I did the same thing. Cancelled Amazon prime. Continued buying books on sale but stopped seven days ago. Unsubscribed from all emails and will cancel Mr Amazon credit card. I despise bezos. Don’t want him to receive 1 cent of mine. I am doing the same with Apple and all google products.
I’m not buying anything from Amazon either and it feels great! Even feels better than free shipping! The true cost of cheap goods is that it hurts the environment and the workers who produce it! Let’s keep it up! Go local and don’t buy things unless you think about it and are sure you really need it.
There is much more to life than Amazon, Prime, Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, etc.... I quit the ones I was a part of and have never looked back. Buy local when you can, it helps on so much of a deeper level. If not available there are alternatives to making billionaires more rich. Good for you going 31 without Amazon, hope you go much further. Contrary to some, corporations are NOT people and Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, all of them will do without my help for the duration of my life time if I can at all do that. Life is better without mindless consumerism.
You know I approve of a life sans Amazon! ;) We have mostly managed to detach from it and recently even got rid of Prime, and I have to say I was shocked by how much longer Prime-free shipping took on a simple last-minute order of a snow shovel and some outdoor faucet covers. Is it a conspiracy theory if I feel like they do that on purpose?
I do think they've aimed to be too convenient to fail, and I'm sometimes still perplexed about where to buy certain items I'm accustomed to finding on Amazon, but that usually ends up being a good exercise in "do I really need this thing?" Sometimes, yes! Sometimes I can find it at the hardware store or straight from the brand itself, and I end up feeling like it's probably better for my brain to have to go through the process of shopping more slowly.
Congrats! I’ve been purchase free since Nov 5th of last year. Christmas was a challenge and I was happy to persist in finding all I wanted not only NOT on Amazon but also via retailers and brands that align with my values, as found on GoodsUniteUs. Keep it up!
one suggestion: check to see if you have a local friends of your library. the one i volunteer for has TONS of cheap donated books, lots for kids, plus new merchandise like stationary and all proceeds benefit your library!
Congrats!! I've been trying not to shop on Amazon either and the shipping costs has really been a hindrance, especially on sights like Etsy, where the shipping can sometimes cost more than the item itself. I live in NYC and there's actually really no excuse to not shop local! I have options at every street corner.
I'm still on Amazon and re-upped Prime in November (insert shame-faced emoji here). On a brighter note, I deactivated Facebook and Instagram last month and have not re-activated either. I never really used TikTok, but somehow I cannot delete a ghost account I created just to lurk.
I was moved to share a HUGE personal triumph. Yesterday, I borrowed audiobooks from my local library through the Libby app! I am thrilled not to have fallen for the podcast-industrial-complex slippery slope of listening to an episode, then learning about an author whose book I HAD to own, and then purchasing it on Audible (dammit, Amazon).
I made it too (although I did help my mother make one Amazon purchase in January)! I bought one book from Bookshop.org myself, and I actually went in person to an Ulta of all places to buy the skin and hair products I'd usually buy online.
I am honored to be featured here as the recipient of the arrived-just-in-time-from-Korea gift. Another option for that category: You don't have to send this out-of-state-friend anything, your love is gift enough!
This comment made smile my dearest! I think helping your mother with Amazon is different than buying from Amazon yourself. In person for hair and skin products!? A revolution!
"When everything we do as a society is convenient, what do we do for the sake of joy?"
Love that! I've made my life incredibly inconvenient by living in an off grid yurt in rural, northern Wisconsin. It's the most joyful version of my life yet. I think about how inconvenient my life seems compared to all of the modern conveniences and I'm not mad about it. I do shop from Amazon every now and then (sadly- trying to break away from that). Shopping takes at least 5 days every time BUT the package ends up on the porch of my yurt which always feels very weird to me.
Love this! I decided to quit Amazon and Whole Foods (which is where I buy 90% of my groceries). The closest (tiny) food coop to me - despite living in Chicago - is a 32 minute hike via public transit and requires a bus and L train transfer. But it feels good to not giving Bezos another penny.
I cancelled my subscribe and saves and ordered them directly from the producers. One was painful with the shipping cost (almost $20 for a little jar of natural deodorant) and the other was actually cheaper (laundry sheets). But it feels good to support the tiny brands I love rather than Bezos. I also cancelled my pre-ordered book and pre-orded it on BookShop.org instead (I freaking LOVE their mission!). Just want to say that you are so right, Kate, about the "free shipping" impact on spending!
One observation I'm making is that by being off Amazon is that I'm less exposed to suggested items and the "customers who bought this also bought this..." That alone will more than offset my spending!
And I've been off Facebook and Instagram since November (and I'm not on any other social platform), so I don't get bombarded with ads that target me thanks to "the algorithm." The effect is less exposure to things I'd never before heard of until they landed in my feed...at which time I suddenly find that I can't do without! Translation: less stupid consumption.
Finally, I've been making it a point to buy local when I can. My home's in a desert of local shops I'd want to frequent, but if I plan for it, public transit will get me there.
Anyway, thanks so much for this read! Loved it. And loved reading the comments!
These are such triumphs! I find "less stupid consumption" to be one of the biggest benefits of this experiment (I'm not sticking it to Bezos in any impactful way, even though I'd like to). I'm positive the point of living is not to just keep buying stuff, but it can be made to feel irresistible. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
I'm with you. It's the hard work we have to do. You might consider AdBlockPlus to avoid loads of advertising designed to suck you in. Free, or donate if you wish. Reliable.
My subscription was conveniently up in November 2nd and we didn't renew. Same experience, first month feels like a detox and a "where do I buy stuff again?" But now I shop more locally, forgo buying altogether, or buy more stuff used. I keep adding stuff to my "cart" tho and going back and looking at it every few weeks and being like "huh, guess I don't need that crap." Congratulations on the first 31 days!
I'm 2 weeks without using Amazon. I have very little time or money so this was scary for me, but has immediately been rewarding. Found out I LOVE my new local hardware store, and I really enjoy connecting with the people in my area
I did the same thing. Cancelled Amazon prime. Continued buying books on sale but stopped seven days ago. Unsubscribed from all emails and will cancel Mr Amazon credit card. I despise bezos. Don’t want him to receive 1 cent of mine. I am doing the same with Apple and all google products.
I’m not buying anything from Amazon either and it feels great! Even feels better than free shipping! The true cost of cheap goods is that it hurts the environment and the workers who produce it! Let’s keep it up! Go local and don’t buy things unless you think about it and are sure you really need it.
Amen!
There is much more to life than Amazon, Prime, Facebook, X, TikTok, Instagram, etc.... I quit the ones I was a part of and have never looked back. Buy local when you can, it helps on so much of a deeper level. If not available there are alternatives to making billionaires more rich. Good for you going 31 without Amazon, hope you go much further. Contrary to some, corporations are NOT people and Bezos, Zuckerberg, Musk, all of them will do without my help for the duration of my life time if I can at all do that. Life is better without mindless consumerism.
So much more to life - and we gotta reclaim it!
You know I approve of a life sans Amazon! ;) We have mostly managed to detach from it and recently even got rid of Prime, and I have to say I was shocked by how much longer Prime-free shipping took on a simple last-minute order of a snow shovel and some outdoor faucet covers. Is it a conspiracy theory if I feel like they do that on purpose?
I do think they've aimed to be too convenient to fail, and I'm sometimes still perplexed about where to buy certain items I'm accustomed to finding on Amazon, but that usually ends up being a good exercise in "do I really need this thing?" Sometimes, yes! Sometimes I can find it at the hardware store or straight from the brand itself, and I end up feeling like it's probably better for my brain to have to go through the process of shopping more slowly.
Congrats! I’ve been purchase free since Nov 5th of last year. Christmas was a challenge and I was happy to persist in finding all I wanted not only NOT on Amazon but also via retailers and brands that align with my values, as found on GoodsUniteUs. Keep it up!
one suggestion: check to see if you have a local friends of your library. the one i volunteer for has TONS of cheap donated books, lots for kids, plus new merchandise like stationary and all proceeds benefit your library!
Congrats!! I've been trying not to shop on Amazon either and the shipping costs has really been a hindrance, especially on sights like Etsy, where the shipping can sometimes cost more than the item itself. I live in NYC and there's actually really no excuse to not shop local! I have options at every street corner.
I do like your hat
I'm still on Amazon and re-upped Prime in November (insert shame-faced emoji here). On a brighter note, I deactivated Facebook and Instagram last month and have not re-activated either. I never really used TikTok, but somehow I cannot delete a ghost account I created just to lurk.
I was moved to share a HUGE personal triumph. Yesterday, I borrowed audiobooks from my local library through the Libby app! I am thrilled not to have fallen for the podcast-industrial-complex slippery slope of listening to an episode, then learning about an author whose book I HAD to own, and then purchasing it on Audible (dammit, Amazon).
LOVE LIBBY — yay for you!
I made it too (although I did help my mother make one Amazon purchase in January)! I bought one book from Bookshop.org myself, and I actually went in person to an Ulta of all places to buy the skin and hair products I'd usually buy online.
I am honored to be featured here as the recipient of the arrived-just-in-time-from-Korea gift. Another option for that category: You don't have to send this out-of-state-friend anything, your love is gift enough!
Lastly, I do, and always will, like your hat.
This comment made smile my dearest! I think helping your mother with Amazon is different than buying from Amazon yourself. In person for hair and skin products!? A revolution!
"When everything we do as a society is convenient, what do we do for the sake of joy?"
Love that! I've made my life incredibly inconvenient by living in an off grid yurt in rural, northern Wisconsin. It's the most joyful version of my life yet. I think about how inconvenient my life seems compared to all of the modern conveniences and I'm not mad about it. I do shop from Amazon every now and then (sadly- trying to break away from that). Shopping takes at least 5 days every time BUT the package ends up on the porch of my yurt which always feels very weird to me.
I want to see your yurt!!! Also I think your inconvenient lifestyle permits you the conveniences of amazon :)
The best little online tour I can muster is here! https://open.substack.com/pub/elainajindra/p/open-door-yurt-tour?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=1yszdf. And if you're ever in northern Wisconsin, come over for real!
Love this! I decided to quit Amazon and Whole Foods (which is where I buy 90% of my groceries). The closest (tiny) food coop to me - despite living in Chicago - is a 32 minute hike via public transit and requires a bus and L train transfer. But it feels good to not giving Bezos another penny.
I cancelled my subscribe and saves and ordered them directly from the producers. One was painful with the shipping cost (almost $20 for a little jar of natural deodorant) and the other was actually cheaper (laundry sheets). But it feels good to support the tiny brands I love rather than Bezos. I also cancelled my pre-ordered book and pre-orded it on BookShop.org instead (I freaking LOVE their mission!). Just want to say that you are so right, Kate, about the "free shipping" impact on spending!
One observation I'm making is that by being off Amazon is that I'm less exposed to suggested items and the "customers who bought this also bought this..." That alone will more than offset my spending!
And I've been off Facebook and Instagram since November (and I'm not on any other social platform), so I don't get bombarded with ads that target me thanks to "the algorithm." The effect is less exposure to things I'd never before heard of until they landed in my feed...at which time I suddenly find that I can't do without! Translation: less stupid consumption.
Finally, I've been making it a point to buy local when I can. My home's in a desert of local shops I'd want to frequent, but if I plan for it, public transit will get me there.
Anyway, thanks so much for this read! Loved it. And loved reading the comments!
These are such triumphs! I find "less stupid consumption" to be one of the biggest benefits of this experiment (I'm not sticking it to Bezos in any impactful way, even though I'd like to). I'm positive the point of living is not to just keep buying stuff, but it can be made to feel irresistible. Thanks so much for sharing your experiences.
I'm with you. It's the hard work we have to do. You might consider AdBlockPlus to avoid loads of advertising designed to suck you in. Free, or donate if you wish. Reliable.
The reverse supply chain makes the problem worse. Climate town did a great video.
https://youtu.be/WG8idKaX9KI?si=XhKfhmOh71PYeZQe
Love climate town! I'll check it out, thanks for sharing
My subscription was conveniently up in November 2nd and we didn't renew. Same experience, first month feels like a detox and a "where do I buy stuff again?" But now I shop more locally, forgo buying altogether, or buy more stuff used. I keep adding stuff to my "cart" tho and going back and looking at it every few weeks and being like "huh, guess I don't need that crap." Congratulations on the first 31 days!
😂 reminded of when my brother was small and loved to be read to from "go dog dog!" as he called it then
I'm 2 weeks without using Amazon. I have very little time or money so this was scary for me, but has immediately been rewarding. Found out I LOVE my new local hardware store, and I really enjoy connecting with the people in my area