3 things to consider before opening a demat account

A demat account stands for a dematerialized account and is the equity equivalent of your bank account. Your bank account is responsible for keeping and holding on to your savings, similarly, a demat account is responsible for holding your shares. However, before opening a demat account you need to take a few important factors into consideration, which are-

1. The reliability of your demat account platform
Almost all brokers these days provide you with access to your respective demat account through a single platform. Your credits and debits to your bank account and demat account along with the funding of your bank account take place very smoothly. Make sure that your demat services have a very strong technology platform which will ensure that the entire process takes place without a hitch. Generally, when you sell your shares, the demat trading account is debited the very next day and if you buy shares, then the account is credited within 2 days from the date of the transaction.

2. Smooth custody, broking, and banking
If your broker is a bank then all the three crucial activities of custody, broking and banking can function seamlessly. In case your custody and broking are impeccable and if you transfer money through UPI, NEFT, RTGS or any other authorized payment getaways, then you will not face any kind of hassles. However, keep in mind that many brokers charge a nominal amount for using an authorized payment getaway, so it is a better option for you to use UPI/ RTGS/ NEFT. Hence, the smoother these three activities work fewer chances are there for you to experience administrative issues.

3. Trading and demand are with the same broker
Before opening a demat account, make sure that your broker has a legitimate demat license so that he can open a trading-cum-demat account for you in one go. Next, you need to provide him with your debit instruction slip (DIS) on time, once you sell off your shares. In case you do not give him the DIS on time, it can lead to losses and bad deliveries. That is why it is better when your depository participant (DP) and broker are the same since it makes the entire process easier and more convenient. You can just go for online demat services and trading, and provide your broker with a power of attorney who will credit the account during purchase and debit at the time of sale. This will save you from a lot of hassles and extra responsibilities.

Selling shares can bring in a lot of money in your pocket but you will have to be very careful about handling and saving them. Along with your savings account, having demat trading account is always considered a smart decision. It always ensures that your shares are in a safe and secure place and which you can utilize whenever you deem fit.

6 ways to do smart grocery shopping online

Buying groceries is probably one task every person keeps avoiding. There is never enough time to go buy boring grocery until you completely run out of food. Online grocery shopping is a great way to eliminate the need to visit the grocery store to buy grocery and saves you time and money if you do it smartly. There is also no need to doubt the quality of online grocery as most sites sell fresh food and have easy return policies.

Follow these smart tips when you shop for grocery online and you will be surprised to see the time and money you save.

The List
Whether you buy online grocery or go to a store, making a list of the things you need is vital. Without a list, you are likely to buy things you do not need and miss the important things that you do. Furthermore, making a list makes the entire online grocery shopping faster.

Compare the Prices
As with any other commodity, the prices of various groceries vary from provider to provider. Check out a number of online grocery stores and compare the prices with each other and with the physical store in your area. This will save you a lot of time and money, even if it means spending a little extra time in your first few attempts. It is advisable to go for the bigger brands even if it means paying slightly more.

Online Grocery Shopping Coupons
No matter what you need, there is always a coupon for it if you are willing to look. A little research online for deals on online grocery can bring down your grocery expenses significantly.

Shipping Charges
Although you get to buy grocery from the comfort of your home, almost all the grocery come with shipping charges included. Check various sites for lower shipping charges. Additionally, most online grocery shopping sites exclude shipping charges on bulk orders above a certain amount. Buying over this specified amount is more profitable.

Pay using Online Wallet
Using an online wallet or card that offers you a discount on buying grocery online from certain online grocery shopping sites is another great way of saving money.

Buy Locally Available Generic Grocery
Although online grocery shopping sites spoil you for choices, it is best to avoid temptation. Locally available produce that is currently in the season have low prices and are fresh. If you are not buying for a fancy meal, it is best to go with these. You can extend the same principle to buying generic groceries over overpriced brands.

There are a large number of apps, which bring the grocery to your doorsteps, in a matter of minutes. Applying these tips when you shop next will vastly improve your savings. The best part is you do not need to spend any time going back and forth to the grocery shop.

The best mobile recharge apps of all time

Mobile phones have become as essential in life as food and water. From news to shopping, work to social media, everything occurs on this device. Imagine running out to balance when you have to make important calls or access the internet. It would be completely undesirable and can leave you stranded and helpless.

Mobile recharge apps solve this problem by allowing quick and easy online recharge of your mobile balance anytime, anywhere. Despite the multiple mobile recharge apps that are available, here is a list of the best.

Mobikwik
With more than 40 million users, Mobiwik allows fast and safe recharges online. You can store money in the online wallet or pay using credit cards, net banking, or a door-to-door cash collection service. It is authorised by the Reserve Bank of India and allows savings up to Rs. 500 on mobile recharge.

PayTM
Although PayTM covers a large range of services, mobile recharge is among its premium services. You can use the PayTM wallet to recharge your phone and avail several discounts on recharges. You also get access to special tariff plans and internet recharge plans exclusively for PayTM users.

FreeCharge
This app allows you to recharge your mobile through their wallet. You get a full refund of the cash in the form of coupons that you can use at a variety of retailers like Shoppers Stop, McDonald’s, Barista, Café Coffee Day, Cromā, Puma, etc. Therefore, this app offers you a phone recharge for virtually no money at all.

PhonePe
This recharge app allows you to link your bank account directly with the app. You can recharge your phone and send money to your friends. You also get bonuses for inviting your friends to use this app.

PayZapp
PayZapp by HDFC Bank can be used for safe mobile recharge. You do not have to load any money unlike other apps and the app links directly with your HDFC card, whose details remain secure. There are three security stops for every transaction. This assures the safety of highest quality.

With these online recharge apps handy, you do not need to worry about a last-minute mobile recharge. With a couple of clicks, your balance will be good to go in an instant. The best part is you can do it anytime from anywhere and end up making huge savings on your mobile bill.

A guide on how to shop online

Today everything from clothes to food is available on websites that assure quick delivery and finest quality. The shopping apps of e-commerce websites make accessing their services much easier and convenient.

However, if you are not aware of the intricacies of online shopping, here is a complete guide that tells you how to grab the best online shopping offers and get the best products.

Go Through the Reviews
Probably the most helpful tool when buying through shopping apps, customer reviews give you an insight into the actual quality of the product. However, be careful about trusting the review if the reason for liking or disliking a product is not specified.

Research the Prices
When it comes to online shopping, research is your best friend. Different e-commerce websites have different prices for the same item. Check out several websites to find the product that you want at the best price.

Online Shopping Offers
Check different websites to get the best online shopping offers for the product you wish to buy. There is usually an offer that you can avail! The only catch is you have to dedicate some time online to look for online shopping offers that you can use.

Return Policy
Always buy products, which you can return without any charges in case of defects. Read the return policy carefully to find out if you can only exchange the size or get a new product when there are defects in the product. Some policies will return the money to your account in case of discrepancies while others will not. You might also have to pay for the shipping of the item you return.

Shipping Costs
A product that appears inexpensive may not be that cheap after adding the shipping charges. Shopping apps usually show the price of the product without shipping costs at first and then add it to your final bill. Remember to check it before you hit buy!

Check the Warranty
This is applicable for gadgets and electronics. Be careful about investing in such products that come without warranty.

The Fibres
If you are buying clothes or fabrics online, check its material. The fibre affects the way the fabric hangs around your body and the way it looks in general. Unless you check this, you may be in for a disappointment and end up with clothes that look nothing like you imagined you would get.

Keeping these basics in mind will help you make the best of your shopping experience. Now that you know the little details of online shopping, all you need to do is go on an online retail therapy. Happy shopping!

4 Free Apps that Break the Vacation Planning Woes

Planning for a trip unlike in the olden days where plans would sometimes begin a year or months ahead usually with a travel agency has now become a much simpler business comprising only of a couple of minutes. With technology and smartphones, there is now little that cannot be achieved. The coming of apps has significantly made all our lives easier. There is practically an app for everything these days, be it grocery or clothes shopping, cab on call, fitness or cooking. To add to this ever-increasing list here are some of the best travel apps that are free of cost.

1.    Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor, which started as a search engine in 2000 now serves as a convenient travel guide app that is a repository of hundreds of restaurant, hotels, and reviews from different countries around the world. You can also find a listing of the lowest airfares, hotel rates and research about the best places to visit or go for fun in the city that you are planning to visit. The ease of usability is one of the popular features of this app.

2.    MakeMyTrip
Founded and headquartered in Haryana since 2000, Make My Trip is a great travel booking app in India. It offers its services in booking for flight tickets, both domestic and international, hotel and rail bookings as well as bookings for travel packages. An Indian venture for and by Indians, Make My Trip was initially begun with the idea of catering to the Indian community residing in the US for their back and forth travel needs between US and India. Over the years Make My Trip has grown by leaps and bounds and now has offices in Singapore, Bangkok, Dubai, and New York, to name a few.

3.    ClearTrip
ClearTrip started in 2006 as a travel company online operational as a service provider for flight, train and hotel bookings. Featured as one of the best travel apps, ClearTrip mainly operates as a travel company between the Middle-eastern countries and India. Resultantly it has offices in India, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE.

4.    Expedia
Founded in 2001, Expedia is a travel booking app that mainly deals with hotel and flight ticket bookings. Aside from this Expedia also provides its services for renting cars, booking for a cruise trip and travel packages.

Aside from the ones mentioned above, there are a number of other apps that also function as a useful travel guide app. These include Goibibo, Tripoto, and Yatra.

Tips on how to use a travel app

You can never be too prepared when you travel to a new location or territory. In such situations, travel apps can be your best friend. From getting the dream travel deals to making sure you are safe, travel apps take care of it all. However, knowing how to use a travel app in the best way possible is a trick in itself.

Here are the best ways to use travel apps to get the best deals and make most of your travel!

Keep Track of Your Schedule
When you are visiting many destinations, it is easy to get confused about the flight details, flight timing, hotel reservations etc. Going on a hunt to find the confirmation e-mails at the last minute is a hectic process and a colossal waste of time. Travel apps help you keep a track of your flight schedules, hotel reservations etc. and send you reminders.

Advance Bookings
You can get the best travel deals if you are an early bird. However, being too early can be expensive too. Travel apps inform you of the best time to do your bookings and save you a lot of money.

Use the Travel Miles
Finding the best travel deals and using your reward points from credit cards or flyer miles are the most important things that your travel app can do for you. This saves you a lot of time and money.

Find Your Way around Airports
Airports are huge and finding your way to the correct terminal can be chaotic. Travel apps can deal with this problem as well. All you need to do is to notify the name of the airport to the app. You can then seek directions to the correct terminal from the app itself.
You can also pull up a list of cafes and restaurants in the airport, and read reviews of the same. So next time you are stranded in an airport for a long haul, you know exactly what to do with your time.

Exploring New Cultures
Travel apps help you get to know the culture of the place you are visiting by pulling up the list of tourist spots in the town. It also shows you the way around the town and helps you plan the itinerary for the day. You can book rentals and hotels at your destination with a travel app. This way you can make the best use of your time at the destination and not miss anything.

Manage Money
Travel apps keep you updated with the exchange rates and help you keep a track of your expenses. This goes a long way to help you stay within your budget.

With these tips, you can make the best use of your time and money when you are travelling and enjoy tour trip to the fullest.

7 apps every entrepreneur should have

An entrepreneur is always on the go, making decisions, keeping up with the latest developments and procuring the best talent and materials. To help with this extremely busy schedule, entrepreneurs need a set of trustworthy apps that help them manage their daily activities and keep a track of things that must be done. From time management app to travel apps, here is the list of mobile apps that makes the lives of entrepreneurs a little bit easier.

Evernote
Being an entrepreneur has much to do with creativity. Everyone knows the best creative ideas strike when you do not have a pen or paper handy. Evernote helps you keep a note of all these ideas and store audio, pictures, and screenshots. You can also share these notes and ideas with your team. Never miss another great idea with Evernote by your side.

PayPal
This is essential if you deal with freelancers in your line of work. This app makes paying and receiving money from across the globe easy and convenient. You can also keep a track of all your business transactions with PayPal.

Hipmunk
Travel apps that offer the best deals on flights and hotels are a necessity for entrepreneurs who travel a lot. Hipmunk finds the best time to get your tickets at the lowest rates and helps you with your travel schedule. It gives you data on amnesties, layover time etc. so you can make the best choices.

Quickbook Accounts
This app is extremely helpful to keep track of your invoices and accounts. You can keep a track of your banking activities and check which payments have been made or received. You can also track your expenses and tally your accounts with this finance app.

Wunderlist
A to-do list is a necessity for every entrepreneur. Wunderlist creates just that for you and helps you get your life in order. A cloud-based app, it takes care of everything from groceries to projects and trips. You can also share the lists with others.

TripIt
Talking of best travel apps, TripIt takes care of sending you reminders about your flight times, organising your itinerary and safely store information such as card pins, passport number, driver license number etc. You can organise your travel within your destination city. This app can also be used offline.

Dropbox
Storing documents, videos, picture, spreadsheets and sharing them with your team is an essential part of leading a team. No entrepreneur can do without Dropbox to safely access and share their files and documents. It is also the most efficient app to send large files and documents.

Organization is the key to error-free work that will help your business venture grow and be successful. With this list of all the apps mentioned here, you are sure to find your life easier and better organized.