Has anyone figured out the information overload solution yet?

[manlymatt83]

So I was never really an app guy. I've always been one to unsubscribe from random emails. I find I'm much more efficient when I reduce context switching and just focus on what I need to get done.

More recently, I started installing some of these apps I had heard about - belly, groupon, living social, amazon local, gilt. Most of the things i get are things I wouldn't buy. Maybe once in a while I get something that I would do anyway ($4 for $8 worth of coffee or something). But if I were to add up all the time it takes to read through these emails and deals and deal with the distraction, it would probably add up to more than $4 lost in opportunity cost.

I bill/work hourly, so I'm thinking that the less context switching I do, the better. Even if in the end, I save $100/month because I used these group sites/deals, how much did I actually lose to begin with? And are any of these deals REALLY that amazing? I probably wouldn't go out of my way to try a new restaurant based on a deal. Maybe if I saw one I usually went to.......

Anyway.... what gives? Any thoughts?

 

[HN]

if you save $1 ten times, a $10 birdcage would essentially be free for you

 

[Naer]

if you save $1 ten times, a $10 birdcage would essentially be free for you

Dats gotta be one shtty birdcage

 

[poofyhairguy]

Personally I don't just want a deal on random items, I want something in specific (aka the thing I researched). So I just set up a notification on camelcamelcamel to email me when that product hits a price I would pay. Then instead of daily emails I only get one when the thing I want is one sale.

 

[ImpulsE69]

The easiest way is to not even get them to begin with and not waste your money on unneeded things.

However, that is not the way of our culture, so any means to save yourself money should be a bonus, not a burden.

 

[HN]

Dats gotta be one shtty birdcage

lining the bottom with newspaper makes for easy cleanup

 

[ImpulsE69]

Personally I don't just want a deal on random items, I want something in specific (aka the thing I researched). So I just set up a notification on camelcamelcamel to email me when that product hits a price I would pay. Then instead of daily emails I only get one when the thing I want is one sale.

But that only tracks Amazon? That doesn't seem like the best solution...most times somewhere else is cheaper.

 

[poofyhairguy]

But that only tracks Amazon? That doesn't seem like the best solution...most times somewhere else is cheaper.

What is awesome about Camelcamelcamel is you can see a price history, so you can see the lowest Amazon has ever sold an item. If it has never been cheaper on Amazon as it was some other place then you are SOL, but if it was cheaper at one point there is a good chance it will get that cheap again if you are patient. If you are a Prime member it is worth the wait.

The only place where that doesn't work is if what I need is a larger item where shipping is an issue. That is why there is http://camelbuy.com/

Of course you can also just force Best Buy, or whatever retailer, match Amazon's price too. A lot of the time I got down to Frys for the actual purchase when I get the camelcamelcamel alert. I have done it enough that now those Fry's employees in the computer section roll my eyes when they see me coming.

 

[BurnItDwn]

But that only tracks Amazon? That doesn't seem like the best solution...most times somewhere else is cheaper.

It may not be "optimal" or "ideal" but its a good system for getting the specific item one wants at a specific price point that one thinks is fair/worthwhile.


its a balance of effort vs reward.

Buy less stuff, and, only specific items that have been researched, at fair prices. You may pay $10 more than lowwest price of all time, but you also will save significantly on hours of time spend looking for deals.

 

[SlitheryDee]

I just don't sweat the little things. I look at the item, look at the price, and if I find it acceptable at that moment I buy it. I know I probably could have gotten a lot of it cheaper, but if the price was what I consider acceptable to start with then I don't necessarily need it to be cheaper. Most of this shit I don't want to spend one second more time on than I need to anyway, so there's the "now I'm done with that" aspect of it too.

 

[preslove]

Gmail does a good job of isolating promotional emails. I just pay attention to to the social and promo tabs.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Unsubscribe. It's easy to find deals on most items or locate substitution items when you need them.

 

[RossMAN]

I use http://www.yipit.com/boston/

 

[manlymatt83]

I use http://www.yipit.com/boston/

Just the website? Do they have an app?

 

[BurnItDwn]

If you are talking about phone apps, many of them are really just websites with custom interfaces for your phone. (like cracked app)

 

[kranky]

It may not be "optimal" or "ideal" but its a good system for getting the specific item one wants at a specific price point that one thinks is fair/worthwhile.


its a balance of effort vs reward.

Buy less stuff, and, only specific items that have been researched, at fair prices. You may pay $10 more than lowwest price of all time, but you also will save significantly on hours of time spend looking for deals.

^ This right here.

OP knows the answer to information overload is to reduce information consumed. It's simply not worth the time and effort to track down the absolute rock-bottom deal that saves you just a buck or two. And it's surprising how much you can save by not having apps and emails spew deals at you and entice you to buy stuff you didn't even have on your radar.

 

[OverVolt]

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