The more you spend, the more you save

Free trade, supply and demand, price wars...everything is faster and easier on the Internet. Shopbots like mySimon, and Google’s Froogle help to find the lowest prices on things to buy.

Lately, I’ve had great results using Amazon.com. Last month, I was going to buy a VCR. It would have cost me $84.80 at the store. But after reading some negative reviews of that particular model, I ended up buying the next-higher model in the same product line, which lists for $120 (plus tax = $127.20). It had some extra features I really wanted, like VCR Plus+ and a TiVo-esque 8-second rewind. Best of all, I got it into my house for only $78.41.

Today, I bought a digital camera, with a printer and other accessories. The entire package would have cost me about $500 at the store, but I got it all -- delivered -- for under $440. I could have gotten it even cheaper if I’d bought it the first day I added the items to my electronic shopping cart. But between that day and today, the prices went up by $35. Sometimes, impulse buying is good!