My Daily Survival Kit: Apps and Digital Devices

There are certain things that probably every woman/mom has in her daily survival kit.

Lip balm/lipstick

tissues

wallet

mirror

smartphone

notepad

pen

There are probably a million variations on these daily survival kits.

As our lives become more digital, our survival kits do the same. So, I thought I would share some of the tools that I use on a daily basis.

This is not a sponsored post. I'm just sharing things that I enjoy and use on a daily basis.

1. My iPhone

How did we survive before smartphones? I use mine for everything. It stores my life, pretty much. I use it for checking email, weather, twitter, FB, and I have even posted to my blog once with my phone! I live by my calendar on my phone. I put everything on there, and set reminders for myself, or it ain't happenin'.

It supplies entertainment for The Little when we are having to wait in line at stores, or appointments. I use various apps that I will show here to track all sorts of things!

2. Evernote

Have you tried Evernote? I use it for so much! I use it to plan blog posts, and even create them when I'm on the go. I have the app on every digital device I own. (2 iPads, 1 Kindle, 1 iPhone, and my laptop) It will sync any action across all my devices, so I have everything with me all of the time.

It is my digital recipe book, also. All of my recipes are stored here. I create notebooks for each category; Desserts, Chicken, Casseroles, etc. I can download the web page where I found the recipe or write a completely new one.

It's great for storing everything you need to save. I create Christmas lists that I can use throughout the year to add ideas as they come to me. Sometimes, I will be in a store and I'll snap a picture of an item and add to the list. It is SOOO helpful when I get ready to start shopping for the holidays!

Oh, and I have used "If This Then That" (IFTTT) to set up a script to download all of my Instagram photos to a Daily Journal notebook in Evernote. I'll tell you more about IFTTT soon!

3. Camera Awesome

This is a great free camera app with a lot of different settings. I really like the flashlight feature to use instead of a regular flash. It floods the area with light and the photos turn out great in a low light situation.

It, also, has grids that you can overlay the viewing area to help you compose your photos. Once you take your photo, you can "awesomize" it with a huge variety of filters, presets, textures, and more.

I'm not great at taking pictures with my iPhone, but, I'm getting better!

4. Striiv

This is a step counting app and it is the best one I have used so far. I have tried several others, but this one is the most accurate. I have found that I really work to increase my steps when I can see it in real time. It has a fun game called "MyLand" that you earn coins for with each achievement and you build your little "world". It's just an added bonus.

You can purchase a wearable tracker, called Play, that links with the app. I have not tried that, but it's only about $50, so if you looking for one to try, it may be worth it.

5. Pixlr

I use Pixlr on my laptop to edit photos. Primarily when I need to add an image on top of another, or to create a new image. It works a lot like Photoshop, only it's free!

6. PicMonkey

PicMonkey is a great solution when you want to create a collage of any kind, including a FB cover. They have free choices, and you can upgrade to a Premium account to get even more to configurations to choose from.

7. Kindle Fire

I'm a reader. I read everything. So, my Kindle Fire has been great. I have probably read over 200 books since getting it. I read every single night, unless I have a migraine. I could read on my iPad, but, the Fire is a much better size to hold in bed.

This is a sampling of apps and other digital solutions that I use daily to save my sanity. 

 What are your favorite apps and devices? Please share and we can all try them out!