It seems like for the last month, everyone was talking about how excited they were for Amazon Prime Day. I know that you can get some amazing deals on Prime Day and there have been deals in the past that I really regretted not taking advantage of. I use my Amazon Prime membership quite a bit (I probably order too much from there, but it’s just so easy), but I’ve never really done Prime Day shopping. So this year, I decided to check it out and see if there was anything that was worth it.
I did look a bit at a few posts talking about what to be on the lookout for on Prime Day, but there were just too many different lists of things to look for and what has been on sale in the past. So I figured I would just browse Amazon during the sale and see if there is anything that caught my eye and was a good deal.
I clearly wasn’t prepared. I know that the site went down and that was a big problem for searching, but there were just too many things on sale to try to make sense of it all. I was trying to sort through different categories since there were some things I knew I wasn’t interested in, but it just seemed like endless lists of things on sale. I started to open new tabs with things that seemed good to me, but then that got out of control and I probably had 60 different tabs open.
I took a step back and it almost felt like I broke a trance. It can be hypnotic to look at how cheap things can get. I do that all the time when looking at other discount sites online. I usually find a ton of things that I can’t believe how cheap they are on sale and debate about getting them. I usually will add things to a cart and then if I still want it later I’ll come back and finish the purchase. I rarely end up finishing a purchase.
I am big on finding deals where I can. I’ve become pretty great at stacking coupons at CVS so things are pretty cheap. Between their coupons they send in the mail, the coupons on the receipts, the Extra Bucks you get, and looking at coupons online; I usually save at least 50% on what it would cost with no coupons. I have had times where technically I made money because the amount I got in Extra Bucks after my purchase was more than what I spent out-of-pocket. I’m not a crazy coupon person, but this only takes a few minutes before I go to CVS and it’s easily worth it.
But at the same time, if you are saving money on something you don’t need you really aren’t saving money. Even with my CVS trips I try to only get the things I know I need. Sometimes I will stock up on things like toothpaste that I don’t need at the moment but will need later because of the sale, but I try not to make that many impulse purchases. And online shopping is really a lot about impulse purchasing. You see one thing and realize it’s a good deal and before you know it it’s in your cart with the things you need and it’s at your door in a day or two. I’m guilty of this habit and I know I need to break it.
After doing some reflection, I rethought my Amazon Prime Day plan. I decided that first I was going to look at things on sale that I already use and would be purchasing again in the future. I found the body wash I use on sale for half off so that was worth it to me. Of all the tabs I had open, the body wash was the only thing I really needed. Then I decided to look through the tabs and see if there was anything that I really wanted and wasn’t too expensive. The only things I got were some new coasters (my current ones don’t absorb any water and in this heat my water glasses are always sweating) and a set of mini glass vases which were similar to something I was looking at in another store but was much cheaper. I want to add some flowers (possibly fake ones) around my house to make things seem nicer and these vases will be perfect.
And that’s all I got. I know there are people who were sharing online how they got something for 90% off or that it was so cheap that it was almost free. But unless it was something I really needed, I really couldn’t afford to buy it. Money is getting very tight and I’m working on finding more work somewhere, but I also know that these shopping trips are probably things that I could be cutting back even more even if I believe that I’m only buying essentials. I’m going to be working on some reevaluating on what essentials I use so I can try to get better at either finding them cheaper or using what I have until my money situation gets better.
It’s not easy for me not to spend. I want to have nice things and I don’t think that I get anything too outrageous, but I also know that I am buying stuff because I think I need it. I don’t need to have the best of everything and I need to get better and using what I already have and repurposing things that I may have forgotten about.
You Might Also Like
Learning To Coupon (or Trying To Save Since I’m Not Earning Much Now)
Building Upon My Monthly Challenge (or Continuing To Work On Shopping)
Saving Money and Trying To Be Green (or Revamping Some Things)
Working on Budgeting (or Spending Money To Save Money)
Working On Money Priorities (or What’s Worth The Splurge)
Looking Forward To Some Big Spending (or Needing New Technology)
