Home management smartphone and tablet apps are the latest means of assisting homeowners in reducing the chaos of running a home. Some recommended apps are useful organizational tools designed to maximize time and productivity, others focus on home economics and a few are specific to maintaining a home. The following apps – for iPhone, iPad, Android or both – may help you be more organized and efficient:
- Allstate Digital Locker
This free app is available for iPhone and Android devices. The Allstate Digital Locker app helps homeowners and renters catalog, document, photograph and price their personal possessions, including furniture, appliances and electronics. Users can organize possessions by room category to help produce a complete home inventory. In the event you ever need to make a claim on your insurance policy, you will have all the information you need at your fingertips.
- HouseKeeper
Has that crack in your wall gotten bigger, or are you just more aware of it now? When you use the HouseKeeper app, you’ll no longer be second-guessing yourself about home maintenance issues. This Apple-based free app is designed to help homeowners document, monitor and update a home management issue. You can snap a photo of a problem in your home, give it a description and update it over time. Newer versions are expected to have the ability to schedule how often the problem needs to be re-evaluated. At the very least, this app can allow homeowners to show the folks at the hardware store a picture of the problem and get advice on how to fix it.
- Shoeboxed
The Shoeboxed personal computer software has been around since 2007 and recently became available in a mobile app version. The app allows homeowners to scan up to five documents per month, which may eliminate the need to hang on to old receipts and other papers. A variety of premium options are available for a monthly cost, ranging from $9.99 to $29.99. This app can be especially useful when sorting and storing documents needed to file taxes.
- TaskRabbit
Available now only in some major cities, TaskRabbit is a type of Apple-based valet service that allows you to solicit “pre-qualified and background-checked” individuals to perform specific chores or tasks you might be too busy to complete yourself. Once your chore is posted, it’s auctioned off to the lowest TaskRabbit bidder. You pay the bidder online after the chore is finished.
- HomeRoutines
HomeRoutines allows a homeowner to establish a customized checklist of daily, weekly or monthly chores and housekeeping tasks. You can sort tasks by importance, set a daily goal, such as cleaning out the gutters, or specify and area of your home you want to clean that week.
With today’s busy lifestyles, squeezing all those to-do list items into your schedule can be a challenge. But using apps to stay organized and on-track can help you accomplish your goals.
