This is the first year I've ever bought anything on Prime Day-- I think. I read lots of blogs about good deals, made lists of what I'd like & what we'd need, and culled and shortened those lists.
I thought about buying Christmas gifts, but the blogs I read from moms who did that kind of stuff highlighted gifts my kids aren't that into and I didn't feel like sorting through the million sales to find things that appealed to my kids. Aaron and I are an odd couple who don't really buy each other gifts, and we're not very much into name brand clothing or skincare/bath products so there weren't many things that I thought were too good of a deal to pass up. As I perused fashion blogs, I paid attention to items that were only a Prime Day deal. I saw so many things I liked and had even been on the fence about (we've been on one income for 14 months, so I've been really cautious about purchases), but if it wasn't a Prime day deal then the price should be the same (or quite similar) on any other day. I also paid attention to how much percentage off each item was. If I was only saving a couple dollars, I didn't seriously consider the purchase to be worth it.
I ended up buying 4 things and I kept three of the four.
The first thing was this brown belt with a gold double-circle buckle. I have seen this belt on Cassie from the Hi Sugarplum blog, which I love (especially when she does Amazon, Target, Walmart & LOFT posts!). In some weird way, I got it in my head that the belt was super pricey but I must have had it mixed up with a belt from a designer store on a prior post. Anyway, this belt was included in Prime day for $10 (initially $14). So yes, it was only a four dollar savings, but the percentage off was pretty good and I thought $10 for a nice neutral belt that I'll wear every other day was a good deal. I've purchased clothing items from Amazon before (mainly after reading Hi Sugarplum's posts and cross-referencing them on Erika's blog since she is long-waisted like me and sometimes sizes up in clothes because of this) and have ordered one to two sizes up. I've always felt that the sizing on belts was weird & a little off. I like to have some belt left over to tuck into belt loops and it feels weird to me when the belt just barely barely fits. It's like a little subconscious jab every time I put it on like 'will this even buckle next time?' and I don't need that kind of negativity in my life. :) So I've sized up in belts for years. I read the reviews on this one and debated sizing up two sizes but stuck with sizing up one size. The belt fits great but I surely couldn't have gotten away with my normal size.
The next thing I purchased was this dryer/volumizer. I had read about this tool months ago but couldn't justify it. Since then, my hair straightener went on the fritz and I had priced out new ones but hadn't purchased one yet. I thought if I bought this dryer combo then it would help straighten my hair since it had a brush attached to it. I also thought it could cut my hair fixing time in half if I didn't have to dry then straighten. It was much larger in person than it looked online. Aaron teased me that it was the type of dryer that Gina Giant from Wallykazam would use. :) I tried it out the very next morning and it was awful. It took three times longer to dry my hair and left me with a frizzy mess. I knew right then it would not save me any time getting ready in the mornings, so I cleaned the brush and immediately initiated the return process on Amazon. I chose the return option where I could just take the product in its original box to UPS and they'd scan a code on my phone, package the product, and send it back for me. I took it to UPS that very day. This dryer/volumizer is the same one my mother-in-law uses, I found out and it works well for her and all of the women on the blog posts I read who use it. I'm truly happy it works well for some-- it just didn't work for me.
We also took advantage of this Keurig and this air fryer. We had replaced our Keurig with a very basic model for $80 a year or so ago when our other Keurig stopped brewing the middle sized cup which is the one I use the most. When I saw this upgraded Keurig for $100 (which was almost half off) I figured that I could take my basic one to my classroom desk and upgrade ours at home. This model can make a shot of coffee which Aaron likes to put in his cold brew iced coffee. It can also steam & foam milk when we want to be fancy & make cappuccinos and lattes-- which is not often but it might be fun on hot cocoa this winter. :)
We had talked about air fryers in the past and had reconsidered them after Aaron's brother got one. I looked at them in Target and didn't want to justify the price tag. However, I saw a different brand offered during Prime day and it was so user friendly, almost half off of its original price, and $10 cheaper than the one at Target. I had considered an instant pot because I wanted something to make dinners faster when I get home from work in the fall, but I was still a little skeptical of its safety since it is a pressure cooker. After researching the air fryer and seeing how it could cook things faster than the oven, I decided to get one and try it out. It arrived on Friday last week and Aaron got home from a trip on Saturday and we tried it out that night and have used it everyday since then. We've made wings, steak, pizza rolls (yes, we're 12), broccoli, popcorn chicken, etc. I plan to make muffins, mini loaves of banana bread, and even poach an egg in a ramekin soon.
About a week before prime day, I was pricing the dvd box set of The Office. If you haven't heard, it's leaving Netflix in 2020 or 2021 so I felt compelled to get it on dvd. Initially, the series was divided in two dvd sets (seasons 1-5 and seasons 6-9). Total, it would be $85. I chose to wait. A few days later, I checked again and it was $55 for the complete 9 seasons so I jumped at it. HOWEVER, I learned my lesson about buying things before prime day. It's like buying yourself a present the week before Christmas or your birthday. Aaron's cousin got it for $35 on prime day and I'm kicking myself for spending $20 more than I had to! Lesson learned. Wait for prime day. (Also, I see that it's offered for $49.99 right now, so I missed out on multiple fronts. Such is life.) :)
Did you buy anything on prime day?
Until Next Time,
Much Love, Reba
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