How the Little Guy can save Money with Big Data?

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Much has been written and said and read about how large corporations can use and extract value from big data. This is to be expected since big data now means big profits for the big and even not so big corporations. The question I am more interested in is how can the little guy profit from this rising tide of big data. I looked hard and basically came up with the answer that there really is no easy way for the little guy to profit from this trend. The only two options, that I see are the following:
  1. Use sites that do comparison price aggregation such as nextag.com Sites like this can help you spot the cheapest prices which can vary between vendors for various reasons. Not using big data could be one of them but who cares. :)
  2. The second is to go the biggest "Goliath" in the space. Examples: Walmart, CVS Pharmacy etc. Since the bigger you are, more the chances that they are offering the lowest prices. In this modern day retail tale there is no story book ending. Big boys always beat the corner neighborhood Mom-and-Pop stores.
I will close out this post by saying that if you can identify the biggest purchases that you make the better for you, since you can then focus on getting the best deals on those items.  Your shopping bills could be your own big data inputs. Hence sign up for electronic billing that many stores now offer. You not only cut down on tree killing paper billing but you can also create your own item purchased history on your favorite tool (Excel, Google Docs and many more).

If you can suggest some others ways for the little guy to save money with big data usage do leave us a comment.