I Confess: The Cost of My Love Affair

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That’s right – I’m in love! I don’t know how I let this happen…it started out so innocently.

Please don’t judge me before you read on. I think if you know the full story you will understand. I had no idea that it would last this long…I thought it was just a phase that I would eventually get bored with. But the complete opposite happened. It’s so intense that I don’t think I can ever stop. It just feels so right.

It’s been ten years…and it’s no phase. My obsession and infatuation have only grown stronger. At the beginning, it was an infrequent kind of thing. Seriously, months could pass with no interaction. But my love of books kept bringing us back together. Does that sound corny? I don’t care if it does…it’s true.

My wife knows about it but we have never talked about it out loud. Does she fully understand how serious this relationship is to me? Can she? Writing this at last is a relief…to finally get it out in the open. I hope she reads this post because I think it’s the only way she will truly be able to understand. I need her to know that this relationship isn’t going anywhere soon. She has to realize that this doesn’t complicate things; it actually makes life easier.

My wife may not know it yet, but she is going to love the convenience of it all. Especially in light of how exhausted she is going to be after giving birth to our baby boy soon. I’ve heard that she just isn’t going to feel like…doing things…you know what I mean. That’s why this special relationship is more important than ever. To both of us. The best part is I don’t even have to leave the house to get the special things I need here and there, because they’ll come directly to the house. And it doesn’t matter whether Mrs. GYFG is home or not.

I know how all of this sounds but I promise you Mrs. GYFG is totally okay with it. She knows that I love her and our son more than words can describe…and she knows that this is a different kind of love.

Wait a second! Re-reading all of this, I can see how I might be giving you the wrong impression. I should back up for a minute and remind everyone that there are two distinctly different definitions for love affairs:

Love Affair Definition

My love affair is something, not someone. Actually, my wife and I are in love with the same thing. We love Amazon!

I first started using Amazon to order books way back in 2008. Mrs. GYFG and I have ordered hundreds of books since then. But we’ve also ordered a lot of other things, and with increasing frequency. Especially once we decided to sign up for Prime (use this link for a free 30-day trial) a few years ago. The convenience of FREE two-day shipping is amazing! Over the years the Prime membership has only become more valuable, and there is a lot more you get with a Prime membership than just two-day shipping. Read on!

Top Ten Benefits of an Amazon Prime Membership:

  1. Free two-day shipping (or better).
  2. Free release-date delivery. Pre-order your favorite author’s new book and get the book on the exact day it is available, not two days later.
  3. Free 2-hour delivery. Currently only available in select cities, “Prime Now” takes things hyperlocal, delivering groceries, restaurant food and other items in just two hours — or within one hour for an extra $7.99.
  4. Alexa deals. Exclusive to Prime members.
  5. Whole Foods benefits. Exclusive perks and discounts, and with the Amazon Prime credit card you can now also get five percent back on all Whole Foods purchases.
  6. Unlimited video streaming. This is a Netflix-like service.
  7. Limited music streaming. Over two million songs available.
  8. Unlimited photo storage.
  9. One free e-book per month.
  10. Access to Amazon Dash. Our new favorite Amazon toy.

It’s an incredible deal to get all of this for just $119 per year. One thing I didn’t mention above is the tiered discounts you get for recurring orders.

Over the last ten years, we have spent $20,371 buying things on Amazon. For us, it has truly become the everything store(great book about Amazon) and I suspect our spending there is only going to increase, partly because we have recently found Amazon Dash Buttons and the Dash Wand.

Pictured above are the three Dash Buttons we recently ordered. These are actual physical objects. They are great for items you regularly buy but don’t want to put on a recurring order because you’re not sure how often you will need the items. They are WiFi-enabled and linked to the product you want to buy (programmed from the Amazon App on your phone). They initially cost $4.99* each but you receive a credit of $4.99 after placing your first order the button (*for some reason Bounty is $9.99 and still only comes with a $4.99 credit). They are each about the size of a piece of gum and have an adhesive patch on the back side to stick in a convenient place near the product you intend to re-order using the Dash Button.

The Dash Wand is an Alexa-enabled device for $15 that allows you to say, scan, or ask Alexa a question. You get to specify whether you just want to add the item to your shopping cart or order it now. You can even ask Alexa for a conversion from cups to ounces or to find nearby restaurants.

Needless to say, we are getting deeper in bed with Amazon. It will continue to win an increasing share of our monthly spend. The one thing that I do hope they figure out soon is how to reduce the amount of packaging. We recycle as much of the packaging as possible but there’s got to be a better way. I imagine an Amazon locker or drop box at every house that would allow the delivery person (drone or robot) to drop the products off into a secure storage box without all the extra packaging.

Do you use Amazon? Have you noticed a trend of increasing frequency of your Amazon orders? What is your favorite benefit or convenience of Amazon?

– Gen Y Finance Guy

p.s. Do you want a pro tip? Get the Amazon Chase credit card and get 5% cash back on all of your Amazon purchases.

p.p.s. How about one more pro tip? Use the subscribe and save feature on Amazon for recurring orders to earn an additional 5-15% off the items you buy regularly. 

p.p.p.s. I do all of these things for maximum savings.


Gen Y Finance Guy

Hey, I’m Dom - the man behind the cartoon. You’ll notice that I sign off as "Gen Y Finance Guy" on all my posts, due to the fact that I write this blog anonymously (at least for now). I like to think of myself as the Chief Freedom Officer here of my little corner of the internet. In the real world, I’m a former 30-something C-Suite executive turned entrepreneur turned capital allocator. I am trying to humanize finance by sharing my own journey to Financial Freedom. I believe in total honesty and transparency. That is why before I ever started blogging, I decided that I would share all of my own financial stats. I do this not to brag, but instead to inspire motivate, and also to hold myself accountable. My goal is to be a beacon of hope, motivation, and inspiration, for you, the reader, by living life by example and sharing it all here on the blog. My sincere hope is that you will be able to learn from me - both from my successes and my failures! Read More

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4 Responses

  1. I still remember when two-day shipping meant to days from order date. Now where I live it is always listed as three days but still called two day. On a few orders the delivery date was changed day of, when there weren’t any weather related issues. Wish they would just call it fast shipping. Do enjoy the streaming service and get items for our fids (feather kids) as they are hard to find locally. I tend to check for best price still will order elsewhere or through non-prime shippers is cheaper all in price. Do you price compare or is the convience and time saving worth any potential cost savings?

    1. Hi Buckeyecub!

      I haven’t noticed a delay in shipping if anything packages tend to get delivered faster than two days at times. Then again, I’m not paying that close attention to this because as long as it comes in a couple of days, it’s not a big deal to me. I just don’t want to wait for week+.

      I don’t tend to price compare before making a purchase. It really is the convenience and time savings I’m after. However, I do use the Amazon Chase credit card to get 5% cash back on all my Amazon purchases, and we leverage the subscribe and save which saves you 5% on less than five recurring items and up to 15% with more items.

      Dom

  2. You have to respect Amazon for what they have achieved however I think there’s a bigger picture that is concerning. They’re on track to become bigger and more powerful than any company ever seen before. Historically companies that come to dominate entire industries tend not to offer a good service or fair prices once all the competition has been eliminated. What’s more they are generally putting out of business, companies that pay alot more taxes in the countries in which they operate. That’s ultimately a shortfall that ordinary folks will need to make up. Given the scale they have already achieved and the technological advantage it’s hard to see how future new entrants will be able to challenge them.

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