My Addiction

Hi, my name is Stu, and I’m a recovering Amazon buyer.  It’s been a week since my last purchase.  Yes, I have a problem – I love getting packages.  It’s like Christmas or my birthday, only every week!  My wife is aware of my addiction, and tolerates it because we have an agreed upon spending limit, plus I work really hard to squeeze every dollar, and jump on even the smallest savings.

 

I have to explain, we’re not rich, far from it.  But we live frugally.  “Eating out” for us is usually drive-thru, and often with coupons.  We love getting chicken dinners at Lee’s Famous Chicken on the Rock Road for under $6.00 a piece.  Another favorite is the “buy one get one free” sandwich coupon for Jersey Mike’s. We also enjoy the "Budget Busters" at Bandanas. 

 

I don’t know why, but I always get excited when I find a shopping cart at Aldi that isn’t attached that has a quarter in it.  Although, if someone in the lot approaches me for my cart as I unload my car, I don’t take their quarter – I tell them, “I got it for free.”

 

Getting back to Amazon.  I have improved on my spending on Amazon.  We used to have “Prime” and I rationalized that the yearly membership fee was offset by all the money I save in “free shipping.” It used to be if you didn’t have Prime, you had to spend at least $25 to get “free shipping.” Now Prime has gone up, and the minimum purchase is $35. 

 

That helped a little in curbing my spending there. However, who am I kidding?  Today, I got deliveries from Target and Walmart, and spent the “minimum” at each for “free shipping,” so I'm like an alcoholic that thinks he's abstaining by drinking Listerine and cough medicine instead of hard liquor.

 

I guess I could have worse vices.  I have never smoked, and my drinking extends to just a few sips of my wife’s cold beer each summer.  I have one addiction left – chocolate!  However, because of stomach issues, two different doctors told me to stop eating chocolate.  Hopefully, after a scheduled endoscopy at the end of the month, I hope I can have the occasional Snickers.  One must seek value and joy in their life wherever they can find it.  For me, it’s shopping online and chocolate candy bars.