How I save money with smartphone apps and you can too

Do you have a smartphone?  Do you like saving money?  I know I do.  I need money to pay for things like textbooks and tuition and want to keep as much of my hard earned money as possible.  Here are a few apps that I have personally used to get discounts on things or just find the best price possible:

Gas Buddy

With this app, you get a list of the gas stations near your current location and what the prices are at all of the nearby stations.  From Gas Buddy, you can also launch any turn by turn or maps app that you have to get directions to the station you want to go to.

• Download links:  iOS and Android 

Hotel Tonight

With this app, you can book a hotel last minute with up to 70% savings.  They work with hotels to book the last open rooms at the last minute, so you can't book a hotel until after 12 noon on the same day of the booking, but they have great deals for some great hotels.  You can also use coupon codes to get even more discount.  You can get an additional $25 off your stay if you use this code: CSORAN1
Instead of paying the standard $165 per night rate, I stayed at a 4 star hotel in Seattle a few weeks ago for $85 using the app and a coupon code.

• Download links: iOS and Android

Groupon, Living Social

You've probably heard of Groupon and Living Social and may have already used their websites.  They have great deals for restaurants, goods, travel, and local experiences like plays or concerts.  For example, you can buy a voucher for $20 to spend at a restaurant for $10.  The mobile apps are great because you can save paper and don't need to print out your vouchers.  When you buy a Groupon or Living Social deal for restaurants, you can just bring your phone with you and show them the voucher from the app.

• Groupon download links: iOS and Android
• Living Social download links: iOS and Android

RedLaser

With RedLaser you can scan UPC codes of products and the app will look for the best price for that item in any stores or online retailers.  For example, if you were at Best Buy and wanted to know if the price at Best Buy was the best available for that Asus router that you want to buy, you could scan the UPC code with the app and find out the prices that online retailers like Amazon and Newegg have, as well as other nearby stores like Office Depot.

• Download links: iOS and Android

Safeway

You may already shop at Safeway for groceries and alway look for the food on sale.  With the Safeway app you can get the "Just for you" prices on specific foods.  Using the app, you can look through the items that they have discounts on and add them to "My List".  That list is connected to your Safeway card and anything that you buy in the store that is on that list, you will have automatically discounted at checkout.  Note that all of the "Just for you" discounts are applied at the very end, when you get your total and it doesn't come up as the item is being scanned.  My wife and I will just browse through the discounted items and just add anything that we might even think of needing to our lists.  More than once I have forgotten that I added items to the list and have received the discount at checkout.

• Download links: iOS and Android

Do you use apps on your smartphone to save money?  If so, please post them in the comments below.

GTD: Focusing on Tasks

First off I would like to apologize for the lack of recent posts on the blog.  The current cold bug hit the eLearning department pretty hard last week, but we are all back and almost at 100%!

I am a bit of a Getting Things Done (GTD) geek.  I like to make sure I am on track for completing projects and getting general work done in a timely manner.  There are always so many tasks to work on that it can be a bit overwhelming.  I have used a variety of task management apps (Remember the Milk, Things and The Hit List) to keep myself organized.  I currently use Apple's Reminders because of the iCloud synchronization.  They are all good apps but for me they have one major flaw.  It is much too easy to just change the due date on the task and forget about.  Before I know it I have tasks that are months old because it was too easy to put them off.

Recently I stumbled across something that completely changed task management for me.  I was surfing the web for productivity tools and found a site by David Seah.  On his site he had a variety of paper-based task management and project management solutions.  I had always avoided paper-based tools because I just always felt the digital tools were superior.  The one solution on David's site that really impressed me is his Emergent Task Planner.  It is a great task management tool and the best part is you can't just change the due date and put the task off, especially if you use a pen! :)

So, a little bit about how I use the tool.  I usually get to work around 7:30am and that is the time I start to organize my day.  The first thing I do is grab a new sheet of the ETP and fill out the date and the times, from 8am to 5pm.  

Then I look at my digital task list and pick three tasks that I have to complete by the end of the day.  

As I work through the day I list all the other activities that work on in addition to my tasks. 

As I work on items I list them on the left-hand side (see first image) and mark off the amount of time I spend on them.  If I am able to complete the initial three tasks then I reward myself by adding three more to the list.  This process has been very helpful.  With this system I have been able to stay on task and also identify things that tend to distract me from GTD, like email.

Canvas now has an Android app

Canvas has had an app for iOS for some time now, but they have lacked an app for Android.  They lack that app no more!  You can go here to download the app from the Play Store.

I had the chance to test out the app on my EVO 3D and on my new Nexus 4 and the app worked great on both devices.  It was handy to be able to access all of the courses I was enrolled in, check my grades, and read all of the content.  I spoke with one of the developers of the app and he said that they would be adding the ability to submit assignments, post to discussions, and take quizzes in the app soon, but that was not functionality they were able to add in the initial launch of the app.  It is a promising start for the app with many more great features to come.

Here is the official press release from Instructure Canvas about the launch of the Android app.  What do you think about the app?  Please post in the comments below.

$50 a month for unlimited data, texting, and talking without a contract - Save money on your cell phone plan so you can buy those textbooks

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I am always looking for ways to save money and I'm sure you are too.  One way I was able to save money was to reduce my monthly cell phone bill.  A smartphone is an integral part of many people's everyday lives and you can have one contract-free for $50 per month.  There is even one phone plan that is $19 per month.  You may be paying more for texting and phone calling only, so why not have a smartphone for cheaper?  You can use that extra money you'll have to buy textbooks or pay for tuition.

I explain in detail on this page how you can make the switch to a contract free cell phone carrier and get unlimited data, texting, and talking for only $50 a month.

How do you save money on your cell phone bill?  Please post in the comments below and let me know.

*The image of the Nexus 4 is Creative Commons Attribution licensed and thanks to Dru Kelly.  The image of the iPhone is Creative Commons Attribution licensed and thanks to theOOBE.