Here are some contemporary finance hacks that I use all the time:

• take advantage VC funded ventures. These businesses are there to capture market and will bleed money on acquiring customers. However you need to be flexible and ready to pack your bags when the services starts to need to make money so don’t get locked in.
• live 1-2 generations behind on tech. The difference is almost neglible but older tech is more stable and much cheaper while also often have all of the software updates backported.
• look for refurbished deals. There’s a lot of great tech that is acquired from big businesses and refurbished for resale like laptops, furniture, chairs etc.
• shop local. No matter how much you educate yourself on best value, the local value is very likely to be better especially when you consider local support like warranty. So don’t import best headphones on the planet, buy the best headphones in your area.

I found for a lot of tech stuff you just have to frequently check for deals on a regular basis. This has helped me a lot with more generic computer hardware since you do not often need a specific part just something that is relatively cheap for its feature set and brand. Also I have found that if you intend to make an expensive purchase or buy a lot of hardware in a specific area it makes sense to search for that segment frequently or check multiple retailers. Camelcamelcamel is useful for amazon stuff and I have been setting price watches for discounts. Sometimes for products on amazon I will click on a few different products and see if they have significant discounts in the used categories. Sometimes these are just a few dollars but depending on the product they are just returns or sometimes entirely new and sealed. In general just having a lot of knowledge of what your buying and willingness to wait can save you a decent amount of money.

Yes the shitty Alibaba stuff that people flip on Amazon is 80% cheaper if you order it from a warehouse in China.

My buying strategy:

1. Tell myself I don’t need it. If I can get by using anything I already have or can borrow, this is a total financial win.

2. If I need something, research the hell out of it. This takes time, which boosts the chances of step 1 working out. It also lets me see what’s currently available, and I can compare my needs vs available products. Will the cheapest item work for me, or do I need something with more features or durability. It may be more upfront, but that is usually cheaper than buying twice and better than having an item break when you’re using it. Also gives me time to realize I will never use all the extra features of the fancier models. I also see the price range of products and can now tell when they go on sale and for how much so I don’t overpay. If it is available on Amazon, I can use the CamelCamelCamel website to see if and when it goes on sale, even if I don’t buy it from there. You can also set an email price alert there to notify you when it goes on sale.

3. Try to figure out a solution for step 1 again.

4. Give in and buy it when it’s on sale if it goes on sale.

I just ran through this with purchasing a vacuum sealer. I’ve wanted one for many years but didn’t know if I’d use it enough to be worth it. My brother got one just to use with stuff we get from hunting once a year. It worked out great for that and he had a very basic model.

Since he only used it once a year, I “borrowed” it for a year and it turns out I do use it a few times a month and I’ve found a number of traditional and less traditional uses for having one. I also got to see what I liked about his unit and what I wished it had.

After reading reviews and watching videos for the year, I narrowed it down to 2, a basic one, and an upgrade. The basic was mostly the same as my borrowed one, but a different brand. The upgrade had built in bag storage, a cutter, a few extra sealing modes, a double sealing bar, and a more hands free lock. The basic would do fine, but I would still need a place to store the bag roll, and I used a paper cutter to cut the bags so I didn’t waste bag material or have a bad seal from an uneven edge, so that’s more I have to lug out every time I wanted to use it. The upgrade had that built in, so I just get out one thing, and the double seal would prevent more bad seals, as all would have a backup seal with no additional sealing time. It also has a pulse function so I could seal softer foods like breads and chips and marinated items, which I would use regularly. So the upgrade was the way to go for me.

I saw the regular price was around 150, but it went on sale a few times a year for 99. Low and behold the other day I hear this trade war stuff and electronics was a thing that was going to take a beating, and food is still getting more expensive. Amazon has it for 150 still, but the manufacturer had it for 100 and free shipping. Perfect!

It has a 2 year warranty but my one credit card extends factory warranties under 3 years for 50% longer, so I used that. So now I will have what should be the best unit for me, unpaid 30% less, and have 50% more warranty.

That, to me, is a strong financial purchasing decision.

Caring about privacy is absolutely number one and most essential to this now and exponentially more so in the future. Use different devices and networks for shopping, social, and work. Never link these devices in any ways. Keep them on VPN connections passed through different continents… for starters

EU specific: hagglezon.com compares prices of all EU country specific amazon sites.