Thank you Anne Marie! This was the nudge I needed to pause everything and go cancel Prime. After going in a loop a few times on the app I discovered you can cancel without talking to anyone but the default option is to just wait out the membership until your next annual payment. To get around it I had to request help thorough the chat, get kicked back to the cancel page, then go back to the chat and talk to what I think was a human who understood I was trying to cancel my membership and get a refund for the balance which they were able to process. So all in all it took under 5 mins. Thank you for the helpful reminder to do this TODAY!
If you are a public library patron, download Kanopy the free streaming service with no ads. It has a great interface, specifies Oscar Winners and nominees. Want to enlarge your world view, input Love&Sex and watch Japan and Russia, for starters.
It is possible to not buy from Amazon. We try to get local as much as possible, but being in the middle of the Praries has limitations. What we can't get local; we order via Costco, CT, or directly from vendors on the internet. It's hard because there's not the same level of comfort dealing with new companies online.
My biggest challenge at present is finding a replacement for my Kindle App. I'll check out Hoopla, and I know my local library has a lot of e-book options. I'm trying to cut down on physical books. It's a space issue.
My public library uses the Libby app and has ton of e-books and magazines to check out. I also discovered I could buy a library card from a neighboring county for $40 a year and have access to their e-book collection too! Best money I spend all year! I confess I buy plenty from AMZ (though I'm cutting that way back), but almost never do I buy books.
Both of my libraries offer Hoopla though I find their offerings much more limited than their regular e-book collections.
Amazon is certainly convenient. But you're right, it is possible to shop elsewhere. I stopped when I started working for a small publisher and saw how Amazon was taking over the book world. We were all limited to one Amazon rant per day at the office.
I usually only buy used books, and try to use Thriftbooks to do that. In the past, if I did buy used books on AMZ, I always searched through the used sellers for a Goodwill or other non-profit that is doing the selling.
Thank you for sharing the Amy Tan book. I'm leaning hard into my crazy bird lady phase and will check it out! I've put up five feeders in the last three months and watching them is way better than looking at social media. And I also just discovered there is a local wild bird supply store near me with the nicest folks, and I'm super happy to be able to spend my money there instead of on AMZ.
Oh you will love this book!!! Tan describes her feeders in detail and what she fills them with. And she sketches the little dramas that go on in her yard among the birds (and sometimes other critters). That's great you've found a local wild bird supply store. Small businesses rock!
I've just ordered this book from our local library, really looking forward to reading it....I went on an Amy Tan readathon a few years ago....I nearly always ask for our library to buy books id like to read. Only buy the really essential ones secondhand....often have to wait a long time.
Deciding the cancel my prime subscription wasn’t that hard, but deleting my Amazon account completely, losing hundreds of kindle and audible purchases, that was a harder decision. It was the BEST decision and I feel so free. No going back in a moment of justifying how I really needed something. Thank you for all these wonderful actions to show up in new ways.
I love all of this. I had been meaning to oder stickers for our two Teslas. I am so embarrassed to have them. We bought them both used, and they have lots of miles now so not sure we could get much selling them. Anyway, I've just ordered stickers for them from Etsy, inspired by your link. I wonder, does anyone have a suggestion for moving self-published books off of Amazon?
Thank you so much for these clear steps!! I've done almost all of them in some form but am inspired to engage more with local media after reading this. I plan to transition from Google to Ecosia. The challenge will be all of my Google docs... how to transition all of those?!
Bread Labor - I wish you would give grain free recepies. I am off grains and use nut flours instead. They can make great bread. I would love to see foccia bread made with almond or other nut flour, please
This is a wonderful article, it’s so important for people to have tangible things they can do when everything seems so out of control. I am also down for yurt life.
Thank you for the Ecosia rec! I switched to DuckDuckGo to avoid Google years ago, but even they started giving AI-generated results recently and that’s the last thing I want to see when I search for something.
Exactly what we needed to hear. Yes, taking action is empowering. And effective.
Thank you, as always!
I'm so glad you found it helpful.
Thanks, Anne-Marie. I really need this today!
My pleasure, Stephanie!
Thank you Anne Marie! This was the nudge I needed to pause everything and go cancel Prime. After going in a loop a few times on the app I discovered you can cancel without talking to anyone but the default option is to just wait out the membership until your next annual payment. To get around it I had to request help thorough the chat, get kicked back to the cancel page, then go back to the chat and talk to what I think was a human who understood I was trying to cancel my membership and get a refund for the balance which they were able to process. So all in all it took under 5 mins. Thank you for the helpful reminder to do this TODAY!
Thank you for the info on how to go about getting a refund. That is so helpful. It feels good to dump these guys :)
If you are a public library patron, download Kanopy the free streaming service with no ads. It has a great interface, specifies Oscar Winners and nominees. Want to enlarge your world view, input Love&Sex and watch Japan and Russia, for starters.
Thank you for the addition!
It is possible to not buy from Amazon. We try to get local as much as possible, but being in the middle of the Praries has limitations. What we can't get local; we order via Costco, CT, or directly from vendors on the internet. It's hard because there's not the same level of comfort dealing with new companies online.
My biggest challenge at present is finding a replacement for my Kindle App. I'll check out Hoopla, and I know my local library has a lot of e-book options. I'm trying to cut down on physical books. It's a space issue.
My public library uses the Libby app and has ton of e-books and magazines to check out. I also discovered I could buy a library card from a neighboring county for $40 a year and have access to their e-book collection too! Best money I spend all year! I confess I buy plenty from AMZ (though I'm cutting that way back), but almost never do I buy books.
Both of my libraries offer Hoopla though I find their offerings much more limited than their regular e-book collections.
Thank you very much for the info on the Libby app and the possibility of buying a card from a neighboring county. Good to know!
Amazon is certainly convenient. But you're right, it is possible to shop elsewhere. I stopped when I started working for a small publisher and saw how Amazon was taking over the book world. We were all limited to one Amazon rant per day at the office.
I usually only buy used books, and try to use Thriftbooks to do that. In the past, if I did buy used books on AMZ, I always searched through the used sellers for a Goodwill or other non-profit that is doing the selling.
Thank you for sharing the Amy Tan book. I'm leaning hard into my crazy bird lady phase and will check it out! I've put up five feeders in the last three months and watching them is way better than looking at social media. And I also just discovered there is a local wild bird supply store near me with the nicest folks, and I'm super happy to be able to spend my money there instead of on AMZ.
Oh you will love this book!!! Tan describes her feeders in detail and what she fills them with. And she sketches the little dramas that go on in her yard among the birds (and sometimes other critters). That's great you've found a local wild bird supply store. Small businesses rock!
I've just ordered this book from our local library, really looking forward to reading it....I went on an Amy Tan readathon a few years ago....I nearly always ask for our library to buy books id like to read. Only buy the really essential ones secondhand....often have to wait a long time.
I hope you don't have to wait too long for this one from your library. I really enjoyed it. Amy Tan's drawings are wonderful in it. She's so talented!
Thank you, thank you. This month has been an emotional upheaval; thanks for reminding me of the good things. The important things.
It has certainly been an emotional month, especially the last week (which has felt like a month). I'm glad you found my newsletter helpful.
Great suggestions, thank you!
Thank you for reading!
Done and done. Thank you.
Yay!
Deciding the cancel my prime subscription wasn’t that hard, but deleting my Amazon account completely, losing hundreds of kindle and audible purchases, that was a harder decision. It was the BEST decision and I feel so free. No going back in a moment of justifying how I really needed something. Thank you for all these wonderful actions to show up in new ways.
I love all of this. I had been meaning to oder stickers for our two Teslas. I am so embarrassed to have them. We bought them both used, and they have lots of miles now so not sure we could get much selling them. Anyway, I've just ordered stickers for them from Etsy, inspired by your link. I wonder, does anyone have a suggestion for moving self-published books off of Amazon?
Thank you so much for these clear steps!! I've done almost all of them in some form but am inspired to engage more with local media after reading this. I plan to transition from Google to Ecosia. The challenge will be all of my Google docs... how to transition all of those?!
Bread Labor - I wish you would give grain free recepies. I am off grains and use nut flours instead. They can make great bread. I would love to see foccia bread made with almond or other nut flour, please
This is a wonderful article, it’s so important for people to have tangible things they can do when everything seems so out of control. I am also down for yurt life.
Thank you for the Ecosia rec! I switched to DuckDuckGo to avoid Google years ago, but even they started giving AI-generated results recently and that’s the last thing I want to see when I search for something.
Thanks! I’ve been looking for a good Google replacement recommendation. I’ve done most of those other things already. 🙌🏻