Just a quick reminder in case you're feeling "influenced" to buy anything for Amazon Prime days (or WalMart or Target's competing sales days)...

If you're like me, every other ad in your feed right now is for an "article" listing the "35 best [fill in the blanks] on sale for Prime Day!"

Lifehacker and Wired, two media outlets I follow organically on Facebook, are also posting many listicles with these same types of titles.

They do this because they are Amazon affiliates. And if you think about it, the ones who are running ads to their listicles are betting that they will make enough MORE money from their affiliate revenue than they will spend on ads that it makes sense to advertise.

Second, Amazon manipulates prices all the ding dang time, but especially for Prime Day sales. So your "deal" may not actually be that great of a deal, it may just be hype. Be sure to check the actual percentage you're saving to determine if it's actually a good deal.

Producers are strong-armed into participating in these sales events, with the tacit threat that if they don’t, their competitors may take their customers. Large companies can absorb the discounts, but small businesses may be coerced into offering their products with little-to-no profit margin, even at cost.

Worse still, Amazon often uses these events to test the demand for products, and then knock-off the bestselling ones under their own generic Amazon brand — undercutting the small business merchants and stealing their market share.

Third, Amazon (and Target, and WalMart) are not good corporate citizens. They don't pay their fair share of tax, they abuse their workers, they engage in union busting activities, AND they chronically underpay their labor force — so much so that the rest of us end up subsidizing their workforce with taxpayer-funded safety net programs like SNAP, Medicaid, and more, when we wouldn't have to do so if these corporations paid a fair wage and benefits.

Please don't get me wrong: I understand that choosing to use or not use Amazon (and WalMart and Target) is a nuanced issue. For some people, especially in rural areas, they have very limited options. For others, Amazon may be the only way or the least expensive way to receive much needed supplies. I'm not demonizing anyone who has to (or chooses to) use these services for legitimate reasons.

Finally, I would ask you to consider whether you really even need those products in the first place?

I’m the sort of person that waits until the whites sale to buy new sheets, or who might wait until Black Friday to buy that appliance I’ve had my eye on. But it’s been years since I went out and just shopped on Black Friday; why would I do the same thing from my computer for an Amazon sale?

It’s so easy to be influenced to buy this or that thing. It’s a dopamine hit when you put it in the cart and another when the package arrives on your doorstep.

But every purchase we make is something we’re trading for our time — both the time it took to earn the money to pay for it, and the time it will take to use and maintain the thing.

That Ninja Cremi I’ve had my eye on? It’s mostly because I’ve seen people sharing recipes for it that look good and fun. But the truth is, I have a perfectly serviceable Kitchen Aid ice cream maker bowl that fits on my mixer. It may not do everything the Cremi does, but does it do everything I need it to do? Absolutely.

And the more often I use it, the less “expensive” it becomes. When you calculate the “per use” cost of an item, the more and longer you use it, the less expensive it is per use.

All this to say: I’ve de-influenced myself from buying a Cremi.

And maybe I’ve de-influenced you from buying something you don’t need and supporting a corporation you don’t really want to support.