Despite the joy the holidays can bring, all of the gift-giving and family time can be stressful for many. Holiday season is filled with lists of things to do and people to shop for, in addition to all of your day-to-day responsibilities. Fortunately, we live in the digital age where hundreds of apps are developed and available at our finger tips that are aimed at making life more simple and enjoyable. Below, I've listed a few apps that can help take some of the load off your mind this holiday season, so you can relax and enjoy the remaining weeks of 2011 with loved ones.

Christmas List

The Christmas List application, by Iwuana, is the highest rated, free gift planning app available on the Android Marketplace. It includes several key features to help users organize their shopping lists for the holidays. The free app allows people to track spending and the status of each gift, including if and when it was purchased, mailed and wrapped. For a small premium, the app allows users to scan barcodes to automatically add items to their lists, sort the list based on who is left to shop for, and password protect the information.

The Christmas List

The Christmas List application is available for all iOS compatible devices and is a great buy at only $0.99. The app comes highly recommended by the editors at Macworld.com and Bob Tedeschi of the New York Times for its superior, yet simple features. As the name suggests, it is a digital christmas shopping list, which can be password protected to keep peaking family at bay. The app allows users to organize their lists in groups and track spending. Users can store photos of the people and gifts on their lists. Another great feature of The Christmas List app is the ability to track the status of each gift, including when it's shipped, received and wrapped.

ShopSavvy

ShopSavvy may be the most useful app you download this year, and it's free! This app is currently the fastest and most accurate price scanner on the market, and it will surely come in handy during your holiday shopping. The app is capable of looking up product information by scanning the barcode. If a barcode or QR code is not available, products can be searched by keyword. Once the item is found, the app can find the lowest price for it both online and in local stores. Any item not in their directory can be submitted by the user. It requires iOS 4.0 or later to operate. Unfortunately, ShopSavvy cannot read everything, but should be able to read the majority of barcodes and/or QR codes you come across.

Etsy

The Etsy app was developed by Etsy, Inc. and is available for free with any iOS compatible device. The Etsy app is essentially a mobile link to the online Etsy store. Etsy is a unique online marketplace of handmade goods. I've included it on this list of apps because it is a great place to find thoughtful, one-of-a-kind gifts for people on your list. Users can search based on keyword or browse categories to find the perfect gift. In addition to being a great resource for unique gifts, shopping at Etsy also means you're supporting individual, hard-working artists as opposed to a massive manufacturer in another country.