I am very into technology, so naturally, when a new tech product comes out I want to be one of the first to get my hands on it. The economy has made that challenging, especially since I have a lot of essential products I have to purchase on a regular basis, so I have been trying to save money more than usual in order to afford new tech products. Here is how I plan on saving for a Kindle Fire, which is the newest tech product that I want to add to my collection, on top of paying bills, and buying food for my household.
Backstory
As soon as I heard that Amazon was coming out with a Kindle Fire, I was excited to get my hands on it. The Kindle Fire is like the cheaper competitor of the Apple iPad tablet, which is also a tech product that I wanted to buy, but could never afford the $500 pricetag. For me, the Kindle Fire was like the best alternative to the iPad, especially since I have bought a lot of products that Amazon has designed, and have never had an issue with quality, price, or durability. I bought an Apple iPod Touch fourth generation in June 2011, and loved the purchase, especially how compact it was, and that I could carry it around everywhere. I figured that buying a Kindle Fire would be even better, since it would allow me to watch movies and videos, while also being lightweight.
Saving Money
My quest for saving money to purchase the Kindle Fire started in October, and I have a little different way than most people for saving money. I have been participating in various online surveys for colleges, which is normally run through a website called Sona Systems. These surveys are about 10 to 20 minutes in length, cover a variety of topics, and I am entered into a drawing for an Amazon gift certificate. Some of these surveys are for a guaranteed Amazon gift certificate, usually $5 or $10, and then there are drawings for $25 or $50 ones as well. I have been doing these surveys since 2009, have accrued over $3,000 in Amazon gift certificates, and it has allowed me to buy a lot of products I would not be able to afford otherwise. So I began saving my Amazon certificates, buying only products I needed from the website, and have begun to get a nice start on the $200 Kindle Fire. I also work a lot on Amazon Mechanical Turk, which is where you can do a variety of tasks, which range in pay from $1 to $5 for each task. Essentially, doing these surveys allow me to save my actual money, get paid in Amazon gift certificates, which I then save until I have enough to buy something I want. I have only been using my Amazon money to purchase cat medications, vitamins, and other household items I need all of the time, which are much cheaper than buying in the store. Sometimes I win $40 each month, each week, or just end up with the money I made off of Amazon Mechanical Turk for the month, so it is a gamble.
Determination
Since I have been doing these surveys, I have become determined more than ever to save money, in order to get something I want. For the Amazon Kindle Fire, saving $200 is nothing compared to other times I have saved up for tech products, such as a $500 laptop computer for my boyfriend. The main thing for me is just keeping my eye on the prize, which is easy to do considering the Amazon Kindle Fire is on the front page of the website, and it is a constant reminder of what I want to purchase. It really helps me doing these college surveys for Amazon gift certificates, since I do not usually have to spend any of my own money, so it is similar to getting products for free in my opinion. I do the work on the surveys, which are mostly opinion based, and it takes me less than 20 minutes for each one, so it is really easy for me.