Smartphone Savvy

It seems like everyone has a Smartphone these days.  Now there are more ways you can use your device to not only help cut your cell phone bill, but also save money on other purchases.  Kelli Grant, Senior Consumer Reporter for SmartMoney.com, offers up five tips on how to make your Smartphone work for you.  

First, use it to cut your minutes.  If you're not in the smallest bucket of minutes from your carrier, or you make a lot of international calls, look into apps like Skype or Google Voice.  These programs use data rather than voice minutes. Their international rates can be significantly cheaper, and most national calls are free, letting you move into a smaller voice plan. Just be sure to watch the data usage if you're not in an unlimited plan.

You can also consider nixing the texting bills.  There are a growing number of instant messaging apps, including iMessage, Facebook and Yahoo! Messenger, that let you send free messages to other users. It's a fast way to cut out as much as $20 a month from your bill, and the messages don't use much data. The catch is you'll need to make sure your texting buddies are using the same app.

Your Smartphone can always help you claim price savings.  Apps such as Amazon Price Check and Google Shopper are invaluable for seeing if there's a better price out there than the one you're seeing in stores. There's also a new app called Savvy that lets you take pictures of your receipts, which will trigger automatic notifications if the price drops in time for you to claim a credit from the store.

There's also apps to help you maintain you store loyalty rewards.  Apps like CardStar or Key Ring Reward Cards digitally store the barcodes of your store loyalty card. Those programs typically offer good savings and exclusive coupons, but only if you have the card on hand. This way, you'll have it stored in your phone and won't have one more piece of plastic to remember for your wallet or key ring.

And finally, make sure you grab coupons.  Shoppers will find a ton of coupon specific apps like Coupon Sherpa, but it's also smart to try other avenues. Sign up for favorite stores' apps, which may yield exclusive deals. It's also helpful to look for codes on social networking sites including Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.

For more information on how to use your Smartphone to save or other personal finance advice, visit www.smartmoney.com.