I most often get back Amazon prices, but it gives me a quick comparison of what I should be paying for the item.  I can then either pass on the ‘deal’ or haggle a bit with the store!
• Maybe you’re looking for a specific type of gift and wonder if there’s a deal you should know about.  Besides checking Littlemissknowitall.net first (grin–couldn’t help that shameless plug!) you could try Shopping Coupons from DealoftheDay.com is a great place to find it.  For example, maybe you’re looking for a gift for dad for Father’s Day.  Now I know my husband can always use new pants–so I check clothing deals.  Top of the list is a deal to get $50 off at Sears this week!  My only caveat about ShoppingCoupons is that not all deals are 100% legitimate.  Most are, but since its an automated site, sometimes spam gets through.  So get the deal, then head to the retailer site to actually make your purchase!
• Out with friends or travelling and wondering what’s near you to eat?  Try urbanspoon or Aroundme.  They take your location and tell you the restaurants nearby.  Urbanspoon will give you the average prices, menus and reviews as well.  This could be a HUGE money saver when travelling!  If you’re eating healthy, try GoodEats.  It will tell you what restaurants are nearby, and what is healthy on their menu.  AroundMe will also share nearby movie theatres, hospitals, hotels and more!
• Another use for a Smartphone is as a grocery list minder.  During the recent biggs Triples I tried out three grocery list apps–my favorite being   .  It allowed me to select my store, enter the items I planned on buying (thousands already programmed in, but I could hand enter as well), select how many, size, price and more.  You can take a photo with your phone and add it to the item list, just so you make sure you get the right product!  There was a spot in the notes for me to enter any coupons I might have for each item.  Then when I went to the store, it organized the items by aisle or section of the store.  As I added each item to the cart, I tapped it on the screen and it kept a running total of the price of items in my cart!  My only complaint is that it didn’t allow a spot to enter the coupon to deduct it from the total–but for the traditional shopper, that’s not a huge deal.  It was simple to use and well organized.  You can email lists to yourself or your spouse, to make sure you don’t forget anything. I love the photo feature–if I send my husband to the store, there’s no mistaking exactly which item he’s supposed to bring home!
• I’m downloading and testing YadaHome now.  It promises to not only organize and track my grocery list, but to match up printable coupons as well!  Its not an app per se, but has a mobile version.  If your phone has web access, you may be able to use this.  It allows you to create a master shopping list of items you regularly shop for and prices for the items.  You can then select and create shopping lists from it.  If an item on your list has a printable coupon on Coupons.com, it will point it out!  I’ve tested it somewhat.  While it caught the yoplait yogurt on my list, it missed the koolaid on my list.  But still, its pretty handy!  It also has places to organize your calendar, leave notes for yourself and other family members, and store and organize recipes.  Since its fully mobile, it can be accessed from home, work or phone.  Seems pretty handy, though I already use Cozi on Cincinnati.com for many of the same things.
• Pricebook allows you to create a mobile version of every frugalista’s favorite savings tool–the pricebook.  Enter the prices of the items you’re buying, and it will keep track of the ups and downs of prices on the things you buy!
• And last but definitely not least, try WalletZero.  Its a great tool to save all those loyalty cards in one place!  Enter the barcode information into the phone, and it will keep a digital version handy for ya!  I’ve used it at CVS, Speedway and Kroger!  No more juggling keychain clutter.  I can have it all on my phone and pull out just the one I want!  And it keeps me from forgetting one of the dozens that seem to clutter up my purse!

There are many, many more but those are some of my favorites!  I’ve saved tons of money so far with my iphone.  Even better, since the new version is coming out and mine was under 30 days old, I got a price adjustment last night.  A $150 price adjustment!!  That made this frugalista feel a lot better about spending so much on a phone.  The 16gb refreshed Iphone 3G is now only $99 at BestBuy.!  Why, with these apps I can save that much in under 3 months!