They call you “mom” but this job also makes you “Director of Operations.” It’s on your shoulders to orchestrate two, perhaps three, maybe four (if your number is “five” presumably you have no time for reading blog posts) ever-changing, schedules — all while insuring everyone is fed. As parenting gets

Brett Graff THE HOME ECONOMIST discusses back to school apps on “GOOD MORNING WASHINGTON DC” ABC7.

more complicated, app-makers are working to help streamline our lives. You can click here to watch THE HOME ECONOMIST discuss some apps to consider this school year on ABC7 in Washington DC or your can scroll down below.

1. Cozi.com: This family organizer lets you color code your kids (everyone knows producing the right name on your tongue at a split-second’s notice is a high pressure exercise….) and enter their schedules in a format that everyone can access. All family members can communicate because what’s worse, two parents arriving to pick up a kid from the same lesson or no one showing up at all? Hard to say, really.
2. Scholly.com: Are you freaking out about the cost of college? No? Well, then you probably don’t know it costs some $30,000 a year for an out-of-state university. What’s that? Your child is just a tiny baby? Well, then know that by 2033 costs just might rise to be $130,000 a year. Scholarships are hard to get and hard to find, but this app matches up your kid’s qualities with scholarships for which she just might qualify. Also, because scholarships are so desirable, plenty of scams have erupted. Scholly.com tells me the company vets the organizations it presents us.
3. MyHomework.com: The benefits of this app come in one word: reminders. Yes, it’s easy to enter assignments by class but the treasure is that it will alert you to deadlines and – for a premium users – it will alert parents too.
4. PlanetBox.com: Invest in this lunchbox and you’ll do the one activity experts call the key to nutritious eating: planning. Yes, everyone knows that good eating happens only with solid planning, stocking the fridge in advance as opposed to grabbing a burger on the run. The corresponding website is happy to give you good lunch ideas and you can even make extra for dinner – roasted sweet potatoes – that double as a side over the next few days.
5. Mint.com: You’ve heard it before but we’ll say it again, Mint is the financial planning app that makes you look in the money-mirror, so you can see where you’re overspending and whether you’re getting in the way of your own financial goals.