{"id":34582,"date":"2023-07-12T08:46:15","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T12:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/news\/opinion-why-my-amazon-prime-day-budget-is-0\/"},"modified":"2023-07-12T08:46:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-12T12:46:17","slug":"opinion-why-my-amazon-prime-day-budget-is-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ifintechworld.com\/?p=34582","title":{"rendered":"Opinion: Why my Amazon Prime Day budget is $0"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Here\u2019s a quick question.<\/p>\n

If some useless stuff that you are going to forget about in a few months, weeks or even days is marked down in a sale from $100 to $10, and you snap up this amazing bargain before it expires, how much have you saved?<\/p>\n

\n

If you answered \u201c$90,\u201c being the size of the markdown, go to the back of the class. Oh, and call home and tell them you\u2019re being kept late after school today, because you need to take Remedial Common Sense.<\/p>\n

The correct answer, of course, is that you haven\u2019t saved anything. You\u2019ve just wasted $10. And if you were tempted to buy the item only because of the discount, and would have left it alone at the original price of $100, the \u201dsale\u201c has done you no favors whatsoever.<\/p>\n

This is why I am unmoved by all the propaganda in favor of \u201dAmazon Prime Day.\u201c And why my entire budget for this day of wonderful \u201ddiscounts\u201c is $0.<\/p>\n

Read:<\/strong> Why Amazon clicks with shoppers \u2014 on Prime Day or any day<\/p>\n

No matter how cleverly you jump on the latest bargains, if you buy anything at all on Amazon Prime Day I am guaranteed to save even more than you. I\u2019m not saving 30% off the full retail price or 50% or even 75%. I\u2019m saving 100%.<\/p>\n

If I need to buy something, I typically buy it when I need it. I may keep an eye out in case it is likely to go on sale. But my number one money saving hack isn\u2019t buying stuff cheap in a sale\u2014it isn\u2019t buying stuff.<\/p>\n

Read:<\/strong> On Amazon Prime Day, I got a $249 Apple Watch for free. Here\u2019s how I did it.<\/p>\n

Those of us who have reached the age of maturity have the opportunity to reflect on how much richer and better off we would be now if we hadn\u2019t wasted so much money in our 20s and 30s and even 40s. I have never been a big spender but I sometimes try to run the numbers.<\/p>\n

The key one is the number 5. That\u2019s the average annual percentage investors have earned, over and above inflation, over the long term by investing money in the stock market. (I\u2019m talking\u00a0about\u00a0global stocks.) And it is therefore the likely return you could earn by not buying surplus junk.<\/p>\n

To put this in context: $1,000 spent now is an estimated $2,700 you won\u2019t have in 20 years\u2019 time. And $4,300 you won\u2019t have in 30 years and $11,500\u2014yes, really\u2014you won\u2019t have in 50 years. These numbers are in \u201dreal\u201c terms, meaning they have already been adjusted for any future inflation.<\/p>\n

If you are in your 20s, therefore, every dollar you blow on Amazon Prime is taking nearly $12 out of your future retirement savings.<\/p>\n

If the money spent led to happiness in the here and now that might not matter so much, even though it is hardly good news for your golden years. But whenever I think of things like Prime Day, and I\u2019m not thinking about how much richer I\u2019d be today if I hadn\u2019t wasted money in my youth, I think of two other things instead.<\/p>\n

The first is the sheer brilliance of the psychological warfare that big retail companies and marketing operations wage upon the consumer. Companies know exactly how to hack your brain to part you from your money. Robert Cialdini\u2019s book \u201dInfluence\u201c is the classic study, but there are many others. Among the cleverest tricks is by creating a false sense of \u201durgency\u201c by offering time limited deals.<\/p>\n

Quick! Hurry! Buy this total crap marked down from $100 to $10 while stocks last!<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t grab this deal now it will be gone!<\/p>\n

Check out the countdown clocks you see on retail websites.<\/p>\n

The second thing I think about is the psychological revelation known as \u201dthe hedonic treadmill,\u201c which we could also call The Tyranny of More. Whatever we have, it\u2019s not enough. We want more, newer, \u201dbetter.\u201c Hence the way economists refer to the hedonic \u201dtreadmill.\u201c We have to keep getting more just to stay as happy as we were before.<\/p>\n

The only way to beat the treadmill is to get off.<\/p>\n

Thanks, Amazon, but no thanks. That money looks so much better in my bank account than yours.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read the full article here<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s a quick question. If some useless stuff that you are going to forget about in a few months, weeks or even days is marked down in a sale from $100 to $10, and you snap up this amazing bargain before it expires, how much have you saved? If you answered \u201c$90,\u201c being the size […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":34583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-34582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\nOpinion: Why my Amazon Prime Day budget is $0 | iFintechWorld<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here\u2019s a quick question. 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