Addictions
My name is Butch and I am a Woot-a-Holic. There’s a Woot-Off today. Dozens of offers instead of the
usual one-a-day deals. They have a twitter feeds that keep you up-to-date on the items
for the daily events and the woot-off-events. My addiction just won’t let me NOT follow
those feeds.
But I do have some techniques for fighting it. I
always check the prices for the items that they are selling. I used to just do a Google
search or go to Amazon to check the price there. That was usually good enough. The
Google search would always turn up lots of links with information about the item along
with some links about places selling it. Amazon usually has the the items or at least a
partner store that is selling, but that is sometimes the only price for it.
Lately I have been using ShopWiki. This is a site focused on finding
stores that sell items. It gives up prices and locations that have the goods in a clean
format. If you are looking for jewelry and watches
or the latest item from the woot off (Butterfly 8 Bottle
Wine Rack), it will give a list of stores, prices, and recommendations. I used
it yesterday to check the prices on an Eton FR1000 radio,
and last month on butter
keepers. Last week I used it to check the prices on Cuisinart Contour
pots (not even a woot deal). Uh, Oh. This might be getting as bad as woot
itself.
Going off on this research run gives me time to distract
from the buying urge. That’s usually enough to ease it off and save some money. If not
then I have the research in hand and can tell whether I am getting a good deal or not.
That can knock a few of the sales off the list. Either way, I am saving money by getting
a good deal or not buying a deal that isn’t good.
And I always
(well almost always) get Mary’s permission to buy something. If she says yes, or even
just hesitates a little, then I click the I WANT THIS, button and it is bought. If she
knocks me out of my chair and pulls the plug on the computer, then I guess that’s
something I wasn’t meant to buy.
Imported from an old blog. Some links might be dead. Let me know if you find dead links.