Helpful hint when putting down a bead of caulk

I use water on my finger to shooth it out. Another trick I use since I'm not very neat is to put down painters tape on on either side of the seam and after I smooth it out I remove the tape and the job looks pretty decent.
There are certain applications where I use $11.00/tube of house gutter caulk/sealer. For instance where I attached the add on to the rear of my RV.