Mike's NBC-TV stories

Black Friday Shopping Apps for 2015

Finding the best deals leading up to, on, and beyond Black Friday isn’t hard – as long as you know where to look.

A number of apps can make it easy to make sure you find the best bargain.

ShopSavvy helps you find great deals before you head to the store – or even while you’re there. The app allows you to scan the barcode on an item’s package or tag and then displays how much it costs in other stores, instantly letting you know if you should buy now or head to another retailer. You can also sign up to receive weekly deals from favorite retailers. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Shopular is for coupon lovers who don’t have   time to flip through printed ads. The app delivers weekly ads along with money-saving promo codes right to your smartphone or tablet. It features retailers from Target and Walmart to Harbor Freight and Starbucks. It even allows shoppers to connect with each other to swap details on deals. The app is free for iOS.

The Flipp app lives up to its name by giving users the ability to see weekly circulars for more than 800 retailers. Users can search by store, item, and brand, create a shopping list, and bookmark a coupon for easy access. Flipp can even be set to alert users about when coupons or deals they’ve bookmarked are about to expire. The app is free for iOS and Android.

Mike is a veteran journalist whose video "PC Mike" reports have been distributed weekly to all 215 NBC-TV stations since 1994, making him one of the most experienced tech reporters in the country. His tech stories and videos have appeared on MSNBC, CNBC, the Today Show, The New York Times, USA Today and in numerous national newspapers and magazines. In addition to the PC Mike tech blog, he also publishes the Roadtreking.com RV Travel Blog in which he travels North America in an RV reporting about interesting people and places.