Buying Your Retirement On Amazon.com  

 

We all know we need live frugally and save money for long-term goals such as retirement, home ownership, or the kids' college fund.  Unfortunately, it can be difficult to figure out how to tie expensive items to everyday savings and keep track of it all.  Believe it or not, you can use Amazon.com, an online retailer with whom you're probably already familiar, to make shopping for everyday goods faster, easier, and cheaper while bringing down the cost of big purchases. You can then use those savings to automatically fund your retirement, vacation or any other goal.

 

Paying for a chunk of your retirement or any other big purchase on Amazon only takes three simple steps.  First, save money on the items you were going to buy anyway.  Next, pay those savings to yourself in a savings account to earn more on the savings.  Finally, turn your money into a real piece of your retirement while treating yourself along the way.  How quickly the plan can pay for your large purchases depends upon how much work you're willing to put into it, but you can start out easily by saving some money for later without feeling any loss at all.

 

1.       Use Amazon to save on your budget

Check Amazon before you buy anything that you use on a regular basis.  For example, if you know you need over-the-counter medication regularly, Amazon has generic medicines that are far cheaper than your local pharmacy.  In many locales, you can even sign up to have your favorite groceries shipped to your home as often as you like.  Just add anything you buy regularly to "Subscribe and Save," an Amazon program in which products will be delivered to your door as often as you'd like and they are automatically billed and shipped to you.  If you get more than five subscriptions sent to your home every month, you'll also get a 15% discount on those purchases.  So, if you know you need allergy medicine, buy it on Amazon.  If you know you need that medicine every month, subscribe and get it shipped without having to go to the store for it ever again.

 

2.       Pay yourself first

Now that you know what you're paying Amazon for the stuff you use every day, you can subtract those costs from what you had budgeted before.  We rarely think to do this when we find a one-time sale, but if you can automate your shopping, then you know what you're saving on those purchases every month.  If you can save $50 per month off the grocery, makeup or hobby supply budget, then you can set up an automatic payment of $50 into your savings account at the credit union.  That kind of money can slowly add up and you won't even notice it's gone, because the same money is going out every month and the same products are coming in.

 

CORE Credit Union has many ways to put your everyday savings to work toward your retirement. You can set up automatic payments into your savings so you put money in every month. Once that nest egg gets a little bigger, we can discuss other savings options so that you can earn even more.    

 

If you desire more instant gratification from what you're saving, you can also choose not to save all of that money.  Set up an automatic transfer of half your monthly savings on Amazon and put the other half into an account for buying something nice.  We have Club accounts with competitive rates, as well as savings certificates with terms as short as 3 month.  You can store money for a rainy day, and still save for that vacation.  

 

3.    Treat yourself

You're going to want to splurge occasionally, and you can use Amazon to make sure you're doing it in a more affordable way.  If you know you want to make a big purchase down the road, such as a new TV or piece of furniture, you can also add it to your "Save for Later" list. Amazon will let you know when the price goes down or email you promotional codes for it.  If you need to buy it this week, just put it in your cart and wait a day or two. Sometimes Amazon will send you a promo code for 20% off. If you want to make sure you're getting a good deal, check out Camelcamelcamel.com, a site that tracks Amazon prices, and lets you know if you're paying too much.

 

You can also save big money on some products through "Amazon Warehouse Deals," which list quality products in damaged packaging.  Check out "Amazon Outlet" and "Amazon Gold Box Deals" for more sales.