It is that time of the year when we all start counting down the days to our annual big break! The holiday season is typically characterised by family, friends, road trips and fun in the amazing South African weather.
For some, however, planning or orchestrating the ultimate vacation time can end up being more work and less play, especially if you are on cooking duty or if you have little ones that need entertaining.
We have found some apps and tech services that will make your holiday “chores” more bearable.
1. Festive decorations made easy with Pinterest
This is an oldie but a classic. Nowhere on the internet will you find better décor tips and ideas than on this popular social media platform. If you are not on Pinterest yet, now is the time to join the creative platform.
Pinterest is also great for finding gift ideas. Especially if you like giving handmade DIY gifts with a little added love.
2. Binge watch with Netflix or Showmax
We’ve written about streaming services before and if you haven’t joined one yet, then the holiday season is a great time to explore the world of online streaming.
While there are many streaming services available in South Africa, Netflix and Showmax are the most popular. You can spend your lazy days binge watching various TV shows, movies and documentaries. With the Netflix or Showmax apps you can also let your kids watch their favourite shows on a tablet when taking a long road trip. These could be downloaded while in a wifi area before you leave so no data bill shock upon your return!
3. Find your way with Waze
If you are driving somewhere this festive season, you need to download the Waze app. Waze is a real-time navigation (GPS) app, with a difference. The app is community-based, which means that aside from getting directions to your desired location, you will also find various other information on-route.
The app informs you about roadblocks, traffic incidences, speed cameras and road works. Users also upload other useful information like the fuel price.
4. Save with Snap-n-Save
We all know that food prices seem to rise during the popular holiday season, leaving you with less bucks come January. The Snap-n-Save app is a great South African app that helps consumers save on grocery items from the favourite supermarkets.
The app basically works like a coupon system where you can “book” coupons that gives you discount on specific products. All major grocery chains are featured on the app.
5. Find last-minute accommodation with Airbnb
By this time, you’ve probably already have your holiday accommodation booked. If you do need to make some last-minute vacation plans, you could find some decent accommodation options on Airbnb.
If you are not familiar with their service; Airbnb is an international platform that allows people to offer their homes (or rooms) up for rent.
Perhaps you could even make a little extra cash by renting out your house while you are away during the holidays?
6. Plan your meals with Yummly
Some us are master chefs, while some of us are kitchen disasters. For the latter, festive cooking can become a dreaded part of the holidays.
Luckily, there are multiple cooking and recipe apps that can take the angst out of cooking and meal planning.
Yummly is one of our favourite recipe apps, and allows you to browse millions of recipes, plan your meals and great shopping lists.
7. Keep your brain fresh with the Scrabble App
Relaxing doesn’t have to mean rusting. There are plenty of games out there to keep you entertained during your downtime, but this popular board game is making a massive comeback in app form.
The popular word game is created by Electronic Arts and gives you the options of playing solo games, or to show off your wordsmith skills by competing against your friends.