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This year I’ve had more commitments than usual. While continuing to homeschool and take care of our home, I’ve taken on a bigger role in my husband’s practice. With the additional responsibilities, I depended on several apps to keep my personal life organized.

These 4 apps kept me organized this year and saved me a lot of time:

01. Calendar App (iCal)

The way we use good ol’ Apple Calendar app has made a huge difference in keeping schedules straight. We learned how to notify each other of appointments and events for each family member in the simplest way possible.

Instead of figuring out how to share a calendar (I don’t have time for that), we simply use the “Invitees” feature when we add to our calendars. 

For example, if my husband schedules a doctor’s appointment, he “invites” me to the event on his calendar. I get sent a notification to accept the invitation but it shows up on my calendar regardless. 

This simple way of keeping each other up-to-date has worked beautifully. There’s no need to figure out a new app!

02. Monarch Money

Since using Quickbooks to organize our practice’s finances, I searched for a similar program for household budgeting. Tired of digging around physical files for receipts, I want to attach them to each transaction. And that’s what Monarch Money delivered.

Every Friday (that I’ve dubbed “Finance Friday”), I scan my weekly receipts and attach them to transactions in Monarch. After that, I shred them.

I’ve cut down on so much paper! And if I need a receipt, I can use a search function to find it immediately.

But best of all? I can easily see our spending habits and keep track of our accounts in one place.

Learn more about why I love Monarch Money in this post >>>

03. Dropbox

One reason this year was so crazy was that we were getting approved for private adoption! We had to complete a ton of paperwork and provide documents to our agency. Since everything was done digitally, I created a digital filing cabinet on Dropbox.

With Dropbox, I can access my files from anywhere. If I need to reference something while I’m out (such as vehicle maintenance) I don’t have to wait until I get home to dig through my paper records. I can use the search function to find what I need instantly.

Although I haven’t converted entirely to paperless, Dropbox is slowly convincing me to switch for convenience and space-saving.

04. Amazon Photos

I’ve saved HOURS of photo organizing with this simple app. With Amazon Photos, pictures and videos automatically upload when the app is open on my device so I don’t have to waste time figuring out how to move my iPhone photos to my PC. To back up my photos, I filter to the year and month and download a folder to also save to Dropbox and an external hard drive. (I have an entire series on backing up photos here >>>)

Now Amazon Photos connects with Shutterfly where I create our family yearbooks, saving me even more time! I can skip the step to download photos from Amazon to upload to Shutterfly, and I’m so excited about it.

Photo organizing is a headache but Amazon Photos makes it so simple! 

Learn why I love Amazon Photos in this post >>>

The best apps to stay organized

Many times I hesitate to use new tools because they add complexity. The apps I’m sharing in this post have simplified my life, allowing me to skip steps and quickly find what I need.

Best of all, you can try them all before you commit:

01. Calendar App or iCal – free with iPhone

02. Monarch Money – get a 30 day free trial!

03. Dropbox – free up to 2 GB of storage

04. Amazon Photos – unlimited photos & 5 GB video storage with Prime membership