Find the lowest priced Gas near you, for Free!

Why do gas stations differ so much on gas prices? I am not sure why either but there is an awesome app available that will give you the run down and all the gas prices in your area.

GasBuddy.com is a mobile app available in the Android Market and in the Apple App Store. The app is a simple but extremely effective. Here’s our review, enjoy!

GasBuddy is an excellent companion app that is very easy to use. Once installed you can sign up for a free account that allows you to even report gas prices and earn points for free gas. We haven’t tried this as of yet, if we do I’ll update you here.

There are two ways to find gas prices, either by city, state, or zip code or by GPS. GPS is our preference as the app will update pricing where you are. This is perfect for traveling especially on business trips.  To use the GPS make sure you allow for location services. Once set up you can click on the gas pump image that says, “Find gas near me.”

The results will be shown in a list format by types of gas; regular, midgrade, premium, and diesel. On this screen you will get the price, location, name of the gas station and the gas station’s logo. You will also see when the price was last updated. If you find a price that has changed you can update the price by clicking on “update” and submit. This ensures prices are constantly being updated.

Navigation and Map features:

At the top of the screen you can choose “list” or “map”. The map screen will show a map with all the gas stations with prices near you. You can tap the navigation icon and you can begin getting directions to your selected station. This is an extremely useful tool when you are in an unfamiliar area.

Overall this is an excellent app that has minimal ads and is often updated. It worked extremely well for me in the Chicago area where gas prices vary widely.

Redecorating or Remodeling? There’s an app for that!

Recently members of our staff downloaded the app Houzz from the Android Market and the Apple App Store. Here’s what we found.

If you’re looking for inspiration, this app has it all and it has an excellent layout that is very easy to use on both Android and iPhones.

In the main menu you can choose to search or browse by photos, products, IdeaBooks (we’ll get into that soon), discussions, and professionals. There is also a spot called “Your Houzz” which allows you to save photos in your own virtual IdeaBook. You can either sign up through Facebook or set up a free account for this.

So here’s how it works. Let’s say you want to redesign or remodel your home office area. In the menu a great place to start to get ideas would be in the photo section. In the photo section scroll to the Home Office section and tap to open. Inside you find a plethora of high resolution images of home office spaces; you can even refine results by setting the specific style you are looking for.

The photo layout is excellent, in somewhat of a collage layout and the images are very vibrant. Tapping on the image opens up a large version and you can swipe through the remaining images from there, very smooth and easy.

Now imagine yourself scrolling through these images and you come across a design you absolutely love! You have the space to make your home office just like the photo but where do you get that cool office chair or that old fashion lamp? What is very cool about this app is that some of the images have animated green tags on certain products that you can click on to get more information. The tagged info will give you a close-up of the item, a price and a description, plus a link to where you can by this unique product. You won’t have to open you browser and perform a Google search and hope to find the exact item, it’s already there! Everything can be saved to your own IdeaBook or you can browse others by category. There is a ton of innovative tips and products that you may have never known existed.  You can find contractor tips, Do It Yourself ideas, tech advice, and much, much, more!

In addition to the IdeaBooks and photos you can search products and find professionals nearby to help with all your decorating and remodeling needs. Overall this is an excellent and well-designed app that has many useful functions. We’re positive you’ll love it and get some great ideas, so give it a try by searching Houzz in the Android Market or App Store.