App | AlleyHope

If you’re doing Christmas on a budget, or at least wanting to keep a track of what you’re spending, you need this app. The Christmas Shopping List by iDelux has been my go-to for three years now. I should note – this is not a sponsored post – I just really like this app and think you might too!

Shopping App 1 Look, Smurpho loves it too! 5 reasons I rate this app:

It’s password protected to no one can snoop on what presents you’ve bought them.
It adds up your total budget based on how much you allocate to each person, tells you what you’ve spent so far and your total remaining – no mental arithmetics required woooo!
The satisfaction of hitting the tick box for ‘Finished’.
You have somewhere to jot down ideas: vague or specific.
It doesn’t delete the info year to year, so when you log in next Christmas, you’ll see exactly what you bought for everyone the this Christmas. I find this especially useful for people who are tricky to buy for – note to self, not another candle for Mum this time!

Shopping App 2 This app costs 69p, which I think it worth it as it’s a bit of a lifeline for me at Christmas, I do tend to get carried away with Christmas shopping and seeing the budget I have set and what I have spent helps me keep it under control.

Do you plan out your Christmas shopping or do you just go with the flow?

Mallzee app

Us Edinburghers are a wily bunch, aren’t we? First we brainwash all the menfolk with Grand Theft Auto, then we distract the ladies from their abandonment with a brand new shopping app.

I joke, I joke! Of course women love GTA as much as guys and luckily, Mallzee caters for both sexes.

Exhibit A – Me and the Other Half:
Me: Hey, do you want to come shopping with me this weekend?
OH: What… Hang on …*pauses game*… oh. No. Nah not at all.
Me: OK. *installs Mallzee on OH’s iPhone* What do you think of this dress?
OH: *Glances at phone* Oh yeah that’s nice.
Me: What about this one?
OH: Err, I like the other one better.

Hallelujah, an actual opinion expressed!

Let’s face it, shopping has changed. In my high school years Saturdays were for spending the entire day on the high street browsing the aisles with a group of mates or your mum. Now, it is a rare treat to spend the day shopping with someone, not a weekly occurrence. It’s just so much more convenient to shop online. But we’re missing the social aspect. Nothing beats your mum’s opinion on whether that skirt if going to “do you justice” or the pang of joy when your Bessie mate says “no, you get. It’ll suit you better anyway”. And come to think of it, retailers must do better when shopping is a social activity. I am the worst for succumbing to the tiniest bit of peer pressure. Not even peer pressure – peer persuasion – “of course you should get the socks with the foxes on them!” And I am happy to admit: I am an enabler. Just ask my friend who has not one, but three bejewelled heart-shaped bags. They’re so different!

And this is where Mallzee comes in. All the convenience of shopping at home in your jammies but with the added bonus of having your mates with you. The set up is simple, select your favourite stores, connect to Facebook, browse. Swiping through the thousands of items of clothing feels a little like shopping bingo. Fun and addictive. You double tap the clothes you like, pinch the ones you don’t (not that kind of pinch!) and share the ones that you’re not too sure about to ask for opinions from your buds. You can also use the sharing function for bragging about your fashionista credentials – up to you! Best of all, the more you use Mallzee the smarter it becomes, meaning more chance of it finding a hidden gem for you, and the less it’ll suggest stuff that just isn’t you.

Dress Obviously, with this being a new app, a few things need to be ironed out, such as suggesting dresses on the male profile (although each to his own I guess). It also doesn’t seem to be completely synced with the websites of the store. Mallzee suggested the above striped dress for me, which I love, and when I tapped through to buy, discovered was reduced to £14 in the ASOS sale. Now I certainly ain’t complaining about that!