The best iPhone apps to save you money

The iPhone has proven to be something of a phenomenon. Those of you that have one may already be aware that despite the initial cost for the handset or fee paid for a monthly contract the iPhone can be a great way to save money too. The great thing is that there is the potential to cover almost anything you desire through the use of downloadable apps. There are 85,000 apps available to download so as the advert suggests, there's an app for just about everything and this includes saving money.

Red Laser
This app is ideal for the bargain-hunting shopper and may just change the way you shop for expensive items forever. Scan your iPhone camera past a barcode and a built-in scanner will detect prices for the same product using Google Product Search and Amazon. This app naturally works best on more expensive items such as electrical goods, with some serious savings to be found for the initial outlay of £1.19.

Skype
This is an app that is both free to download and one that allows you to make free video calls to family and friends around the world. Save money on phone bills by talking to other people on the growing network. Skype has proved to be something of a revolution and as a free app you can start to save money right away.

Local sale finder
This is a useful app which will send discounts and vouchers to your phone for use in the area that you are in. There's no need to print the vouchers, meaning that there is little need to plan too far ahead. All you need to do is show the restaurant or shop your phone to get the deal. Discounts are available for more than 40,000 outlets including restaurants, shops and hotels.

0870
This free app is reported to have already saved users £267,000. Rather than call often-expensive 0870 numbers, which can cost about 15p a minute, you can use this app to see if there is an alternative cheaper number. All you need to do is type in the number of the company you are trying to reach and it will search for cheaper numbers and even some free 0800 numbers.

iXpenseIt
Keep track of your daily outgoings and budget your finances across the month. It costs £2.99 but you can try the free version first if you are not sure if this app is for you. Users can view customised, detailed reports showing where money is spent and when.

Currency
Travellers and those that like to keep track of exchange rates may just wonder how they managed without this app. Up-to-date exchange rate information is provided for more than 90 currencies across countless countries, so there's no excuse for being unsure how much you're spending on holiday. Currencies included, among others, are the US dollar, Japanese yen and Turkish lira.

Mini Mortgage Manager
Another handy little app that lets you track your outgoings. Mortgages can be made simpler by downloading this and inputting the size of your loan, rate of interest, term of the mortgage and your monthly repayments and a total of the level you've repaid will be calculated. You can even find out how much has gone in interest. It costs 59p.

AppSniper
Save money on your apps! If you are the sort that is always downloading the latest apps and fancy keeping track of the prices to grab a bargain then this app could be for you. It allows you to keep up with which apps are on sale and notifies on any price drops to the sort of apps that you're interested in buying. Sometimes price drops are only for a short period of time, so the initial cost of 59p could be made back pretty quickly.