Following up from yesterday’s post about iPhone Coupon & Grocery Apps, we have Charlotte with Stretching Your Budget talking about her favorite Android apps.

I personally have a Droid Incredible.  I held onto my old dinosaur of a cell phone for a looong time.  After I couldn’t stand it taking me 5 minutes to send a short text (no, I’m not exaggerating) I decided it was time for an upgrade.  Some of the first apps I installed are actually part of Charlotte’s list below. 

1. Keyring App – for those serious couponers out there that have a million loyalty cards on your keyring, this is the app for you! Say, goodbye to those bulky tags and hello to technology! Enter all of your loyalty cards onto one app and have the cashier scan your phone!!

2. Barcode Scanner – this is a must have app! You’ll need it to scan any and everything! Many stores are now using barcodes to help you check in at their store. You can scan upc codes at stores to find the lowest prices (this requires a different app, but you need the scanner for it to work).

3. Redbox – did you know you can now reserve your movies on your phone and pick them up when you get there! No, more standing in front of the machine agonizing over what movie to get, because the one you wanted is already checked out. Just reserve it early and pick it up at your convenience!!

4. Gas Buddy – I can’t stand to pay more than I have to for gas! It’s already high enough as it is, so why pay a ton if you don’t have too? Just search for the location nearest you and it will pull up all of the gas prices in that area!

5. Amazon Kindle – for those of you who love to read, download the Kindle App from Amazon and read your favorite book on your phone!!

6. Google Voice – I like this app, because if you’re in a meeting and can’t check your voicemail, then Google Voice will transcribe your voicemail into text so you can read it!!

7. Zedge Ringtones and Wallpaper – I love this app! You can choose from thousands of wallpapers and ringtones. My husband has the Dixie horn (from Duke’s of Hazard) as his ringtone 🙂 Your options are endless!

8. Google Maps – I absolutely love Google Apps! I don’t even have to use our TomTom anymore! This is just like it only it’s on my phone!

Thanks again Stretching Your Budget!

Thanks to Just Trying to Save Money for offering up her method to keep track of expiration dates in her stockpile. 

How many times have you planned to use an item in your stockpile, only to start dinner and realize the product is expired or it has gone bad? Well here is an easy way to make sure you use your food before it goes bad or expires!

According to CBS News in 2009, the average American throws away $1200 in food each year. That is about 500 pounds of food! For our family budget that is like throwing away about 4 months worth of food! They also state that 15% of the food thrown away is still in the original package! What a waste! Not only from your pocket book but your time to shop, to purchase, to fill your pantry and then to clear out expired food from your pantry.

Our solution to this problem is a very simple one! Most all products that you purchase have an expiration date on them, but usually they are very tiny and hidden in random places on your packaging, making it hard to see when they expire. So what we do is label our food with the expiration date with a large black marker in plain site to make sure we use it before it expires. You can do this easily! As you are adding your products to your pantry, grab your maker and label it as you put them away. This is one added step to maintain with your grocery shopping but it will help you keep all those great deals that you just found from going bad.

Now we are not saying all food wasted in America is from expired food, some come from spoiled food, over cooking or picky eaters just not finishing the food on their plates. But if you can cut out the chance of you letting food go bad before you use it or donate it, then it will make a huge difference in your overall grocery budget. There are a few items that you will not be able to label, say fruits and veggies. But if you want to make sure you really use all of your produce before it goes bad, saving you big time on your budget, you could always put them in a ziploc bag and label them or even freeze it.

If I notice food getting ready to expire, I will try and incorporate it into our weekly meal plan.

Even if you picked up the food for free, it’s still a waste to throw something away because it expired before you could use it – or because you didn’t realize the product was about to expire.  Personally, I rotate my items as I purchase (newer items in the back).  I also check my stockpile every few months for items expiring within 3 months.  I move those to a separate spot on the shelf and work to incorporate those items into meals.

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Must Be in US and 21+

This is a great deal for getting purified water!

Brita Slim Pitcher @ $10
Use $5/1 Brita Watcher Filtration System Pledge printable
Pay $5 plus tax OOP
Submit for $10 mail-in rebate
Free plus possible overage after coupon and rebate

Thanks, Mojo Savings!

Walgreen’s has a great Register Reward deal starting tomorrow (09/25) to help you start building your medication stockpile for the winter –  Earn $5 RR wyb (2) Theraflu Products at $5 each.

Here’s how to get the deal:

Buy 2 Theraflu Caplets @ $5 each
Use (2) $2/1 Theraflu Warming Relief Syrup or Caplets printable
Pay $6 OOP, earn $5 RR
Final: $0.50 each after coupons and RR

Thanks, Southern Savers!

Guest Post Request:

I’m looking for guest posts for next week (09/28 – 10/02 ) and for October (10/12-10/15).  I’ll be going to the SaveUp Conference in New York next month!

If you would like to submit a guest post please email me:

• Original content preferred but not required
• Topic can be anything family friendly
• May include a photo
• If you are a blogger – include a short bio to accompany the post with your site name linked

Let me know if you have any questions.  I’d love to get more material for the site.  Even if you don’t have a blog or business to link to – you have valuable information to share with others!

Photo Credit: Waaheen.com