Lazy Man and Money

Prepare Now for Amazon Prime Day

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[Editor’s Note: Even though article is about Amazon Prime, it’s actually most useful for people who aren’t already, and don’t intend to become, Prime members.]

Last year Amazon had a Prime Day that was, by all measures, enormously successful. I think I picked up $200 in electronic deals (the highlight being a very cheap Kindle Fire.) If I hadn’t already owned an Amazon Echo, I would have bought one. Then again, I run an Amazon Echo fan site, so that’s to be expected.

Prime Day this year is July 12th, next Tuesday. This year Amazon says it is going to have 100,000 deals. I’m sure that like anything else, there will be some really good deals and some that are questionable as to whether they are deals at all. However, with that many deals, there’s bound to be a few things that are worthy of your dollars, right?

To participate in Prime Day, you have to be an Amazon Prime Member. (Makes sense, right?) If you aren’t a Prime member, you can use this link for a FREE trial. (You’ll want to set your calendar to cancel it before you are billed.)

I recommend taking them up on the trial now as Amazon’s leaking some deals early.

And if you do sign up for Amazon Prime, you can watch Room for free. That’s been on Mrs. Lazy’s “to-watch” list since it was nominated for four academy awards.

Aside from Prime Day, Amazon has really been surprising me with good deals of late. I wanted to write about one in particular that caught my attention, but it didn’t seem worth for its own article. So here goes…

Amazon has released a few new discounted cell phones. You can save an extra $50 or so off of the best price elsewhere. The catch? You’ll have to agree to Amazon’s advertisements and lock screen offers. I have these on my Kindle Fire, and they’ve never bothered me. I don’t even notice the ads except for the lock screen, which I quickly ignore. So it seems like a good way to save a little cash.

If you are looking for a discount low-end phone, here’s a BLU R1 HD for $59. For $179, you can get the latest generation Moto G which is an above average phone for the money.

I’ve been thinking of picking up the $59 one and putting in a FreedomPop sim chip I have that comes with free data. I have no practical reason to have another phone, but the tinkerer in me thinks it could be a good project.

Get a Rare Discount on Amazon Prime

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For a few years now, I’ve been on the fence about Amazon Prime. Typically I place 2 or 3 orders a month on Amazon, so it is certainly something that I use enough to be a premium member.

Allow me to backtrack a minute to make sure everyone is on the same page. For those who aren’t familiar with Amazon Prime, it’s Amazon’s premium service costing $79 a year. What do you get for that? Free two-day shipping (on what seems to be most Amazon items) and free movie streaming from Amazon’s library, and the ability to borrow one Kindle book at a time from the Kindle store.

That’s three very different benefits. I’ve been on the fence, because I’ve got more than enough boobtube information stored on my HDHomeRun Prime DVR. I also have so many books that I’ve had to give them away, 90% of which I haven’t read. Finally, I typically place my orders in $25 chunks, which brings me free shipping, anyway.

In the last few months, I’ve noticed that we are placing more and more orders through Amazon. Little Man needs his baby wipes and these Pampers Sensitive Wipes are a great deal. I even became an “Amazon Mom” (Amazon setting back gender-equality 20 years with that one) which saves an additional 20% when I subscribe.

The biggest thing for me is being able to place smaller orders, not having to get to that $25 mark, and getting the items in two-days. Waiting a week is fine for longer-term purchases, but getting things dropped off to our door in two-days is perfect for busy lifestyle. One of the first things I ordered was this Google Nexus 7 Case. With the short wait, I won’t be tempted to pay the high prices at Staples. I don’t know if we’ll using the video streaming. I’ll let my wife have the Kindle book, but like me, she’s got enough paper books to read.

With the increased Amazon use, I’ve been waiting for that additional kick in the behind to make Amazon Prime worth signing up. Amazon Prime is a little like Apple iPads, there’s rarely a discount – until now. From now until August 25th, you can get a $10 gift card back on your Amazon Prime membership. That’s not exactly big bucks back, but psychologically, it feels good to get a deal.

The big downside to Amazon Prime (except for the $6.58 a month price naturally) is that there’s also the increased risk of buying things that I didn’t need because it is so quick and easy. That said, everyone I know who has gone Amazon Prime has not gone back… and they rave about it.

So what about you? Are you an Amazon Prime member? What are your impressions on the service? Let me know in the comments.