Checking "daily deal" Sites... Good Habit or Bad Habit?

[Hooty McBoob]

Checking "daily deal" Sites... Good Habit or Bad Habit?
It all started when I moved to a new city and began "setting up my new apartment". Buying furniture, electronics, appliances, was always on my mind the first couple weeks. I fought the urge to go on a best buy shopping spree (which would have meant spending top dollar for things "I must have now"). I'm paranoid about later finding same item for a lot less online! or I'd realize I should have researched to identify best option.. So I made a list of those "must have items" and kept an eye on deal sites (www.dealdetectives.com).
Getting into the habit of checking "daily deal" sites like this will save you a lot of money in the long run... right? I do like the free items posted from time to time. It's become my main method for "finding out what i need" (household items I would never think to buy but end up making my life a lot easier). I feel good about it because I know I'm getting a better deal then the majority of people.
However, given the economic townturn, I've become a little worried about wasteful spending. Trying to ask myself, do I really need this? the little things add up and can really eat into the budget - so be careful! Does anyone else out there find themselves checking daily deal sites obsessively ? Any feedback is appreciated :)

-Hooty

[mburdsall]

I personally think it is a decision between the savings you may have by waiting or an opportunity and the opportunity costs of not having the appliance for the time you are waiting. If I need a refrigerator and I wait for months for a good deal to occur and you spend energy and time that also has value looking for a deal, and all of the while you are without a refrigerator then that is not a wise move.

[janie_super@yahoo.com]

i think checking for deals online is a YES

If you are conciensious like you say you are, then that prevents wasteful spending. however, i agree, watching for stuff for sale, makes you purchase, and then money is going out. not what you had in mind...

BUT, this last couple of months I have actually been doing this as you describe. I am leaving my job on the 30th of this month and before i found another one I was going online shopping. partly an emotional fix (bad) but with focus and purpose (good). my purpose was, if i needed to sell my house, there are some things i need to fix up, like a screen door, some cabinets for the laundry room etc. i drove to all our home stores to find the right size, wasnt happy, couldnt find them, couldnt find anyone to help me order them, and the gas i wasted.... so sad. I was willing to pay retail full price too. so i got online, and found them on kmart online. woah on the shipping i said! so i searched some more and then saved 90 bucks by buying through amazon. i have a wishlist on amazon. i love adding things to my wishlist. its like shopping with no guilt. just free pictures. by staring at them i can take that time to think those important thoughts "do i really need it, do i really want it?" and if i do, i have time to do more searches, to find a better deal. i love the internet. i hate driving around town searching.

my boyfriend recently found that i had a non working mac laptop and he said, why dont you just fix it up? as the years go by, it becomes worth less and less, so no use in selling it, especially if it doesnt work. it is just depreciating junk. so i went to ebay and started searching for parts, and put them all on my watch list. every day i kept searching, found more and more for cheaper and cheaper. i probably saved a good 50 bucks by shopping around, and i found tested used parts, and now my laptop is running again.. total savings estimate? considering i now have a working laptop with all my original software intact, oh AT LEAST about 1000 dollars. BUT was I going to buy a laptop anyway? well that remains to be seen, as I just got a new job and I can see a good use for it now.



i also used the internet extensively to find a new job. by waiting patiently and being picky,and yes comparison shopping, i found a job in my city, you can say "daily deals on jobs in your area" because i had daily searches running.

so happy i got a new job! and now my cabinets arrived, my laptop is working, cleaning my old work office resulted in me inheriting a free desk that was headed for the trash, (est value $200)

so in summary my savings THIS YEAR:

$1000 refurbished laptop myself
$200 free desk inherited from old job
$200 bought used vintage software for my refurb laptop
$90 amazon comparison shopping for new cabinets
$300/mo more income at my new job
$3000 not having to move out of state
$3-10K not having to sell my house because i got a job in town

score!!!! (even without the new job)

and thats how i see it.:D