FIGURE D

The Need button shows you a list of items that you have coupons for.

Once you are in the store, simply select the store name, and check off the items as you purchase them. As soon as the items is checked it will disappear from the list, leaving only the items left to buy (for that store)! The items are also updated in the "ALL" mode, since you no longer need them.

A couple of notes: Some folks prefer to uncheck items, rather then check them off. JShopper's preferences allow you to specify what a checked item means for both the All and Need modes. The coupon "mode" actually will show all items you have coupons for, and based on the preferences you have set for the Need mode will show items checked or unchecked. Finally, the quantity and coupon columns can be turned on and off in the Preferences screen.

As you can see, JShopper is both a good shopping list application, and (with the ability to name the stores anything you like) can also be used as a general-purpose checklist application.

SmartShop
Like JShopper, SmartShop was specifically written to be used as a shopping list application. However, SmartShop has a slightly different approach: instead of being able to specify a store or list of stores where an item can be purchased, SmartShop just has one common list of items, all of which are displayed when building a list for a particular store. Each store has its own separate list and each item at each store can be assigned a current price, allowing you to total your purchases as you go.

Like the others, you'll spend the bulk of your time getting all your common items entered. As with JShopper, you'll also want to add a list of stores to the application. To enter stores, you'll have to select the Shop List option on the Product menu.

Once you have your stores entered, you're ready to start building your shopping lists. Highlight the store you want to build a list for and select New from the Buy menu. Selecting Resume on the same menu does the same thing as New does, but will preserve any checked items on that stores list once built, whereas New will clear them. This would be used after you initially built your lists for each store each time you want to shop there.

Once in the Buy screen, you can add and delete items you need to purchase at that store. Once you add an item, you can then select that item and tap the Edit button. This brings up a window for that item that allows you to select a desired quantity and to specify the current price for the item. SmartShop also tracks the price you last bought a particular item for at that store, giving you access to whether or not the price has gone up or down.

As you buy your items, SmartShop is keeping track of totals, which you can see by selecting Total from the Buy menu. Unlike JShopper, items checked off will remain on the screen. When you are done shopping, simply select "Exit" from the "Buy" menu to return to the Shop List screen.

Recommendations
Which of the solutions should you use? Well, that really depends on what type of information you'd like to keep track of, and if you might want to use a particular add-on application for other uses.