Amazon Mom Update

Almost a year ago, I signed up for Amazon Mom/Prime program.

What I have learned, and it is also what I expected, is that having Amazon Prime makes it super easy to buy stuff from Amazon.  "Free" two day delivery on lots of items means that I often go to Amazon for my buying needs.  Does that mean I'm spending more in general?  Hard to know.  I could be making the same purchases, but simply making them at Amazon instead of other retailers.  Or I could be making more purchases since Amazon makes it so easy.  I suspect it is both.

Today, I was working on my Amazon Prime subscription box.  The subscription service allows one to sign up for purchases that are regularly occurring.   For us, that includes diapers, wipes, diaper genie liners, baby sunscreen, baby snacks, etc.  If you sign up for five items a month that ups your savings to 15% off on everything and 20% off on diapers.

So each month, we get diapers and wipes.  Normally we get some puff snacks for Baby Sam.  That normally leaves two items left.  We have storage space, so I'm genarlly looking for something we go through a lot of and is a dry good or cleaning supply.

As working parents, coffee is a big thing for us, so today  I decided to look at coffee options.  On Amazon, even narrowing by Prime, that brings up thousands of choices.  Select ground and hazelnut and I'm down to hundreds.   Sort by price and I come up with some brands that Mr. Sam buys regularly.  Ok, price per bag, price per ounce.  No idea if this is a good price.  Am I falling into the trap of buying something to get a discount that isn't a good deal?   Cross check to the Wal-mart site and yes this is a good price.

Do the same thing for Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and I'm good to go for check out.

So bottom line, discounts can work but you have to be careful about making a poor buying choice for purposes of getting a discount.

Also, being able to get items I need delivered makes my life so much easier.  Between, work, baby, family life, maintaining sanity is important.

Financial Bully

According to this post from the Today Show, it sure sounds like I should be classified as a financial bully.  We work on an allowance system, so I absolutely limit the amount of money Mr. Sam has to spend.  I similarly limit the amount of money I have to spend as well.

I think if you asked Mr. Sam about this system he would have the following to say.  First, he is very happy at our progress over the last 7 years (since we got married).  We paid of $55,500 in unsecured debt the first year and half of that was Mr. Sam's MBA debt.  We have also made good progress at saving money every year since then.  So he recognizes that by limiting our spending and working from a spending plan and an allowance system there is a payoff.

Second, he does, from time to time complain about running out of money and further complains that he can't have a credit card.  When I say "he can't have a credit card" he agrees with the fact that he has an abstainer personality and therefore really can't have one.  What that means is that Mr. Sam can't eat just one cookie, rather if there are cookies in the house he will eat the entire package.  So, in order to not eat an entire package of cookies he has to abstain and not have them available.  I am a moderator personality which means that I could each just one cookie a week (if I want cookies in the house I have to hide them).  So when it comes to money, Mr. Sam really will spend just about as much money (or utilize as much credit) as is available to him.  Hence the allowance system actually works very well for him.

While I am the financial task-master in the house, Mr. Sam is involved in the decision making, the spending plan creation, the savings goal setting, etc.