6 Free Apps and Other Technology That Will Help Busy Parents During the School Year

Wow! Can you believe we've started another school year? Making that transition from the summer months into the fall months can be one of the most hectic times of the year for families. Nobody wants to be that parent who forgot to send lunch money or items for that school field trip. Your kids are back in school and are probably involved in extra-curricular activities. Creating a consistent schedule with your family to stay organized is the best thing to do, but sometimes that's easier said than done. Thank goodness for technology because there's no shortage of apps and other tech items that can help you bring order to your life. Here are some of my favorite organizational apps and devices that can help you. They are accessible from a wide variety of devices, giving you access from your computer, smartphones, and tablets, with syncing across all devices.

1. Allrecipes I know a lot of you are probably using All Recipes to create meals, but did you know the website and app have a special 'Back to School' section that allows you to plan easy to make breakfast, lunch and dinner meals during the school year? For those of you who like to do things on the fly, the app has an awesome "Dinner Spinner' feature lets you shake your phone to find quick meals to prepare for the family.

2. ArtKive. There's only so much refrigerator space you have in your home. Yes, you want to save your kid's artwork and projects. No, you don't want the clutter. This app allows you to take photos of all of those school art projects and store them in one place. You can even use the app to order products like mugs and shirts featuring your kid's artwork to share with grandma and grandpa.

3. Picniic. This app bills itself as your family dashboard. You can keep track of almost every aspect of family life within this app such as keeping track of schedules, shopping lists, family todo lists. You can even track your kids with the GPS technology built into the app. 4. Remember the Milk. If you keep forgetting items at the store, or tasks you need to accomplish, this app will help. Constant reminders will help you keep track of all of those school year to-do lists. The best thing about this app is that it will sync across all of your devices so you won't forget to do anything.

5. ShopSavvy. Need to find the latest deals on back to school items, use this app to price compare with retail and online stores.

6. Amazon Echo and Google Nest Home. Your smart-home digital assistants are very powerful devices and can help you and your family stay organized and connected during the school year. With your Amazon or Google Home assistant, you can set up reminders, shopping lists, to lists for each member of your family. It also allows you to add a calendar from Google, Microsoft and Apple, and your family contacts. When you download the app for both Amazon and Google, you can access these features wherever you go. Before you get overwhelmed with the current school year, make sure you're taking advantage of the latest tech that will help you stay organized. It might take you a few minutes to get adjusted to a new app or device, but it's better than being frustrated with all of the stuff back to school and beyond will throw at you.

Want to ask me a tech question? Send me a message at burton@callintegralnow.com and send it in! If you prefer to connect with me on social media, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter or watch great tech tip videos on my YouTube channel. I love technology. I've read all of the manuals and I want to make technology fun and exciting for you.

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