It’s the most wonderful time of the year!  Oh no, hang on – no its not. Its early December and you still haven’t done your Christmas shopping. Come on now, you don’t want to leave it all until Christmas Eve, do you? Not like last year. These apps will help you plan, execute and survive this year’s Xmas Shopping trip – from finding the best bargains to seeking refuge in a cafe if tit all gets a bit much.

Point ‘n’ Find
Price: Free
DOWNLOAD: Point ‘n’ Find
Nokia’s first ‘augmented reality’ app for S60 phones, Point ‘n’ Find[link to review] gives your camera the ability to recognise barcodes, products and even movie posters. By pointing the camera at a barcode (for example) you can quickly check price comparison sites to ensure you get the best bargain. Its a bit unfair on the poor high street retailer, but great news for your Xmas budget.

Shoppy shopping list
Price: Free
DOWNLOAD: Shoppy shopping list
Although we felt that Shoppy needed a bit of spit ‘n’ polish[link to review], it is one of better shopping list apps around, and free to use. Create multiple lists and share them with other users – ideal if you need to split up to get a big Xmas shop out of teh way and don’t want to double-up. You can also add items to other people’s lists so if your spouse is at the shops you can ‘help’ them by adding things to their to-buy list.

My Shopping Buddy
Price: Free
DOWNLOAD: My Shopping Buddy
Whoah there, don’t go spending all your money at once – who knows what January might bring? Help curb your impulse purchases with My Shopping Buddy – just tell it what something costs and then how often you (or the person you are buying it for) is likely to use it. My Shopping Buddy will work out a ‘cost per use’ and help inform your inner Scrooge as to whether this is a worthwhile purchase. The app also comes with handy money saving tips taht can help you to afford those purchases that you deem essential.

Near Here
Price: £3.00
DOWNLOAD: Near Here
Near Here is a one-stop-shop for location-based stuff finding. Shops, bars, cafes – even pharmacies, should you find that the holiday season has triggered a migraine – Near Here will locate them for you and show you how to get to them. The app uses Staron’s Skyhook AGPS technology that doubel-checks your GPS location with that of cell towers and known wifi hotspots to give a much more accurate fix than GPS alone.

FoneFood
Price: Free
DOWNLOAD: FoneFood
Your feet are killing you, you are hungry & tired and if another perfume saleswoman squirts Sarah Jessica Parker’s Lovely in your eyes you will probably go blind. Time for a sit down and a bite to eat, then. FoneFood comes to the rescue with its GPS-located restaurant reviews straight from the LastMinute.com database. Find the nearest eatery or search for good deals to stretch your meagre budget as far as possible.