How to Check Your Amazon Yearly Spending
Learn to track your annual Amazon purchases. Uncover your spending patterns to better manage your finances.
Understanding your spending habits is a fundamental aspect of personal financial management. For many, a significant portion of their annual expenditures occurs through online retailers like Amazon. Tracking these purchases provides valuable insights for budgeting, tax preparation, and understanding your annual expenditures. This guide explains how to access and understand your Amazon spending data.
Navigating to Your Amazon Order History
Initiating your review of Amazon spending begins by accessing your account’s order history. First, log into your Amazon account using a web browser, which offers more comprehensive features than the mobile application. Once logged in, locate the “Accounts & Lists” menu, typically found in the top right corner of the homepage. Hovering over this option will reveal a dropdown menu.
From the dropdown, select “Your Orders” to be directed to a page displaying your recent purchases. This page presents a chronological list of your orders, detailing individual items, order dates, and statuses. To focus on a specific period, such as a fiscal year, utilize the date filter options available on this page. You can often select a pre-defined range like “Last Year” or choose a custom date range to view all orders within your desired timeframe. This initial view provides a direct record of your transactions.
Using the Data Request Tool for a Consolidated Report
While Amazon previously offered a direct “Order History Report” tool for immediate CSV downloads, this feature was discontinued around March 2023. Users now need to utilize Amazon’s “Request My Data” tool to obtain a comprehensive spending report. To access this, navigate to your “Account & Lists” section and look for options related to “Manage Your Data” or “Request Your Data”.
Within the “Request Your Data” section, you will typically find categories of data you can request; select “Your Orders”. After submitting this request, Amazon will send a confirmation email to your registered address. You will need to click a link within this email to verify your request. Following verification, Amazon processes your data, which can take hours to a month. They will then send another email with a download link to your order history report in CSV (Comma Separated Values) format. This CSV file contains detailed information about each order, including order date, item description, unit price, quantity, and total order value, allowing for detailed analysis.
Interpreting Your Spending Overview
The CSV report downloaded from the “Request My Data” tool provides a detailed breakdown of your Amazon purchases. This data typically includes the total purchase price for each order, encompassing item costs, shipping fees, and applicable sales taxes paid. For a comprehensive understanding of your yearly spending, you can sum the total order values for the desired period using a spreadsheet program like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets, which are compatible with CSV files.
The report generally reflects gross spending and may not automatically account for returns or refunds; these would need to be tracked separately or cross-referenced with your financial statements. Similarly, the report focuses on direct purchases, so the impact of gift card purchases versus their redemption, or certain digital content subscriptions not tied to a specific order, might require additional review. This consolidated data aids personal budgeting, helping identify spending patterns, categorize expenses, and inform financial decisions. It can also be useful for tax purposes if purchases relate to business expenses or deductible items.