My Amazon Transaction Report Exposed the Real Reasons I Buy Things

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]Welcome to Travels with Doie. You know, I just pulled my 2025 Amazon order history and I found something I wasn't expecting.

[00:00:12]I thought I was going to find a bunch of random purchases.

[00:00:17]But that's not really what I found. What I found was a pattern. I wasn't mostly buying junk.

[00:00:26]I was buying better versions of myself, a better creator, a better setup guy, a better off grid off-rid guy, solar guy, a more prepared guy.

[00:00:43]That is a much more expensive problem because once I looked at the spreadsheet, I could see that a lot of my spending didn't come from league. It came from thinking errors, thinking mistakes, little traps in my own head. And the uncomfortable part of this is most of these purchases made perfect sense to me at the time.

[00:01:09]And that's what makes it worth talking about in a video. So, in this video, I'm going to walk through some of the purchases I made, the purchase sites I almost made, and the faking traps that made them feel so reasonable at the time. This isn't about saying I'm foolish. I'm not. I'm human. It's about admitting that I'm vulnerable. And if I'm vulnerable to do this, maybe some of you are, too.

[00:01:47]Well, yep. It's going to be confession time today. I really wanted to share this vulnerability with you because it's it's really opened my eyes and um if I can help other people avoid the kind of mistakes that I've been making, um I feel pretty good about that. I'm embarrassed to tell you the total amount of Amazon purchases I made last year, but keep in mind I revamped my whole solar system, so it was in the thousands of dollars, but um certainly solar wasn't anywhere.

[00:02:23]It wasn't all of it. It wasn't even over 50%.

[00:02:26]The just the individual small purposes purchases weren't really the point. It was as I'm making these decisions, I thought it was supporting what I was becoming or what did I what I needed to be without really a pause button without meaning I didn't really think it through think about the assumptions I was making. Now the good news is sometimes there's evidence in that spreadsheet and this is a spreadsheet anyone can get from Amazon to you can get your lifetime purchases.

[00:03:00]Trust me, you don't want to do that unless you really are prepared to shock yourself. But I get it every year for my taxes and I go through there and looking looking for anything that's taxdeductible.

[00:03:12]I did part of the good news is there were cancellations in there. So there there are there are moments where I I do think and catch myself before it's too late. It's really hard to resist the oneclick convenience of Amazon.

[00:03:29]You know, back in the old days, we had to go get in the car, drive to the mall, get out, walk in the mall, find the store, look in the store, look at the stuff, hold it. You have lots of time to think before you pull that trigger. Even you might have to stand in line to check out to pay for it. That gives you even more time to think.

[00:03:49]Spoiler alert, that didn't always work for me anyway.

[00:03:54]I was I I was an impulse buyer long before Amazon. So, I can't really drain I can't blame it on that. But it does make it easier. Facebook ads for things and YouTube ads for things and videos about new things where boy, this looks great. They just click here and you can have it delivered in a couple days. If you're in a big city, sometimes it's even the same day in some big cities, if not just everything on the next day. But once I really sat back and think and and said, "Okay, I need to figure out what's going on here. This is a lot of money I spent and am I making mistakes?" And I found out there I've discovered several categories of mistakes. The first is what I'd call identity buying. It's not so much just something that I want. I think it's something that's going to in some way change or enhance my identity. My identity as a YouTuber, my identity as a counselor, my identity as a Rver. Um, that kind of thing. Buying more gear. If you've been following me, many many of you has stated in the comments and I'm sure many more have stated in the privacy of living room that guy buys a lot of stuff. That guy buys a lot of tech. He buys a lot of cameras and he buys gadgets like you won't believe.

[00:05:28]He that that guy Martha that guy there he burns through some money RV stuff and being prepared and having solar and water filters and storing food and stuff. I want to be more the prepared guy and it serves that identity. Now I'm not saying all this is bad. I'm just saying what's the understanding the underlying motivation identity buying can also lead to add-on purchases for me and I've seen that examples of that in this data where I maybe have one big purchase and then I add on to it. I do little enhancement purchases. You know, we've all done this. You buy the cell phone. Hey, I need a nice case for that.

[00:06:16]I need a screen protector for that. I need a stand for it. I need a bigger charger, you know, and you can easily pile have a big expense and then pile accessories onto it. I'm I'm definitely vulnerable to that. I bought a MetaQuest 3. What is that? It's one of those big VR things.

[00:06:35]You know what?

[00:06:38]I'm going to show you what I'm talking about that not everybody understands.

[00:06:42]I'm going to show you this big purchase that's been in the back of my closet that you know it's coming right when I blew the dust off of it.

[00:07:01]Comes in a nice case.

[00:07:16]Now, do you know what this is? Virtual reality. I've got controllers here and everything. And number one, this backstrap and the battery on top and stuff was not part of the original purchase. This all this here, here, and here is an add-on.

[00:07:38]And what do you do with this thing? You can play games. Um, the thing that I use mostly for is you can put this thing on and suddenly have like a movie screen in front of you. Very, really good sound.

[00:07:51]The add-on thing blows a little breeze on my bald head, it's great.

[00:08:00]But between the cost of that and the cost of the accessories, the add-ons, because I wanted to be identity, I want to be a guy that's into VR, virtual reality, right? Tap the screen for a second. I want I want it to stop moving when I move.

[00:08:19]Um, I wanted to be a VR guy, and a VR guy needs VR equipment, and I did that.

[00:08:28]Um, how often you can tell it's got dust on it, right? It it and the little bit of butt was is it's still kind of fun, but it's a novelty. I hardly ever take it out.

[00:08:48]And you know what? If I left it in the closet and forgot to take it with me to Eagle Nest for the summer, it wouldn't really bother me a bit.

[00:08:56]That's a big clue.

[00:08:59]Um, so this is a good example of this identity purchase. The p the the initial purchase is sort of the entry into the world.

[00:09:12]In this case, it's the tech VR world and sub subsequent purchases start to feel necessary, you know. Um, I talked to a friend of mine that got into GMRS radios and he started with one radio um, that cost about $99 and he got into it and got excited about it, got involved in the community, uh, the the the radio community and just was it was a hobby for him and he's got like seven radios now.

[00:09:50]Does he use seven radios? I I think not.

[00:09:58]So I have to be, you know, before I make these big purchases, how important is this identity to me?

[00:10:07]And how confident am I that I this new denity, this new identity, this little slice of me is something that I really want, you know, really thrive in. And I can't tell you whether, you know, if someone sat and questioned me before I made that purchase, would it have talked me out of doing it?

[00:10:31]I'm not sure. I'm not sure. That's I'm learning here. Um, the second trap is I'm going to call it the completion trap.

[00:10:49]Um, the completion trap is when I buy something that seems like it's going to be really productive for me, but it avoids maybe doing the real work of something that I need to do.

[00:11:19]Um, so some examples of that are fans a fancy mouse, a portable 4K monitor for that you can use for laptops or other computers. um all sorts of little computer accessories and parts and upgrades that these things feel like they're productive, but they're just components.

[00:11:44]They're not real productivity, right? And in many of these things on my list, when I ask the question or answer the question honestly, did these upgrades increase my productivity is no.

[00:11:58]They were almost all overkill. in something once I implemented them, they weren't noticeable at all and they weren't really being productive for me at all.

[00:12:11]They were giving me the feeling of being productive because I was buying the the the computer stuff that was going to make me a great editor, a great videographer or video YouTube guy. But so much of it really when it came down to it didn't really make any difference.

[00:12:30]Getting ready to be productive makes me feel productive, but it doesn't produce on its own.

[00:12:39]Wow. It's kind of a stunner for me to realize that.

[00:12:45]The third thinking trap I'm going to call productivity theater. How's that?

[00:12:55]That's when a product promises to fix a discomfort or problem that I have and it doesn't.

[00:13:05]And it's an it's it's an error when um I'm not seeing that it's unreasonable.

[00:13:13]The expectations are unreasonable.

[00:13:16]um health and comfort, health products, over-the-counter products that this is going to make you think clearer, this is going to um uh you know, make you eat less. It's going to get you to lose weight. You you know where I'm going with all this stuff. Or take this pill, this vitamin every day, and you don't need to worry about your vegetables. Or this drink once a day. Don't worry about vegetables. It's green. you drink this and you're good for the rest of your life. Um, and you know, these things have varying degrees of credibility and um, so often I'm not really jumping into make a determination on how credible these solutions are. Um, another one is a cleaning product that is a has some sort of magic solution for a problem. I must have spent $40 on cleaning products because I had in my shower in my RV some I had stuff called castle soap that stained the plastic and I can't get that stain off there and I bought a ton of different things promising that that that it'll treat any stain it's still stained and I'm like 40 bucks poorer for it. When I'm f when I'm frustrated, tired, or bored, that's when I'm really susceptible to these instant click solutions to my problems. And that was a recurring theme in the list of things I was buying over and over again.

[00:14:47]Some of these products are legitimate and some of these products are designed and deliver on providing relief and comfort.

[00:14:58]So there is value there, but there's also for I think personal opinion, wild yes, for every decent product that delivers what they promise, there's 10 others that promise and don't deliver.

[00:15:13]And often I'm not responding to what the the the reasonable expectations of the product is. I'm responding to some maybe some some slick marketing. That's certainly the stuff the pitches you see on Facebook and the testimonials and YouTube can be pretty convincing. The next one is social proof blindness.

[00:15:41]What can't I see?

[00:15:43]Um when I see that enough other people think something is good, then I pretty quick to jump on the bandwag.

[00:15:51]What's a big one? Amazon reviews. Hey, this is 4.5 stars. This is 4.8 stars.

[00:15:57]Look at all those five star ratings.

[00:16:01]It must deliver what it's promising.

[00:16:04]Well, some of these are true.

[00:16:08]Some products have legitimate reviews.

[00:16:12]Others have fake reviews. And it's it's it's hard to to draw a distinction between the two. But also these like I'm talking about people getting on camera doing um uh uh product testing and endorsement and marketing and these here are the five best vacuum cleaners ranked worst to best and we're assuming they're unbiased there. We're assuming that the one they're rating number one isn't some company that's paying them. But sometimes it is. But I naturally think well if it's a review if if it's a this guy seems like a pretty guy or per person seems like a very straightforward guy. I trust them and I'm sometimes I'm being manipulated. Now again I can't stress enough as I go through all this.

[00:17:06]There are legitimate people on YouTube that do real reviews. They don't take a penny from anyone and they give you valuable information.

[00:17:16]But if you don't have a reason to trust them, how do you know which ones are pushing you in a direction versus the ones that are genuinely educating you?

[00:17:27]So at some point I have to accept the fact that a far five-star rating is not the same thing as wisdom.

[00:17:36]Who knew?

[00:17:38]So, let's look kind of at the broader marketplace and look at because I'm 66, I tend to focus on things that we older people are vulnerable to. And it's not that seniors are helpless. There's statistics that show that seniors are more skeptical and less likely on average to fall for things than younger people. I bet you didn't know that, but I think that that's true.

[00:18:11]Um, so there's some stats here that I found.

[00:18:16]The FTC reported that in 2025 nearly 30% of people who reported losing to money scam said it started on social media with 2.1 billion with a B in reported losses.

[00:18:31]Shopping scams are the most reported social media scam and investment scams cause the largest dollar losses.

[00:18:41]And there's no doubt about this. The internet and technology has found a way to show me what I want to see. It senses from my behavior what I crave and it delivers that to me very subtly.

[00:18:59]What looks like an accident in happen stance.

[00:19:04]Wow, this is exactly the product I was dreaming existed and it's right here in front of me. And some of that's not a coincidence. In fact, most of it's not a coincidence. These social media companies and everything, you know, they're gathering information on you and companies gathering information on consumers um to better present sell to them is not a a new thing. It's gotten more sophisticated, but as long as there's been business people and consumers, that dynamic has been present. That's not new. So again, um, if I stop and think that when I'm seeing things, especially online, that seem to meet my uncannily meet my needs, then I need to start being suspicious.

[00:19:57]However, good news is some of the purchases I made were not mistakes. That was bound to happen. I was bound to make some smart decisions. Um the the first one is if you look up here in the wall here that's a mini split up there. That's a mini split. What that that the total cost of that is not on Hang on. The total cost of that is not on um sorry the camera. What happened to my camera?

[00:20:30]Okay.

[00:20:32]Because the cost of it was about $600 for that. But then I had to pay another $1,400 to an HVAC guy and an electrician to install it. So that was a $2,000 investment. And you know, 1400 of it doesn't show up in my Amazon purchases.

[00:20:49]But that's a big investment, right? And boy has it paid off. It it it um keeps my environment here in the cassita on the hottest days very comfortable for a low draw of electricity. It's efficient.

[00:21:04]Um, and it it really it it gives me a sense of satisfaction and being prepared for, hey, if if I'm here when it's really hot and this week it's going to be close to 100 about five or six days in a row and it gets even worse here if I'm here in the summer that you know being prepared and having all those solar thing that some people may say that's a bit extravagant. How much money are you really saving? But if the grid goes down for a day or even a few hours on a really hot day, I'm going to be pretty happy I have my solar system in that because I'm not going to have a moments of discomfort.

[00:21:42]So, that was a good thing. Um, this uh I have a vacuum cleaner back there um that this is that vacuum cleaner. Well, it takes a little explanation. It's a really great purchase for me that's done really well. It's also about the fourth one I've bought in the past two years.

[00:22:02]So, it cost I made three mistakes before I finally bought one that really worked for me. So, sometimes it takes not just research. It should in a perfect world research would have gotten me there first, but I had to make mistakes. Now, let's talk about the waste of that for a minute. I redeem myself to myself by doing this.

[00:22:25]When I upgrade something and I decide this thing isn't working, I'm replacing it. I take the thing that wasn't working for me. It's still functional. If it's not functional, I throw it away. If it's still functional, I give it away. Every community I am, there's a place to donate things like giveaway tables. I do that on the regular. I just upgraded my air fryer and the first thing I did was went to a giveaway table for my small air fryer was perfectly functional and someone that maybe couldn't afford to buy a nice one or one at all got one for free and I'm sure they were absolutely thrilled. So the waste when I make bad decisions isn't a total loss, right? I can make up for um some bad decisions by um passing along to others. And I've done that quite frequently and I feel pretty good about it.

[00:23:25]Um this dining room table, this thing, um it's I bought it on um an Amazon and I'm sure it's not really wood. sure it's kind it's feels solid but it's probably particle board but um it rotates out to double in size and it's a great surface for working on things like my laptop hobby and I can double the size of it and I've had friends over for dinner. It's been a great investment and it wasn't I could have spent you know what can you spend on a table for that? You could spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars and I think this was not much.

[00:24:14]It was definitely under $200. I don't remember how much but it was under $200.

[00:24:20]Um these RV expenses that I buy I install and they're functional and they work.

[00:24:31]good purchases. RV things that I buy and I use and I'm like, "This isn't worth it." And they go in a storage compartment.

[00:24:41]Well, if I'm smart, those things end up on the giveaway table, too. And many, many, many things that I bought for my RV and my truck that I thought were just brilliant purchases end up on the giveaway table because they they're sometimes they even solve a problem that I don't really have and sometimes I have a problem that I think will be solved by a thing and the problem's not solved at all or I overengineer or, you know, try to um solve a problem with throwing a lot of money at it. Here's a good example.

[00:25:22]Um I don't have a um a picture of it here, but what made me think of it is if you look at my chair, this is a nice chair I bought on sale um not on Amazon, but like at Office Depot. And there's a really nice lumbar support. I can feel the pressure on my lower back here. And I can sit in hours in this chair and be comfortable. Unlike when I was driving on the road driving my F-150, my back was killing me.

[00:25:54]And there's like electric massagers and all kinds of fancy things. And I ended up buying this lumbar pad for probably $10 that I've been using for years that just kind of hooks on straps on my seat and it's a little cushion where my lumbar is. Problem solved for 10 bucks.

[00:26:16]But I could have spent hundreds, right?

[00:26:18]Pet care. I don't think I have ever spent a dime on uh George and Daddy that um I regret. Um and it it's usually um surrounding their comfort and their health. So I I consider that money well spent. Um and I bought a couple toys for George. And George is George There's George. George is not into toys, just not into it. So, I've wasted a little bit of money on toys, but there was zero money wasted on catnip because George loves catnip. It isn't whether something is expensive or cost money. Is it a credible solution to a real problem that I have in my life? And I don't take enough time to really explore that and answer that question before I fire one of these off. It's my mouse.

[00:27:18]Click. Bought delivery on Wednesday. 10 questions. Now, I'm going to be asking myself. I wrote them down. Number one, and these are not these are things to consider when I make a purchase. One, did I search for this or did it find me?

[00:27:35]You know what I'm talking about there.

[00:27:36]Two, do I need the item or am I looking for the feeling that the item gives me?

[00:27:44]Boo. Well, if I buy this kind of filter for survivor, does it really solve a problem and do something or does it make me feel like I'm smart?

[00:27:57]I bought one of these. Number three is what problem does it solve today? Does it solve a problem today? Or am I buying something in anticipation of problems?

[00:28:07]And you know, that's a big part of what I do, being all prepared, having the stockpile of um non-p perishable food, um water filters, a solar system. A lot of that is to solve a problem that not only has not happened yet, but may not ever happen. And I need but if I'm consider that doesn't mean don't do it, it means think about that.

[00:28:34]Think about that and weigh is it worth it for this extra thing to solve a problem in the future that may or may not occur. The next one is um what else will I have to buy after this? What accessories am I going to be tempted to buy?

[00:28:53]And I I could go on and on about the rabbit hole I went down buying switching from Windows to Mac and Windows to Apple and buying all the a laptop and an Apple desktop and a monitor and mouse and keyboard and it went on and on. Extra memory and upgrading this and upgrading that.

[00:29:16]It was it it was pretty endless. What would I still Would I still buy it after 72 hours? You know what?

[00:29:25]The only way to answer that question is to wait 72 hours. And unless it's a really big purchase, this cat's not waiting 72 hours. But at least I can think about it. I can maybe take a minute to think, do I think I'll still want this a few days from now? And if I want it bad enough now, I'll probably rationalize that. So, I don't know how useful that that little question is. If I'm solving a problem, do I already own something that can solve 80% of the problem? Good example from this morning. Um, I'm rearranging how things are in my kitchen. And one of the things I'm doing is I have a um my TV sits on one of those um it's not a stand but a mount that's mounted to the wall and it comes out and it moves back and forth but it's over the counter and you know I can slide it aside to get counter space and then slide it back when I'm done. Um, but I decided, you know, it'd be much better if I could just take that mount off and mount it up higher and, you know, tilt it down and and have everything be clear in the counter. It's just I the only time I'd have to move it out of the way is to get into one of the cabinets and that would be not be a big deal.

[00:30:51]Well, do I have something that could do 80% of that? What about just moving the mount?

[00:30:57]And I really thought that was going to work until I tried it and I realized that um it would move back and forth, but it wouldn't tilt. So, one, the viewing angle would be um not ideal. But more important than that, once the mount's there and you go to put the TV on it, there's not enough clearance to It's hard to explain, but there needs to be enough clearance to set the TV onto the mount, and you can't do it. You have to mount it and then sort of hold the thing whole thing up while you're screwing it in. That's that's no good. And besides, I want to be able to take the TV off the mount on travel days because I don't want it ex those forces being exerted on it and put the TV itself on the bed, especially since I invested in a really good Sony TV for the trailer. So, I did investigate it and it would not do 80%. So, I had to buy a new mount. It was only $20. Incidentally, it's being delivered tomorrow. So, that's a good example of that.

[00:32:04]Um, is this part of a real project or is this part of a fantasy project?

[00:32:15]Yikes.

[00:32:19]Let me tell you about recent purchases that easily it could have been a fantasy and not a reality. That is what I've been talking about. Buying these used laptops and fixing them up.

[00:32:33]Am I capable of getting really enthusiastic at the thought of something? Then when it comes down to the work, actually do it. I rationalize not doing it. That would be an example of um me spending money to do this um this plan or project and then when it after I spent the money and got down to it, I'm not as interested and thought it's too much work. But in this case, that didn't happen. It actually the opposite happened. the I'm more into um this process of um in this hobby than I thought. And on top of that, I'm get the later this week I'm getting another one delivered that if it pans out and when we don't know if I'm able to get it working properly, I could theoretically sell something for $1,700 that I paid like $600 for. That's pretty wild. I got, you know, it was like the fifth one I did and it's it's it's a good one, but there's a caveat. It may not be working properly and it may or may not be fixable, but we'll see. But anyway, that's an example of it could have been a fantasy. It wasn't. It was a real hobby. Might have gotten lucky there. Um, and this has come up before and it's just am I um uh I I I heard this years ago. Ask yourself of your halt.

[00:34:02]Are you hungry, angry, lonely, or tired?

[00:34:07]That's an acronym. Halt. Hungry, angry, lonely, and tired. And it and it had to do with my decision to before I eat that piece of cake or that cheeseburger um are all how many of these things are true and what problem is that cheeseburger solving? If it's just solving hunger, it's probably good. But if it's also or solving angry, lonely or tired, then it's they they call that emotional eating, right? And buying is the same is the same way. So halt Um, and I am so do I so do this. If I want to believe a product is great, I'm going to believe those reviews. I'm going to believe they're all genu genuine. When I know intellectually a lot of companies have paid reviewers and they stack those reviews with positive reviews on crappy stuff. And just the other day I explained how eBay does that to absolutely cheat in all the reviews you're reading are not about the product you think they are. they're about a different product and they've cheated the system to cheat you to treat cheat me.

[00:35:31]And it's a powerful thing when I want to see something and I see something that looks like what I want to see.

[00:35:40]It's hard to step back and go, "Okay, is this real? Come on, let's let's dig in a little deeper before we pull this out of our holster and pull the trigger."

[00:35:52]And the 10th one is how much do I care about what other people think of what I'm buying? I mean, how much does that factor into it at all?

[00:36:07]You know, and and I think for a lot of us, and certainly it used to be when I was in the working world, I would make clothing decisions that way. Not what I really is it comfortable, do I like it, but do other people like it? Especially when I was in the business world and an executive with Neiman Marcus, spending even with my discount, insane amounts of money on designer clothing that I didn't really care about, but I cared that people knew that I was wearing Armani.

[00:36:37]I'm not I didn't make this video because I've solved this problem. I made this video because I saw this problem and I've created an awareness in myself. Am I going to suddenly become the a disciplined, educated consumer in this time next year when I pull my 2026 Amazon purchases that's going to look perfect? Absolutely not. Absolutely. Am I going to never do any emotional buying of stuff?

[00:37:05]That's crazy. That's crazy talk. Of course I am. But can I make improvements? And because I have this awareness, do I have a better chance of making better decisions? And I think the answer to that is yes. Before we go, let let me ask you this.

[00:37:22]Do you have purchases that you regret making and you think back and you go, "Oh, these are the mistakes that I made when I bought this thing." And if you're willing to share that in the comments, I think that would be awesome. Um, so I'm not the I I I don't want to feel like I'm the only one out there.

[00:37:42]Anyway, I'm really happy that you joined me for this video and um when am I going to see you again? Oh, wait a minute.

[00:37:50]Wait a minute.

[00:37:55]There's a dog. And oh, I got to do this.

[00:37:58]I'm going to have to take it off the mount because George is This is George's little safety perch. Hey, George. Kitty kitty kitty. Hey, George. You see there's a little food dish. Zodati cannot get at George's food. And George has this little kind of this little This is an Amazon purchase. The little TV tray. And here I bought that TV tray because I envisioned using it to eat dinner sitting at my uh in the trailer on my recliner. And it never worked for that for me. I I hated it. But look, I found a great use for it. And it's been that way for years. And there's Daddy on Dy's thousand dollar couch.

[00:38:47]So, sorry about that. When am I going to see you again? I'm going to see you again tomorrow.