Rosalind Kent reveals the best apps for shopping at Christmas.
Before splashing out on your Christmas shopping, why not see if you can get Apple to give you a bit of assistance?
Whilst there are a lot of Apps you have to pay for, this article will look only at free apps, because here at lovemoney.com we love getting something for nothing!
Voucher code Apps
These Apps are well-known amongst iPhone enthusiasts. There are a plethora of them around, with Vouchercloud and myvouchercodes being amongst the most prominent. They use GPS technology to find deals in your immediate vicinity, and send voucher codes to use both online and in shops.
Local Sale Finder UK sends updates to your iPhone about current sales, as well as discount vouchers. For those who like a bit of ‘spoon-feeding’ the App also provides links to Google maps, so you won’t get lost when bargain hunting!
Gift organising
If you are after a festive gift App then you can download Christmas Wrapped Lite, which generates gift ideas. You input the age, gender and budget for each person and it searches the year’s most popular gifts and makes suggestions. You can also create a budget, and keep track of your actual spend.
This is only for iPhone 4.0, however. If you have an older phone, try Christmas Shopping iList. This is a simple but useful App allowing you to create a list of names, gift ideas and budgets for each person.
Ebay Christmas present bargains
We all know that there are amazing bargains to be found on eBay and there is now an App that enables you to buy on-the-go. You can keep a constant eye on your bidding, ensuring you never get outbid again!
Look out for Apps to find bargains on the site, like Fat Fingers. This looks for miss-typed items that do not show up when a search is done for the correct spelling. These items can slip through the net due to their lack of visibility, so locate them and make a last-minute bargain bid.
Supermarkets
If you are catering for lots of people over Christmas, you will be aware of the frightening supermarket bills you can run up! Never ones to miss a trick, the supermarket giants have realised the marketing potential of Apps, but you might find some of their features useful.
Waitrose Christmas helps you to plan your Christmas spending with a range of recipes, festive gift guides. Also gives up to date information on all their Christmas offers and promotions.
Sainsbury’s gives personalised details about the top deals in store. You can earn bonus Nectar points, check your points balance and buy rewards online. Nectar has a separate App of its own, which gives you access to more exclusive bonus points only available via the App.
Tesco offers an online shopping App, and barcode scanning. You can turn your iPhone into a Clubcard with the Tesco Clubcard App. No bonus points offered here, but it means you will never again forget your Clubcard, so you won’t lose the points due to you.
The Asda App, meanwhile, enables you to access the Asda Price Guarantee from your iPhone.
You can find out more about whether the Asda Price Guarantee service is any good in Tesco, Sainsbury's and Asda declare new price war.
Warning!
Be careful when buying an App. Even for a free App you have to enter your password, and your account then stays open and ‘active’ for around 15 minutes. If you have small children who like to steal your iPhone and download games of their own, you could find yourself with a hefty bill.
More: 12 ways to avoid an Xmas hangover | Top 10 sites for bargain-hunters