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It's the most wonderful time of the year. Families gather, feast, celebrate and then get ready for a Black Friday shopping bonanza. The hottest deals mean the biggest crowds will be mobbing stores. With this celebration of conspicuous consumption putting huge pressure on holiday shoppers in a tough economy, how does one find the very best deals? Well, an iPhone loaded with the right apps can make things a lot easier. This week we look at our four favorites for saving time and money.

TGI Black Friday

Powered by two major shopping resources, TGIblackfriday.com and DealCatcher.com, TGI Black Friday is the go-to app for finding the best bargains from the biggest chains like Walmart, Kohls, Best Buy, Target, Old Navy and far too many more to list. The updates come fast and furious and users can see all the Black Friday deals well before they bulk up the morning paper. Push notifications alert shoppers to new deals, users can compare prices and share finds on Facebook and Twitter.

Red Laser

Finding good deals is awesome. Finding great ones is even better. One thing brick and mortar retailers are worried most about this year is what impact mobile devices will have, even in the check out line. Price-matching offers used to be taken up by only a few, but now with bar code scanners, shoppers can quickly scan the items unique product number and Red Laser will find them all the competing offers, many of which are online. That means while standing in a three-hour check-out queue one can just pop out an iPhone, find a better deal online and have it paid for and on its way before they move forward a single inch.

Black Friday App

Black Friday App provides the same basic features as TGI Black Friday, and many of the stores and deals are the same, but there are retailers one app carries that the other doesn't. This app doesn't just look for deals in physical stores, but online-only bargains, too, so consider it another tool in the arsenal.

TGI Cyber Monday

Just as in-store bargains are selling out, online retailers pick up the slack. The new mega-shopping day has become known as Cyber Monday. TGI Cyber Monday, from the same folks as TGI Black Friday, again helps consumers sort through the best deals - this time from all the major online retailers.

To a 'biker,' a motorcycle is far more than just a form of transportation, it's a tool for fun and enjoyment as much as it is for getting from A to B. It's likely, then, that bikers who happen to also own an iPhone may wish to keep track of all kinds of details about their motorcycles right on their device. So here's GoodRide(SM), a free app that promises to do just that -- and it's been released by an insurance company, of all people.

With it's latest version, US insurance providers Allstate have made GoodRide(SM) a very neat little tool to behold, whether you're a customer of their insurance policies or not. There's a bunch of features included within, helping the user's bike journeys go off without a hitch. It allows for planning of a journey before setting off, will help with finding the nearest gas station along the way and also assists with being as safe ass possible by way of a pre-ride checklist -- reminding the rider to check their brakes, lights, tires and such before actually jumping on a riding off into the sunset.

That's just the start, though, as upon finishing a journey there's the option to check how many miles we ridden, how long it took to get there and it's even possible to attach a photo and share the journey with friends and family by way of Facebook or Twitter. Version 1.1 also brings a maintenence log into the app, allowing one to remember exactly when the bike was last serviced or the oil was last topped up. And finally, should the worst happen and the bike breaks down mid-trip a simple press of the button will put a phone call straight through to their Good Hands roadside assitance department to send out one of their service trucks, specially equipped to deal with motorcycles.