I’ve been playing with the idea of owning a Kindle for over a year now. I vacillated between thinking it would be a helpful addition to my life and thinking it was too much for what it adds ($80). Currently I read on my phone or computer depending on where I am. I prefer actual books, but find them unrealistic to bring on a lot of travels. I also love the wonder of library eBooks that allow me to read anything without leaving my home (Laziness FTW?)
So I decided to wait to buy a Kindle until I was closer to retirement. The ROI of a Kindle would make more sense when I’m planning to travel heavily and won’t be able to rely on airplane or airport outlets. I shouldn’t be reading on my phone when I need that phone to navigate or communicate in a new country. I had a similar thought about my computer. I try to be very conservative with these resources when I don’t know when I can top them up.
I identified the best times to buy a Kindle to receive a discounted price, which was Prime Day and Black Monday. I marked these on my calendar so I could re-evaluate them when they arrived. All this planning was thrown out the window today. I bought a Kindle. It’s ahead of schedule and was 50% off. The original price is $80 and Amazon for 48 hours is celebrating the Kindle’s 10th anniversary by discounting all of them up to $30 off – even refurbished models. So I bought a refurbished Kindle for $40, which is less than it would have been on Prime Day or Black Monday.
I will be able to read my library books, my PDFs at the beach instead of on my phone by squinting in the blinding sun. I hope that it lasts until retirement so I can also use it for its original purpose. Let’s do this!
UPDATE: Apparently “certified refurbished” products from Amazon mean broken. I’m now on my THIRD refurbished Kindle because none of them can hold a charge – like this product that’s supposed to keep a charge for MONTHS can’t last HOURS even without me USING it. It’s insanity. This might have been a useless purchase and if this 3rd attempt doesn’t work I’m getting my money back. I’ve already wasted hours and hours troubleshooting and talking to Amazon support who suggested I get a refund and then BUY A NEW KINDLE which is DOUBLE the price – HA! Hilarious. I’ll keep you posted.
UPDATE II: I returned the “certified refurbished” Kindle and got my money back. Then recently I was looking into what I could do with some United Miles that were about to expire and weren’t enough to get me a free flight anywhere. One option was to get gift cards to places such as Amazon and Chipotle. I got both. Those United Miles I was going to let expire combined with a few Amazon Gift Cards I’ve received from work allowed me to buy a new Kindle Paperwhite (not the base model I bought refurbished before). My partner had bought one a few months before this and his held a charge perfectly so I was confident mine would too. I was right! It works and I paid only the taxes for the device ($10). Win win!