An update: A generous friend sent my dog a gift of the Logitech pop button starter kit. I have to say it works well, and my dog did learn to use the new buttons in just two or three trials as opposed to the flics which took several days of training.
So dog wins again. 
What are you and dog doing with them?
Havenāt decided yet. 
The gift included three buttons. They are easy to put on the wall or on the table.
We spent the first day just figuring out what the buttons can do and whether they were dog-friendly.
One nice feature is that the pop buttons can control Hue lights locally and SmartThings devices cloud to cloud and trigger and IFTTT recipes all with one push. That is, you can mix IFTTT recipes in with your other devices as a group.
But there is a noticeable lag of about two seconds for any of the cloud activities. The Hues are much faster. I havenāt tested it with the harmony hub yet.
At our house, the main purpose for buttons like this is to do something that we would normally ask echo to do but for whatever reason we want to do it more quietly. Or more quickly.
Anyway, we have lots of actions we might use it for, I just need to figure out exactly which ones.
I actually have an Addiction to both 
. Although, my family comes around like cock-a-roaches when they see my couponing stockpile growing too big! But they know to stay away from my smarthome stockpileā¦I threw my brother a bone once and gave him a GE smart switch I got on clearance, but thatās as far as Iāll go!
This is getting out of hand I just ordered two more HEMās to add to my other two. That will take care of all the other odds and ends. Havenāt decided on where to focus my energy on now.
Heeelp my last post was August 2016 and now ā¦ now I have become @bamarayne. I have a garage full of gadgets that I didnāt get a āchanceā to install.
The only thing that has saved me has been creating both a per room budget and a monthly budget. With the idea that I expect to get three years use out of most devices. So if I want to buy a new light switch, itās with the idea that it needs to last for three years and the cost needs to come out of my my monthly budget.
Itās a bit tricky, and it does mean I miss some sales, but since the automation is much more essential for me than for many people I need to make sure that I stick to my plan.
My plan is DO NOT look at the deals section. Iāve been pretty good until today. But also needed one more Aeon multi sensor to complete my transition to Zwave ā¦well ended up with 2 sensors and 2 Minimotes. Now I am back on ignoreā¦
Haha, Iām in the same boat although I just have a small drawer full of extra switches, motion sensors, plugs, and contacts. I still look at the deals section and I just bought two PEQ dimmer outlets because I donāt have any and I might need it someday. I just couldnāt pass up the $15 price on them. I think Iām beyond hope 
Thatās actually a pretty good plan. Nothing will put you in the poor house faster than opportunities to save money.
Iāve only been at this for a few months and am hardcore addicted. My girlfriend feels she never spends time with me because Iām always installing new devices and automations and looking for deals. Im about to have to start keeping all the new stuff a secret until its already installed and working. I am easily spending 750 a month on devices so far and everything is a deal. I am finding myself saying, "do I need/ will I use this? Eh Maybe. Sold. " I have to get control of myself. It just feels so good when I get that package in the mail!!!
Good on ya! Way to help the economy! Funny forget, April is the fourth month of love your HA recognition month!
My wife would respectfully disagree with you. She has an economy degree in what she likes to call āSaving by Spendingā. Unfortunately, none of that applies for my HA stuff. 
Been there, done that. Then, after a few years of addiction you start to realize that, unfortunately, the ROI (both time and money spent) is pretty darn low. Iām ok with a small and simple setup, but as you try to automate every nook and cranny, the complexity grows exponentially and reliability drops inversely. You end up spending more and more time maintaining and trouble shooting your setup and enjoying it less and less. Keep it simple, folks!
The Law of Diminishing Returnsā¦I am sure I studied this in college and I am sure I understood it. I am sure that I have used it to my advantage. I am sure that before learning that there was a SmartThings Community, My initial investment would have paid for itself in 2 yearsā¦
I am more than likely now, at a 20 year payback period for equipment that will be obsolete in 3 yearsā¦
Damn You Community! Damn You All!! Damn You Deal Zone!!! I blame it all on @JDRoberts!
Hey, Iām the one who actually keeps to a budget, donāt blame me!
Blame @bamarayne , heās the official enabler. 
I have a budget! I just canāt find itā¦
Lol! Yeah, Iām trying to find the right balance on this. My education point turned out to be the myQ garage thing. I had ST control for a few days but it was less than reliable. Then Alexa was controlling it for awhile, then Chamberlain broke that functionalityā¦ I just donāt see the value of trying to chase this down again every time Chamberlain makes a change. So now I have the Chamberlain notifications alert ST to garage status, and have to resort to the grueling, exhausting task of pressing a button to open/close the garage LOL
So Iām keeping things somewhat simple where possible, and automating only where sensible and not just for automationās sake. And in-line with the original topic, not spending huge $$$ in the process.
I got Philips hue starter kit (bridge & 4 bulbs) for $160. Well worth it IMO!
