How many of us are planning on being more organized in the new year—in terms of time and money?
These tech tools will help keep your family on track and in the black:
While it's not new, the Google calendar deserves a mention. Set one up through your gmail account, and invite your family members to join. You will all be able to see and edit your family calendar from your smartphones or by logging onto your gmail account. It's much more efficient than trying to remember what's written on the whiteboard calendar hanging on the wall at home, and you can set up e-mail reminders for events. The Google calendar is also a great tool for the workplace. The CalenMob app can be used to sync the Google calendar if you need to make entries when Internet access is not available.
If you have younger family members, Famjama's calendar and family information management app might be a better option than the Google calendar. It allows you to add family members and caregivers with different levels of access and ability to edit. (It may be helpful, for example, if your caregiver can edit the grocery list, but you probably don't want your children to be able to edit their chore list.) The shopping list also searches for coupons for any items you've entered. Each person is assigned a color, which makes it easy to differentiate both calendar items and messages. The "To Do" list function includes digital reminders, and you can even set it up to require confirmations that the items have been completed, which may be helpful for your kids' chores. You can also send out message blasts, if you need to tell the family something quickly. And there is a place for emergency contact information and special messages for caregivers.
This family finance app allows you to see the big picture by tracking all of your accounts—comparing what you actually spent to the budget you established—and provides a monthly analysis of where the money went. It also provides reminders when bills are due and alerts when balances on accounts are running low or there has been unusual spending.
Not sure if that "sale" price is really a deal? Use this app to scan the barcode on a product and see what price other businesses are asking for it.
Instead of carrying every rewards card, coupon, gift card, and receipt in your wallet (or worse, forgetting them at home), use this app to store them simply by photographing them. You can also share items with others, in case that Kohl's Cash is going to expire before you have a chance to use it. The app is PIN protected, and also provides a "find a store" function.
