You Can Set up Prime Day Price Alerts to Help You Stay on Budget.
Did you know you can configure Google to filter out junk? Follow these steps to improve your search results, including adding my work on Lifehacker as a preferred source .
Amazon’s fall Prime Day is fast approaching. Prime’s “Big Deal Days” run from October 7th to 8th, and we’ll keep you updated on all the best deals leading up to and during the sale. But before you buy anything, here’s how to set your own prices for Prime Day and the days after.
If you’re an impulse shopper, you know that deals like Prime Day can be frustrating. While we know Amazon uses all sorts of manipulative tactics to get us to buy things we don’t need, it still works, so this year, try setting your own prices and choosing only the things you really want .
How to “Set Your Own Prices” on Amazon
You can’t force Amazon to lower prices at will, but you can set up an alert system that will notify you when the price of an item you’re interested in drops enough to justify the purchase. Below is a step-by-step guide to setting your own maximum price for any item sold on Amazon:
-
Identify the items you’d like to purchase and add them to your Amazon wishlist . Make sure your wishlist is set to “public.”
-
Visit the Amazon price tracking website CamelCamelCamel and create a free account. There are other price tracking apps and websites that do roughly the same thing— Slick Deals , Honey , Keepa , etc.—so if you want to compare them, check out this review of the best price tracking tools . Spoiler: CamelCamelCamel wins.
-
Click “Import Wishlist.” (You’ll need to copy and paste the URL from your Amazon Wishlist.)
-
CamelCamelCamel will then allow you to set maximum prices (or percentage discounts) for all items on your wishlist. Enter the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for each item on your list and set up an email to be sent when the price of any item drops to your specified spending limit.
-
Ignore all the Prime Days hype and wait for an email alert when your favorite items are cheap enough to buy.
-
Spend Prime Day feeling smug and admit to yourself that you really are the smartest person in the world. Don’t even look at Amazon. Seriously. Well, maybe just for a second. This time, you’ll have enough willpower to resist buying another chocolate fountain or a self-stirring mug with “SELF STIRRING MUG” written on the side, right? Right?
More ideas for limiting spending
If you’re looking to take your shopping experience beyond the basic “time to buy” alert system described above, here are some ideas.
-
Ad blocking : If you’re someone who frequently interacts with online ads, you can block many of them with a simple tool or app. Here’s our review of the best ad blocking software .
-
Track your spending: Whether you write it down with pencil and paper or use an app , tracking your expenses can be a powerful incentive to be more frugal. Planning a budget for the long term can even give you a small surplus, allowing you to splurge on busy days if you feel like it.
-
Save for something : Saving money for something in the future—a vacation, a surfboard , whatever—can help you keep from spending now.
-
Hit your internal pause button: If you can develop the habit of waiting a day or two between thinking “I want those sunglasses” and entering your credit card information, you might decide that your old sunglasses are just fine.
-
Create a “one in, one out” system : get rid of a similar item (or even several!) to free up space. Knowing what to throw away if you click “Buy Now” will help you avoid impulse buys, and following this rule will help you keep your home clutter-free. Bonus points for reselling an item before you buy a similar one. Earn money before you spend it and save space.
-
Seek professional help : While it’s normal and common to occasionally struggle with spending, researchers say that about 6% of Americans suffer from compulsive buying behavior , which may be part of a larger psychological issue. So, if your spending is driving you into debt, if you’re experiencing real-life consequences related to your shopping habits, or if you simply believe shopping may be a problem for you, seek professional help.
Looking for something different? Competing retailers like Walmart , Best Buy , and Target are running Prime Day sales, which are especially helpful if you don’t have an Amazon Prime subscription.