If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

My sister has finally come to terms with the fact that her three year old Nokia is just about to fall apart, and last night, we shopped around for a new phone, and she finally took the plunge. Since she and I are on opposite sides of the country, we had to do our shopping online, and our conversations were via Yahoo! Messenger.

So exactly what did she get? Definitely not the iPhone, and not because we were not so totally convinced that it was great; the dollars just didn’t add up. She simply could not afford to drop the extra monthly charges for the data plan that, obviously, every smart phone owner should have. After all, it did not make sense to purchase an iPhone only to have all its other features sit around.

But for those who do have an iPhone, there is a way to earn those extra charges back. And no, it is not through calling up AT&T and trying to talk them into waiving the darn thing.

There are iPhone apps that can actually help you save up on the nickels and dimes; without your knowing it, this can eventually add up to a few bucks after a while.

Examples are an app called BetterDeal, which lets you evaluate up to 4 packages of, say, cereal, so that you can intelligently decide which product gives you more value for your money. Another example is the GasBuddy, an app which provides users with information on nearby gas stations that offer the cheapest rates. Then there is pic2shop, an app that allows users to scan a particular product’s barcode, which the app then uses to pull up the prices of the same product offering from among online retailers.

Then, of course, there are apps which let you enjoy discounts right off the bat, such as the ones offered by Coupons.com and which we featured a couple of weeks or so ago.

So make sure your iPhone is helping you get your money’s worth. Start saving today!

Related posts

• The Choice Between iPhone 3G and iPhone 3G S (1)
• Phanfare Photon Update Enables Wireless Photo Printing from iPhone (1)
• Palm PRE: Ready to Challenge the iPhone? (2)
• Jailbroken iPhones susceptible to first worm on iPhones (0)
• iPhone Gets Photo Editing App from Adobe (1)