What's better than a free app? One that..

Several sites make it easy to find games, tools for electronic devices

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Your electronic device may have cost a bundle, but the good news is that there is no shortage of free apps.

Even better, a number of apps can save you money. One of my favorites is Gasbuddy.com. For iPhone, Android and Blackberry devices, it can help you find the cheapest gas wherever you happen to be.

Using Smith's Food & Drug's app, you can check out the chain's weekly ads and load electronic coupons to your Fresh Values shopper card. Go to bit.ly/xl2p9A for more information. You also can use the free app from Cellfire.com to load coupons onto your Fresh Values card.

Coupons.com, the coupon-printing website, has a free app that makes it easy to use all of the site's resources on the go — including printing coupons. But the app is available only via an iPhone or iPod Touch. Go to bit.ly/AugGcP for more information.

On the road and looking for a deal on dinner? Use Groupon.com's app to buy a discounted dining certificate and simply present your phone to the server once you arrive at the restaurant. Go to Groupon.com/mobile for details.

If you are trying to find the best price on a particular item, you may want to try the app offered by PriceGrabber.com. With it you can find the best prices online among thousands of merchants. Go to Pricegrabber.com and click on "Mobile Apps" at the top right-hand side of the page.

Of course, there are plenty of free apps available on virtually any topic. Here are some websites that can help in your search:

iTunes • For Apple devices, go to apple.com/itunes/charts/free-apps for the top 100 free apps in the iTunes App Store.

Amazon.com • The global e-retailer launched its Appstore for Android last year. The Appstore offers a different app each day for one day at amzn.to/dJSCjj. The site also has apps that allow users with other types of electronic devices to read Kindle books. Go to amazon.com/gp/kindle/kcp for more information and to amzn.to/mYu88G for the top 100 free Kindle game apps for most electronic devices.

PC Magazine • Go to pcmag.com, type in "free apps" in the search field and you will find the magazine's rankings of the top 100 free apps for smartphones and the 40 top free Android apps.

Blackberry.com • Go to appworld.blackberry.com/webstore and you will find its listing of the top free apps along the bottom of the page.

Yahoo.com • Go to apps.search.yahoo.com for free apps from a host of sources.

Chomp.com • This search engine allows users to search for apps in various categories, including "free." Similar sites are GetJar.com and Appminer.com.

You will want to check these websites frequently, as many apps are offered free for a limited time, some for as little as one day.

Lesley Mitchell writes One Cheap Chick in daily blog form at blogs.sltrib.com/cheap.

lesley@sltrib.comTwitter: @cheapchickFacebook: Facebook.com/OneCheapChick

What's better than a free app? One that helps you save