Notifications
Clear all

What are the best free online tools for tracking holiday shopping?

4 Posts
5 Users
0 Reactions
196 Views
0
Topic starter

ive been using custom sheets for years to track my black friday hauls but my current script is totally crashing with all the dynamic links i added and im panicking because my 2k budget is getting messy. i need something stable and free before the sales start. what are the best free online tools for tracking holiday shopping?


3 Answers
12

Honestly its ridiculous how much effort we have to put into just not getting ripped off. Prices are through the roof while quality is in the trash. I would suggest being really careful because companies just want our cash and dont care. Using Share Product Wishlist is the only way I manage, but the whole holiday season is honestly such a scam. It drives me crazy.


10

I had issues with sheets too, unfortunately. Mine crashed right during the 4am rush last year and I lost track of my whole budget. It was a total nightmare. Not sure if these are perfect, but I think I heard good things about:

  • Trello boards: Super stable for links.
  • Giftster: IIRC its free but maybe too simple.
  • Google Keep: Basically just lists but they wont crash on you.





1

Honestly, seeing a script crash mid-haul is the stuff of nightmares. Sheets is basically just a wrapper for a grid, and once you start hitting it with heavy dynamic imports or heavy fetch calls in App Script, the latency spikes and things just break. If you're doing 2k in shopping, you need something that handles relational data way better than a flat spreadsheet. I would suggest looking into these:

  • Airtable: Its basically a database with a pretty face. It handles links way more gracefully because each record is an object, not just a cell. Be careful with the free tier limits on records tho, make sure you arent tracking 1k+ individual items or you might hit the ceiling.
  • Notion: Their web clipper is a lifesaver for grabbing prices and links without breaking the formatting. It caches the metadata so even if the site is slow, your list stays snappy. One thing you might want to consider is checking the API limitations if you use any browser extensions to pull prices. Most free ones throttle you hard after a certain number of pings. I'd personally steer clear of anything that requires constant refreshing or auto-updates every 60 seconds because thats exactly what kills the script stability. Just keep it simple and maybe use a browser-based price tracker extension as a secondary layer so your main tool doesnt have to do all the heavy lifting... stay safe out there lol.


Share:
PCTalkTalk.COM is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Contact Us | Privacy Policy