Labor Day is a holiday designed to remind each of us to stop, smell roses (or whatever floats your boat), and just relax. However, in the fast-paced, nonstop world most of us inhabit, this can take a bit—or a lot—of planning. If I fail to adequately plan for my own away-from-work days, I tend to return to work feeling like I need a "vacation from my vacation." Whether you plan to stay in or go out, shop or sit, travel or stay put, party or veg, these free apps can help you plan in advance, enjoy every moment, and save as you do. Check out these fabulous, free apps and download the ones that fit your Labor Day plans!

1. Around Me

Around Me helps you to plan your day—whether you’re just journeying around the corner, to the next town, or out of state. The app uses your phone's GPS to identify your destination, then displays nearby amenities. From banks to bars, hotels to hospitals, gas stations to eateries, theaters to outdoor attractions, Around Me has your trip planning covered for Labor Day weekend.

2. Nextdoor

Labor Day weekend is often a great time to get to know your neighbors better. Maybe you've just moved and want to throw a "Let's meet!" backyard barbecue. Or perhaps you just need a free, handy way to invite your local friends over for the same. Nextdoor is a great app for socializing, but it is also a great way to track and find lost pets, protect your community, organize co-ops, babysitting circles (or even coupon swaps!)—and well, to do pretty much any local thing you might like to organize.

3. Swirl

Let's be honest—some of us plan to shop the Labor Day weekend away. There are always awesome sales to be shopped, and amazing deals to be snapped up. Swirl is an app that functions like your own personal shopper, alerting you to in-store deals as soon as you walk in the front door.

4. What Would You Choose?

This party game is perfect for Labor Day fun! With 1.2 million users to date and a database of 100,000 questions (each submitted by a player), you will never run out of topics to talk about or questions to answer.

5. Dinner Spinners

Dinner Spinners won Time magazine's 50 best apps for 2012, and has just continued to get better (while remaining free—how's that for a feat?!). This helpful app draws from a user database of 30 million cooks to offer seasonal and holiday recipes, step-by-step how-to cooking videos, shopping lists, a recipe box "save" feature for your favorites, sharing, and more. Throw away your party planning woes with Dinner Spinners!

6. LiveScore

Whether premium game day tickets are not in this year's holiday festivities budget or you just prefer to make other plans this year, that is no reason not to keep up with scores from your favorite teams right as they happen! LiveScore delivers scores for a vast number of sports (from cricket to football, leagues to cup competitions) worldwide. This app has been downloaded 8 million times and is the #1 ranking sports scores app in 25 countries—and it’s still free!

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