I was going through my iPhone this week, trying to clean up my photo album. There were hundreds of shots overdue for deletion; my teenagers have a bad habit of snapping tons of silly photos for me to find later. Once I sifted through all of those, though, I narrowed my stream down to frame-worthy shots of my kids and a select few photos that come in super handy when I’m out and about. I’m using those photos as inspiration today, to share ten photos that every mom should keep on her cell phone for quick reference.
1. Weekly grocery list – I have a bad habit of losing mine while I’m running from store to store. Keeping an image of it on my cell phone has saved me more than once.
2. Gift ideas – When we’re cruising the aisles of clothing or department stores, my kids will point out or show interest in a particular item. Sometimes, I sneak a photo and refer back to it months later when I’m shopping for a birthday or holiday gift.
3. Outfit ideas – Whenever I’m out shopping and I see a great outfit on a store mannequin, I’ll snap a shot of it in hopes that I can a) try it on when time allows or b) imitate the look with less expensive items from a different retailer.
4. Dog photos – Truly, I’m not a huge dog person. That said, I do have photos of my dog on my iPhone. I reference them when I take him in for grooming. The groomer is able to take a quick glance at the photo and note which blades to use in trimming him up. It saves me from returning to a dog that’s easily mistaken for a naked mole rat.
5. Books – It seems that I’m always able to find books suited to my tastes when I peruse Target’s book aisle. The trouble, of course, is that I’m too cheap to buy them; I prefer to get my books on loan from the library. I refer to those photos and submit a hold request from the library’s website.
6. Recipes – I tend to find interesting recipes for meals or cocktails when I’m flipping through magazines in the doctor’s office or on an airplane. Snapping a quick shot of the ingredient list and preparation method allows me to try those recipes at home, without ripping the page from the magazine.
7. Household items – Keeping photos of air filter sizes, light bulbs, and printer cartridges allows you to make the purchase while you’re out running errands, even if you forget to bring the item with you for comparison.
8. Kids’ sizes – I don’t know about you, but with four kids to keep track of, I tend to forget shoe sizes. At least, I used to, until I started keeping photos of that information in my phone. Now, I can reference it when I’m out and I see a cute pair of shoes on clearance.
9. Items I’m trying to price compare – I recently was in the market for a new Digital SLR camera, but kept getting confused on what was available where. I took pictures of the tags and was able to easily retrieve information on features and pricing and compare it between stores.
10. Kid pics– Whenever we travel to crowded areas, I snap a quick shot of my young children. If, God forbid, they were to be separated from me, I could quickly reference the photo to give an accurate description of what they were wearing.
