The economy is a long way from recovery, and many families are struggling to make ends meet, never mind paying off debt. If you’re trying to get out of debt and aren’t sure of the most efficient way to do it, visit the Snowball Calculator.

The Snowball Calculator is designed to figure out the least expensive way for you to pay off your debt. Just fill in the form with the information on each loan, how much money you have to put towards debt payment, and click the “Calculate” button. You’ll get instructions on how much to send to each lender every month and how many months it will take to pay off the debts.

To calculate your debt repayment or to learn more, visit the Snowball Calculator.

Not sure if its worth $10 per person to see the latest movie releases? Should you wait for the paperback version of the new bestseller to save more than 50% of the hardback price? Before you spend your hard earned money and time, check out MediaCritic.com for the latest reviews from top newspapers and publications around the country on movies, books, games and tv shows. MediaCritic.com offers a “Metascore” (average of the critics’ scores) for each item giving a quick glance at its overall rating. You can read the critics’ reviews as well as the opinions and ratings from non-critics. You can post your own opinions or participate in group discussions.

You can access the information through the website or through an RSS feed or your smartphone.

I’m convinced that every mom should have a Smartphone. I don’t know what I’d do without mine. I keep track of the kids, snap photos because I never remember my camera, capture and organize my thoughts, keep my shopping list, entertain myself with music and movies, find the nearest public restroom, find the nearest Starbucks and so much more.

One of the biggest assets of a smartphone that it can save you time and money on shopping. There are many great shopping apps, but one of my faves is ShopSavvy. In my quest to spend as little as possible on groceries, the biggest challenge has come in knowing which store has the best price. Not all sale items are listed on the store circular or online. But with ShopSavvy, I can scan the barcode of the item in question with my smartphone, and it will tell me if there is store nearby that has the item for cheaper! It will tell me the price and even give me current reviews.

My husband loves Blue Diamond Habanero BBQ Almonds. Almonds are not cheap, so I love when I get coupons for Blue Diamond almonds. When I was at the grocery store, they had the almonds for $3.79. My coupons were “Buy 2 get $0.60 off”. This store only doubles to 50 cents, so my cost would be $6.98 or $3.49 each. Using ShopSavvy, I discovered Wal-Mart has the same almonds for $2.80. Using my coupon, I would get them for $5.00 or $2.50 each…nearly a $1.00 cheaper for a total of $2.00 in savings.

If you’re a stay-at-home mom who needs to save her pennies as much as possible, you need ShopSavvy. Did I mention the app is free?

Having trouble finding someone to watch your kids? SitterCity offers a resources for families to find full-time childcare or the occasional sitter. It’s not service in that someone is assigned to you. Instead its a directory where you can find profiles of people that include their experience, expertise, and references. Some sitters have their profiles marked with “background check”.

The database is fairly extensive. There were several sitters listed from my tiny, rural area. You can do a search and see a list of sitters for free, but to get their details you’ll need to join. The service offers a free 7 day trial and then a monthly or yearly membership option. To learn more visit SitterCity.com.

Many people start the year with diet resolutions. The diet industry knows it if the number of books, magazines and weight loss commercials being highlighted this month are any indication. But instead of spending a fortune on weight loss information and advice, why not visit Traineo.com? Traineo is a free resource that will help you set your weight loss goal and track your progress. It has a community forum and groups, plus you can identify “motivators” who will receive information about your progress so they can help you stay motivated.

To sign up or learn more, visit Traineo.com.

When it comes to managing my life, particularly if I’m way from my computer, if I can skip or speed up a step I’m more likely to stay on top of things. Google Calendar allows me to quickly add events from my phone through SMS.  I simply scroll to Google in my contact list and choose the option to send an SMS, type my appointment and hit send. Google even texts back that the appointment was received.

To set up the mobile option with Google Calendar:

1. Visit your Google Calendar online.
2. Click on the “Settings” option.
3. Click on “Mobile Set up”
4. Check to see if your Carrier is supported.
5. Enter your country and phone number, and then click “Send Verification Code”
6. You’ll receive a message back with a verification number. Enter that number in the “Verification Code” field on in the mobile settings on your calendar. (If you don’t receive the code, you can request it again through the Mobile Set up in the Settings.)
7. Click “Finish Set-up”.

To send a text of a new appointment:

1. Add Google Calendar’s SMS number to your contacts 48368
2. Send a text to the SMS number. Enter the appointment, date and time for example “Dinner 3/4 8pm” or “Soccer Saturday 10am”
3. Google Calendar will text back that it received the appointment.

You can also have Google Calendar text your appointments to you. To receive the next item on your appointment schedule text “next” (without the quotes) to 48368.  Text “day” to get the day’s appointments or “nday” to get tomorrow’s schedule.

One of the great things about the Internet is the ability to research great deals on everything you need. The trick is to sort through thousands of resources to find the deals you want and need. Over at Wise Bread, they have made the deal finding a little bit easier. On its Deals Roundup page, Wise Bread lists the day’s best deals, coupons and freebies from the best bargain sites on the web.

In my attempts to save money, meal planning and grocery shopping has become more complex. I’m clipping coupons, shopping multiple stores to get the best prices, and planning meals around what’s on sale. Being domestically and organizationally challenged, this new way of cooking and shopping has been difficult for me to manage.

But I’ve just come across a great new web and phone app that can make it easier. Ziplist offers lots of great features to create a shopping list and plan meals. The shopping list can be organized by aisle or store. It can be shared with other members of the family so that they can add items.

Not sure what to make for dinner? Ziplist has tons of recipes and with a single click all the ingredients can be added to your list. It will even show you items that you may already have at home so that they aren’t added to the list. And if you find a recipe on another website, you can save it to your Ziplist recipe box.

When you’re ready to shop, you can print out your list or access it by through your SmartPhone (iPhone app coming soon).

To learn more or to create your own list, visit Ziplist.

Many people, perhaps you too, have already completed your taxes. But if you haven’t, Smartmoney.com has a lot of great articles to help you save the most on your taxes. It as the usual information on self-employment and investment income, but it also has some specialty articles such as if you sold your home for loss and a “marriage penalty” calculator.

The major package shipping companies provide tracking services, but you have to know the URL of each site’s tracking page to use it. Or you can use PackTrack.com to trace a package from USPS, UPS or DHL. It’s a no-frills site so it won’t confuse you or slow you down. Its features include:

• Customizable quick-access buttons.
• Package tracking log for fast re-tracking.
• Access to multiple carriers’ tracking on one fast-loading web page.

PackTrack is free to use! To learn more, visit Packtrack.com.