Apps that will save your Christmas

Hoping for a helping hand this Christmas when it comes to shopping, cooking, sending out cards and more?

Well, look no further than your mobile phone because we’ve got the 5 top apps that will help everyday Aussies survive this Christmas.

1. Etsy
Your mobile phone will never completely replace the thrill of real-world shopping in the lead-up to Christmas, but it might just save you the hell of navigating crowded stores packed with impatient last-minute shoppers. The Etsy app allows you to do just that, letting you choose from thousands of beautiful handmade and creative gifts that you won’t always find in the mall. Start early and browse the app for unique Chrissy presents made with love for the people you care about.

2. The Christmas List
If you’re one of those people who needs to make lists, but end up with lists of lists of lists, look no further than The Christmas List app. Perfect for organising every aspect of your Christmas shopping, this easy-to-use app provides a helpful breakdown of both your budget and your shopping list. What’s more, once you’ve purchased the gifts, it lets you track the shipping, gives you wrapping reminders and offers an at-a-glance view of your overall shopping progress. Genius.

3. Time to Roast
Nothing says an Aussie Christmas lunch like a roasting turkey. If you’re hosting the family this year and have a festive smorgasbord in mind, use the Time to Roast app to calculate roasting times and temperatures. With duck and goose also on the list of culinary delights, first select the type of meat to roast, then enter the weight and your cooking preference. The app will do the rest, giving you back easy-to-follow instructions on how to cook the meat, while breaking down the different times – preheating, searing, roasting and resting – with alarms to notify you of actions at each stage of cooking.

4. myCardLists Christmas Card Address Label Printing
Long in name but short on things that it doesn’t do, myCardLists gets your Christmas card list (or any other mailing list) into great shape. Designed to streamline the addressing of your Yuletide cards, it lets you personalise labels, create return address labels, record when cards have been written and mailed, print direct from an iPhone or your computer, and even check a person’s history to see when they last sent you a card! A super effective way to manage your Christmas card list, created from your phone’s contacts, the app takes away the hassle of handwriting each and every Christmas card address.

5. Geek
If you have a family full of geeks, look no further than Geek. With prices coming in at up to 80% below what you’d pay in a big box store, Geek is for those with a passion for technology and covers everything from watches to headphones, car accessories to phone upgrades. One of the best aspects of this handy shopping guide app is the ability to tell it what you like to buy and then get back a feed of suggestions along those lines. This can come in handy if you’re stuck for ideas or simply browsing for that next tech gadget to give him or her.