@pricklypearcactus, does your cute local pet food store do curbside? Ours has started doing curbside and free home delivery (which I have not done since they are 5 minutes from our house).

We have been ordering most everything online. My son as well. I’m helping him decorate from afar ( he got a job in Portland).

The whole (little) apartments furnishings were or are about to be ordered online.

MtnRd's chart made me curious, so I went to Amazon to review my own history. 2020 tied with 2015 for my highest # of purchases 35. I was happy to see that most of the things I bought for my household are still in use and several are recommendations from you all.

I try pretty hard to shop local(I guess my user name should Localeverything - LOL). When it is a lot more$ or not available I resort to A.

Read an interesting story in the NYT this AM about a woman who tried to purchase nothing in 2020 while giving away 2020 things. (I apologize I know it will be behind a paywall for some)

@just_terrilynn Congrats to your son! I'm sure you are having fun helping him decorate!!

@Allison0704 Is Target doing curbside?

I changed the title!

Thanks Tina! I am having fun as extreme budget decorating is what I’m better at. My son is very squeaky with his money and wants to pay off his townhome here while working over there.

Amazon

2018 30 orders

2019 124 orders.

2020 184

Love, love, love Amazon! I never cease to be amazed at how they do what they do and how well they do it. More times than I can count I've dreaded going out to hunt down whatever new thing I needed/wanted when I realized Amazon could save the day. More often than not, it took less time to order from Amazon than it would have taken for me to go out and hunt it down.

Did have a funny thing happen yesterday though. An item sent to grandson arrived empty (no damage to packaging, just empty). In mere minutes the matter was resolved and the replacement will arrive Thursday.

A lot of things I ordered were very quotidian like ... light bulbs, microfiber cloths, books, gifts, toiletries, cookware, rug pads, cleaning supplies, a gardening wagon, textbooks, outdoor cushions and pillows, an enclosure for trash cans, oven mitts, dish towels, sheets, pillows, a scale, OTC meds, hairdryer, koi food, dish soap, disposable masks, toner cartridges, coloring books and pencils, a lot of cookie decorating stuff.

Most expensive thing: 2 sets of Airpods

Oddest things:

Bait:

A harp tuner

Funnest thing

2020: 192 orders for me.

@llitm they have excellent customer service!

Oh, I am a lightweight! I only had 106 orders in 2020-- and an additional 80 digital orders. However a number of my orders had large numbers of items and strange combinations!

My purchases are less practical with the exception of toilet bowl cleaner (and lightbulbs i just ordered tonight!).

Lots of small gifts -- including puzzles, paint-by-numbers, coloring books and dinosaur digs from early in the pandemic. My favorite notecards I always keep on hand... and a lot of gift bags (graduations, etc)

Lots of repeats-- lots of gift cards (amazon and otherwise), flying wish papers, Yeti cups, barefoot dreams socks.

8 pairs of shoes (2 boots, 1 running shoe, 3 fitflop sandals and 2 pairs of white keds)

My niece's grad school books

and my beloved Bose headphones -- perhaps the most used item in 2020.

I'm buying the same amount except now I'm ordering groceries for pickup.

@Tina Marie, yes, Target has been doing curbside since early CV19.

I don’t like to shop anymore either, except for cutesy shops when on vacation. Lots of ordering online this year, including groceries for awhile but now DH goes early am when the store is pretty empty.

I remember 20 years ago when Amazon was mostly books and CD’s and if you didn’t order before TG good luck getting it for Christmas. But now—-wow. It’s just so darn convenient it’s hard to beat—-one stop shopping for just about everything under the sun and it’s on your doorstep in a day or two. However, I think it was Ipinkmountain who stated the other day that they don’t treat employees well, so that does give me pause now.

@Allison0704 good to know. I haven’t been in Target since I retired! I would have to drive in to one of the cities.

@Joaniepoanie i have heard that too but my brother worked for them for a period and never had complaints. Who knows?

If you can afford the few dollars extra, please order your books from bookshop.org rather than Amazon, since a portion of their proceeds go to support independent bookstores. Thank you for reading this public service announcement. :-)

Since doing that myself, my Amazon orders have gone down.

2019: 80 orders

2020: 67 orders

I don't do Prime, since things get here very quickly with their regular free shipping option, and I have no desire to send them more money than necessary.

I looked up my history after reading about yours. I've placed 70-ish orders in each of the last three years, but 93 orders in 2020, so about 1/3 more than in a non-COVID year.

@Allison0704 Is Target doing curbside?

Yes, Target does curbside, but only when you order using their app. There is no minimum purchase, and the order is ready in a couple of hours. I have been using it to supplement my regular grocery order, especially when the grocery store is unable to fulfill everything on my list.

I had 28 Amazon orders for 2020 compared to 38 for 2019.

About 95% of my grocery shopping has been pick up. I've had to physically enter the store the other 5%. It almost seems foreign anymore, to actually go inside the grocery store.

My very first A order was in 2018 (a humidifier), then 2 orders in 2020 (another humidifier, TRX exercise system). That’s it for me. During the last few months, I’ve checked it a few times but then found the item cheaper elsewhere.

(Mackenzie Scott, the ex-Mrs. A, has been donating significant money all over the country. Our local Meals on Wheels received $1.5 million. Yay to her!)

I‘ve done 6-8 Target app pickups since March. I’ve only used grocery pickup twice, other weeks I go at 7 am, the store isn’t busy, I use their scan it, bag it, and check your self out app, and I’m outta there in 30 minutes.

Haha, you're winning Sue!

wait, I still have a day and a half! And we can always use light bulbs!

You won't catch up to my 279 orders for 2020, Mtn! :D

HH our covid rates are very high and at this point I do not want to go in the grocery store at all. Good thing my husband is here or I'd almost be a hermit!

I was excitedly thinking “what sweater should I wear today, I’m leaving the house!” I’m only going to the library for a pickup. The only thing anyone will see is my coat, maybe a little of my scarf, pants, & shoes. My sweater choice will be my own little secret, I guess.

🧥🧣👖👢

allison, how'd i miss that?

Man, i lost the Amazon race and the houseplant show. I don't think I'm gonna place in the swimsuit competition, either.

I just ordered new bedroom/bathroom door levers and went from this:

to this:

It IS really interesting to look at Amazon orders through the years. I started in 1998 with 5 orders for books. All children's books about adoption which I couldn't find locally. And some child rearing books. My order numbers jumped up in 2008, probably around the time Prime started. I actually placed less orders in 2020 than in 2019. I didn't see my two adult children in person for Christmas this year, which cut down on Christmas gifts considerably. I baked each their favorite cookies and sent with a check.

I baked each their favorite cookies and sent with a check.

That's a lovely idea

Thanks Mtn... I actually felt very bad for not picking out gifts for them. But we zoomed for almost 2 hours on Christmas morning while they munched on their cookies and laughed over best and worst presents over the years!

I am staying far away from the swimsuit competition!

I just figured out how to get a quick count of my Amazon orders. They jumped significantly in 2017 and I wonder if that's when I joined Amazon Prime and no longer had to hunt around for cheapest shipping. In 2020 I placed 48 orders, compared to 31 in 2019. I ordered things I'd just ordinarily pick up at the store, e.g., bath gel and biotin gummies.

@Allison0704 thanks for the suggestion to check if they have curbside pickup! It looks like they do, but for some reason they aren't showing my dog's food in their new online store for curbside pickup. They seemed to struggle with inventory on this particular brand in the past so maybe they can't consistently offer it online. I may need to give them a call and see if they still carry it.

I'm way behind this year at amazon? 222 in 2018, 185 in 2019, and 118 this year. I'm taking that as a good sign!

@pricklypearcactus you're welcome. I would call to see if available, then do curbside. I'm sure most locally owned places are doing all they can. I started shopping at Hollywood Feed years ago, when it first opened a store in my area. They've expanded quite a bit. I don't know what area you're in, but they have online shopping and shipping. Rates are free over $49, and only $5.95 flat rate for under $49.

I did surprisingly better than I thought with regards to Amazon. Note this does not count Kindle e-books or the very occasional movie rental. I was on and off with my Prime subscription, depending on when they decided to raise prices. Moving up here where shopping is much further away also influenced my Amazon purchasing habits and so I've had Prime for the last few years. I actually started buying from Amazon earlier in the previous decade but figure this is enough for the purposes of this thread.

2011 - 15

2012 - 26

2013 - 31

2014 - 27

2015 - 29

2016 - 36

2017 - 35

2018- 74 (I was now up here in my new rural locale....)

2019 - 103

2020 - 163.

Some of the increase can also be attributed to finding a good brand of organic soy-free chicken feed on Amazon in 2019.

Other shopping - I buy a few splurge T-shirts hither and yon on the Internet. But most clothing I purchase over the last decade from Long Tall Sally, which is also an internet outlet but hey, I'm long and tall. And local stores never could supply me what I need to buy in my size, unless it is a short sleeved top. I order shoes directly from the supplier (online) now that I know the two brands I feel comfortable in. (Yes, I have to wear men's size shoes, and I have a problem with one of my large toes - so I only buy specific men's running shoes). Imelda Marcos I am NOT.

(Gifts to my great nephew down in Florida have always been in this number, he's now 4.5 years old. )

Forgive this interruption, please, but would love to hear more about that EnVy pillow, Allison.

‘I haven’t counted, but am sure my A ordering has been upped 50% this year.

I've owned an enVy pillow about 14 months. DD1 has one also. I love it so much I bought the travel pillow too. I have the Silk + Copper. I purchased extra zippered cases during a BOGO sale. There are two levels to choose from for your neck - located at top and bottom of pillow. I use the lower edge (pillow tag on the right). I keep up with this having the enVy logo that's on the silk pillow case on the upper right corner. Not such a big deal since I've slept on it for awhile now, but in the beginning, I couldn't tell the difference without laying on it awhile. I have slight arthritis in my neck, and started having some issues a few years ago. The website says it's also used for after surgery (face lifts), and some that have filler and/or Botox use. I was skeptical that the side of my face would touch the pillow, but I can easily get my fingers between eye area and pillow.

Our entry into Amazon came late in 2012 with 28 orders that year. This year we are at 201 which is still lower than our high of 236 in 2017. Honestly I would have thought it'd be higher.

Thanks so much for that info, Allison. it’s for gd with joint issues and needs neck support. I looked for it, but unsure best place to find it. Wasn‘t sure if Amazon‘s was the same one.??

Doesn't look like Amazon sells the enVy brand. I bought from their website. I've had other memory foam pillows before this one, and they just don't compare/did not help.

Thanks so much, Ms A😊

Just placing an order and saw I had 96 Amazon orders for 2020. Although I usually order several things at a time, I may not order as much as some here!

Do any of you use Amazon Pantry?

I do not, but I've glanced at it. I have used Whole Foods local delivery via the Amazon website though. We do not like the WF delivery as they have shoppers that pull the order, then it sits before delivery driver picks up, and even though we are spitting distance from WF, they seem to deliver many orders before ours and things are no longer cold. They refunded easily (this happened twice) and now we just don't use.

I haven't had the same experience as Allison with WF. I generally choose the first delivery time of the day. However, I've only used it twice, beginning in the autumn. I would be warier of temperature issues in warm weather.

We do not have Whole Foods in our little area. There is one in a city near me, but it would be a 30-45 minute trip. I really don't need delivery, curbside works great for me (as long as it's local LOL!).

I personally like to shop, and I do not like to shop on line, except as a last resort. My favorite city for shopping was San Francisco, but I like Los Angeles also, although I have to do a lot more driving here, which I definitely do not like.

Since the pandemic, the main thing I was forced to order on line was fabric, and I really prefer going to fabric stores in L.A., but my favorite one is temporarily closed. I also had to buy yeast on line because I could not find it in stores. I also bought some replacement Crocs for the ones I had been wearing that got worn out. I'm very reluctant to buy shoes on line, but I thought Crocs might be safe. However, the new ones I received are not nearly as comfortable as my old ones, even though they look almost identical.

I don't buy food on line, except for dehydrated vegetables.

So back to the enVy pillow. Is this Bryan Cranston in this ad?

https://www.envypillow.com/pages/sleep-wrinkles

@Lars I hear you about the fabric! One of the fabulous bargain chairs I bought off Marketplace needs new upholstery (the back and seat are upholstered and it has a short skirt - gorgeous carved wood arms and legs). I've been ordering samples from online fabric stores but am still waiting on a few. IT. IS. SO. SLOW!!! I've bought fabric online before for home dec projects and while I wouldn't mind looking around in a fabric store, we only have one really good one in the area and of course I won't be going there during this pandemic. Oh my, my little area would seem another world to San Francisco or Los Angeles!!

I don't buy food online either. I've bought a few items from Amazon Pantry but not actual food. Closest thing is the cappuccino mix I used to use. I finally weaned myself off it (too much sugar). But I love placing a local grocery order online. I miss my produce market though - closed till March!