Torrey Kim

When the fall weather begins to chill the air and you're ready to turn back your clocks for daylight savings time, it's also a good time of year to go through your mobile device and figure out which money-saving apps you're still using, and which you no longer use for your savings strategy.

For example, my iPhone has two different couponing folders on it, each of which has about 20 apps in it. I have to accept the fact that I don't use 20 savings apps anymore. Some were helpful for me because I needed the app to buy a specific product, or because I was on vacation in a town where the app helped me save big, but then came home where it was no longer useful.

Deleting these apps will help clear out your phone, but will also help you focus on the apps that are actually helpful to your savings strategy.

I know quite a few people who name Halloween as their absolute favorite holiday, surpassing Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and everything else. And I would guess that one of the reasons for that is because Halloween is so low-pressure. You aren't expected to cook a big meal or entertain far-flung family members. Instead, you simply buy a few bags of candy, grab a costume, and you're ready to celebrate.

With this year's Halloween just about ready to take place, many of us are still gathering last-minute items that we need for parties or costumes, and that often means we're deploying our favorite money-saving apps. Whether you're looking for local deals or you've got time to order items online, you can snag some fantastic deals right now.

Even better than grabbing deals next week? Snagging those amazing after-Halloween bargains. Stock up on Nov. 1 to get great discounts on yard decorations, partyware, or costuming supplies. This way, you'll be all ready for next year's holiday a whole year in advance.

Many of our readers have expressed concerns in the past about whether their couponing and rewards apps such as Shopkick are "following" their every move. After all, these apps sometimes alert us via a phone signal if we're near a participating store, or send us a notification if there's a deal as we drive past the mall. But when it comes to good deals, other couponers seem to not care as much.

A recent survey by mBlox revealed that 47 percent of survey respondents were happy to share location data with a company in exchange for discounts and offers.

Although I love a good coupon enough to keep my location service in the "on" position for most of my couponing apps, I'm eager to hear what our readers think. Email us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com and let us know whether you'd be willing to trade your location privacy for great coupons.

Like many people, I can be a bit of a holiday shopping procrastinator from time to time, particularly as my kids get older. That's because their interests change pretty quickly, and they also have spending money from jobs, which means sometimes they'll just buy things they want rather than waiting to see if they got it for Christmas. Therefore, I tend to wait until closer to December before I start buying. However, many of our savvy readers are already hunting for bargains by combining text coupons, app-based deals and paper coupons.

When do you start your holiday shopping? Are you starting to make lists, ready to head to the stores, or ... are you already done holiday shopping? Email us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com with your information and we'll share it in an upcoming poll.

I saw someone at the grocery store last week with one of those huge three-ring coupon binders. She was incredibly organized and had them categorized with dividers and tabs based on the store's layout. In some ways, that's what Passbook aims to be for your iPhone -- a one-stop screen to keep your coupons lined up and organized. However, not everyone has an iPhone, and not all of your coupons can be added to Passbook (although participation with the app is growing).

In light of these shortfalls, couponers have found new and creative ways to organize the coupons they glean from shopping apps, daily deal sites, and text clubs. So you might use apps like PeeqPeeq to keep your email coupons in line, or perhaps you take screenshots of your favorite mobile coupons and then keep them together on your phone's photo album. Whatever method you use to stay organized, we'd love to hear about it. Email us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com with your favorite ways to stay organized and we'll compile the results. In addition, we're starting a "question of the week" segment, and we'd love to get your questions for that as well. We'll be answering the questions on About.com as part of our new series.

When you think about the mobile deals that you're most likely to search for and use, you can probably categorize them in terms of fashion, gasoline, groceries, or other such broad groupings. But you can typically break those down further to determine where you're saving the most cash. Maybe you save a bundle using mobile deals for your pet's needs, or perhaps you slash your healthcare bills with money-saving apps. Either way, it's a good idea to break down your savings so you know which apps, text coupons, or other deal venues are most valuable for you.

I did this recently and was surprised to find that I saved most of my money on clothes at the mall. This shocked me since I'm not a big mall visitor in the first place -- I only go there for back-to-school shopping trips and the occasional holiday gift. But the reality is that malls are typically more expensive than other locations (such as outlets or discount stores), which prompts me to search for longer time periods to find those lucrative coupon deals.

Email us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com to let us know where you find that you save the most using your mobile couponing strategies and we'll share the results in a future post.

I used to be a Sunday circular fanatic, as I know many of our readers were as well. The newspaper would arrive, and I'd separate it into a news pile and a circular pile -- each would be read separately, with news first and then the circulars after, which I would match with coupons. Many of my bargain shopping trips to stores like Walmart, Target aren't so dependent on the Sunday paper anymore, however. Now, I am more likely to compare prices using an app on my phone, and to find coupons that way as well.

The Sunday circulars still serve a significant purpose in planning your shopping trips since you can't yet do everything on your phone, but I've noticed they are far less important. However, I'm curious about whether any of our readers have stopped subscribing to the newspaper completely in an effort to focus all of their shopping comparison tools on the web or smartphone. Email us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com to fill us in on how you've fared after quitting the Sunday circular habit.

Depending on the type of smartphone you've got, your phone company may require you to use a data plan, which often cost about $30 per month. The data plan can allow you to access the internet from any location that gets cell service, which can be a plus if you're trying to get email or surf the internet while away from your wireless router. But whether you're buying school supplies, housewares, groceries, or just trying to cash in a restaurant coupon, you might need to access the internet to get your coupons.

If you have a device, such as an iPad or iPod Touch, that doesn't have a data plan, you can access your coupons before you leave the house, then present your device in-store to redeem discounts. This could take a bit of planning, but it's viable. We're interested in knowing which of our readers successfully use a data-free savings strategy. Write us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com to let us know how you've fared as a mobile couponer without a data plan.

I recently asked a friend of mine if she had started her back-to-school shopping yet, and she replied "I'm already done!" It's July 18th, and school doesn't start for over a month, so I figured I'd wait for the school to put out supply lists before I began. But she suggested that the supply list is fairly standard from year to year (glue sticks, notebook paper, etc.) and that she knows her kids need new backpacks and clothes, so why not start now and take advantage of sales and coupons available for the summer? I generally agree with her strategy, but my kids are growing so quickly I am always afraid of buying clothes a full month before they'll wear them, since their sizes could change drastically in a month.

But I realized her strategy can be used not just at department stores and school supply shops, but even at the grocery store, where I can stock up on items that won't spoil anytime soon, such as boxes of crackers or juice boxes. I always combine coupons and sales when there are deals at the grocery store, but haven't really been on the hunt for lunch box type foods this summer, although I'm going to start.

When do you start your back-to-school shopping trips? Let us know by emailing us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com.

If you've ever tried to be a successful "stockpile" couponer like the folks on Extreme Couponing, then you know that double coupons are an essential part of the strategy. In essence, extreme couponers look for sales, then match those sale prices with double coupons to get free or practically free items. However, with Kroger recently announcing that it was ending double coupons, many shoppers had to find new savings strategies.

Many people have local grocery stores that have never accepted double coupons, and they still find ways to save. These include digital coupons, couponing apps, catalina coupons, matching face-value coupons to sales, and using rewards points for discounts.

If you have been able to save big without using double coupons, let us know your strategies by writing us at mobilecouponer@gmail.com