5 Ways I’m Slashing My Crazy $8K Amazon Spending
In both 2023 and 2024, our family of 4 spent a whopping $8,000 each year on Amazon! At the end of 2023, I recognized this huge uptick in spend, but in discussing it with my husband, he indicated he didn’t think it was an issue because we buy everything on Amazon. I decided to get the Amazon prime credit card so we were at least getting good rewards on our spending in 2024 and monitored it so that it at least didn’t increase.
This year though, I’m getting serious about reducing it because in reviewing my top spending categories, this category brought me way less joy than others that were a fraction of the price. Here’s how I plan to tackle it:
1. Shop Around Prices.
Around 2023, searching Amazon became my default when we needed something. Looking back at our purchases, many of them are truly essentials — diapers, lotion, soap, and cleaning supplies. However, in googling prices or checking our local grocery store, I see that many of the items are cheaper at other locations and they often offer free shipping.
2. Delete the Amazon app
To encourage me to shop around prices for essentials, but also to reduce non-essential spend, I have deleted the Amazon app. If I really need something, I can open my laptop and any added friction for purchases can make us reconsider.
3. Reduce Subscribe & Save items
As a working mom of 2, subscribe and save offered me the hope that I wouldn’t need to remember when the air filters needed to be changed or when the dog food was about to run out because it would all be on auto-pilot. In reality, I found that far too often, I would receive more than I need of an item and it became one more thing on my to do list to manage. This year, I’m reducing my Subscribe & Save items even if it means not hitting the 15% discount. The best way to save is not discounts, but rather not spending at all.
4. Wishlist & Wait Rule
I will put any non-essential item on my wishlist. Only if I truly want it at least 24 hours later and it fits within my budget for that category will I buy it. Which brings me to…
5. Classifying all Amazon purchases by type in my budget
It’s a pain to figure out each Amazon line item, classifying it as Home Supplies or Groceries or Clothes or Dog Food. But leaving it as a vague Amazon line item isn’t working. By classifying each item through going to the Transactions page on my Account and referencing it against my Monarch Money budget, I can ensure my spending stays within category limits rather than growing into a big amorphous Amazon monster line item. It’s my first time switching to Monarch after previously being a solid Mint user, so I’m excited to get back on the budgeting train.
Let me know in the comments if you want to keep posted on whether I’m able to reduce this spend or if you have any tips!
