The $20 increase I would face when my account auto-renewed wasnt much in the grand scheme of things.
But seeing that number nudge above $100 made me second-guess myself.
Was it really worth paying the annual fee?
I cant take all the credit for considering a life without what I call Uncle Jeffs Everything Store.
He noticed the convenience of Prime and Amazons other trappings made him a bit dependent on the ever-expanding company.
And he didnt like it.
Almost 30% of my orders contained just one item.
I decided I needed to stop doing that.
Sure, Id visit Amazon when I needed the convenience or the wide variety of products.
But it wouldnt be my first stop.
Except my plan backfired.
When I finally dug into my post-Prime orders, I was appalled.
My two most frequent item categories make sense, in retrospect.
The only major facet of my Amazon shopping that changed was the size of my orders.
Amazon packages were arriving less often, but their value was greater.
Allow me to share it with you.
If youre going to quit this ecommerce giant, you have to go all the way.
All year I was the first in line to sneak around the rules I had made for myself.
I told you tobuy Prime for just a monthif you anticipated needing to do a lot of shopping.
the idea of re-watching Fleabag was a big magnet for my lizard brain).
There is no weaning yourself off Amazon.
No more of that.
(Some only show you this information in their app.)
The systems keep getting better.)
But that doesnt mean you cant pick up and have another go.
The most important thing is that you make the best buying decisions for your own budget.
Nearly every retailer in the world has its labor issues or security threats or practices you dont agree with.
Knowing that has the potential to get you into a Whats the use?
mindset that leads to achieving zero goals.
As for me, Ill try saying goodbye to Amazon again tomorrow.
