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The Other Side of Amazon Prime-
To be honest we all like a good deal. And we all buy stuff. One of the things I try to look at more and more over time is what I'm buying, and WHY. With a recent big deal of Amazon Prime days, coupled with watching the news, here are a few ideas that the mainstream media does not promote. As we all know Amazon has put a lot of companies out of business and that's part of the supposedly free market system. And they are very, very convenient, which is great for people who don't want to think a whole lot about how they actually shop. So here's a few different things I thought of that I will list. In no particular order....
Why do you pay a fee to buy stuff? Prime membership always cracked me up.
How many things to buy on Amazon that you could probably find locally and support local businesses assuming that you need something new?
How many things could you buy used or recycled, through various venues, instead of buying something new on Amazon? Maybe get free on Craigslist? Or barter?
How many things could you restore/reuse instead of buying something new on Amazon? Like our wheelbarrow we re-painted and added new hardware to-
How many things could you find online through smaller companies, they have just as many deals and the same products, that you could support instead?
How much stuff do you really need? To me that's really the biggest question. Good ideas, and maybe some answers here-
And how much of your old stuff winds up in a landfill?
Where are you going to store all your store when you run of of room?
Homesteading to me harkens back to older times, when we were more self-sufficient and made do with a lot less. I had to laugh when I watched the movie Red Sparrow. There was a section in the beginning when a Russian teacher is instructing her class of spies-in-the making, that Americans are addicted to their shopping and their social media. I almost burst out laughing the theater. How true, how true. But I think it really hit the nail on the head for me for how the country is moving. I see that speed shopping encourages people to become so lazy that they don't want to drive anywhere, to buy anything, and or even get out of the car. Some people simply want to press some buttons on a device. It's mindless and it's promoting a scary future in this country... There is hope though, book stores are making a comeback!!! So here's some ideas-
To be honest we all like a good deal. And we all buy stuff. One of the things I try to look at more and more over time is what I'm buying, and WHY. With a recent big deal of Amazon Prime days, coupled with watching the news, here are a few ideas that the mainstream media does not promote. As we all know Amazon has put a lot of companies out of business and that's part of the supposedly free market system. And they are very, very convenient, which is great for people who don't want to think a whole lot about how they actually shop. So here's a few different things I thought of that I will list. In no particular order....
Why do you pay a fee to buy stuff? Prime membership always cracked me up.
How many things to buy on Amazon that you could probably find locally and support local businesses assuming that you need something new?
How many things could you buy used or recycled, through various venues, instead of buying something new on Amazon? Maybe get free on Craigslist? Or barter?
How many things could you restore/reuse instead of buying something new on Amazon? Like our wheelbarrow we re-painted and added new hardware to-
How much stuff do you really need? To me that's really the biggest question. Good ideas, and maybe some answers here-
And how much of your old stuff winds up in a landfill?
It's been on and off in the news for quite a while about how dangerous, and punitive it is, working for Amazon. Not drinking water on the job, because then your count goes down when you use the bathroom. (See the article at the for more information). When I started seeing their trucks around town on the weekends I just sort of shook my head. They're catering to people who want instant gratification, all the time, for everything. This country has no patience and no deep thinking sometimes. How about simplify?
From Lilywilliamsart.com
4 comments:
I agree with most of your post Nancy. I think that this instant gratification crap is making people impatient, aggressive and violent. And hiding behind their monitors doesn't help things!!! I used to follow a You Tube channel of a guy who whistle blew a little bit about Amazon. He was a U.S. postal carrier and he said that the amount of overtime they were forced to do was insane and it was mostly due to Amazon prime. The post office made deals with Amazon and the postal workers were expected to work 12 hour days, a lot of them on foot in hot weather too.
I do shop online and it's because it's easier for me. We shop around to get the best prices. But having things delivered rather than spending money on gas is the best choice for us since the nearest stores are about a 90 minute drive away on the highway. We've definitely cut down our "stuff"...yeah, how much do you really need vs how much do you really want right? :)
We try to buy most of our things used when we're in town, we hit the thrift stores. Or we just go without as long as we can! :)
Yes I hear you. I shop with them on rare occasion. The Postal Service issued I have heard before as well. I totally understand if you're in a rural area too. I try and buy local, use eBay, thrift stores too. Keep the $ in the area, thanks for your comments!
Thanks for sharing this!
Found you on the Homestead Blog Hop! Thank you for sharing!
Nancy, you summed it up perfectly - how much stuff do we really need?! Or put another way, how much is enough? I agree, folks are addicted to shopping. We're trained from childhood to buy and throw away. That's the problem with a consumer-centered economy.
I have to say that not having much money really helps. We can't buy impulsively and must consider alternatives for everything we need. We always try to buy locally first. I live in an area, though, where there isn't much interest in homesteading and self-reliance, so some of the things we look for aren't sold anywhere around here. I do buy from Amazon, but I always check other companies as well. Amazon's trend to use Prime membership as bait for a lower price really annoys me. And that always sends me off somewhere else where I usually find a lower price than they're offering for Prime only.
Excellent post, Nancy!
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