avatarBill Myers

Summary

The article reflects on the ease of online shopping and the potential for overspending, as exemplified by the author's own experience of having placed over 400 orders on Amazon, mostly consisting of low-priced Kindle books.

Abstract

The author of the article shares a personal revelation about their online shopping habits after discovering Amazon's feature that allows users to access a list of all their past orders. The author was surprised to find that they had made over 400 orders, most of which were for inexpensive Kindle books. This discovery prompted the author to consider the convenience of online shopping and how it can lead to unconscious spending. Although the author spent less than a thousand dollars, they acknowledge that the total could have been significantly higher if the purchases had been physical books. The article raises awareness about the importance of money management when shopping online and questions the necessity of all the items people tend to buy.

Opinions

  • The author was shocked to see the extensive list of their past Amazon orders, highlighting the ease with which one can shop online without fully realizing the total expenditure.
  • There is an expressed concern about the potential for overspending online, especially if purchases had been more expensive items like paperback books instead of digital ones.
  • The author implies that online shopping can be deceptive, as the convenience and low cost of digital items can lead to a substantial accumulation of orders.
  • The article suggests that consumers should be more mindful of their online purchases and consider whether they truly need all the items they buy.
Photo by Mech Mind on Unsplash

MONEY MANAGEMENT

How Many Orders Have You Placed with Amazon? Do You Even Know?

Their website provides a list. I was shocked!

I needed to know the brand of panettone that I ordered last year, so I searched Amazon. I discovered that you could get a list of everything you ordered on the website. I didn’t expect much.

The list contained over 400 orders!

Most were low-priced Kindle books. Had they been normal-priced paperbacks, I would have spent 10 times as much. But there were several more expensive items.

It is so easy to order online that a person may not be aware of how much they are spending. I spent less than a thousand dollars, but it could have been much more if I had been purchasing more expensive items. Paperback books, instead of Kindle, would have added three or four thousand dollars.

How much do you spend online? Do you even need all of that stuff???

References

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Budget
Money Management
Awareness
Spending
Amazon
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