Living in rural Vermont, our shopping experiences are limited. Not only do we not have a vast assortment of retailers in the area, but a trip to the store is an excursion. Our small town does have a small general store that serves us in a pinch when we run out of a staple item like bread or milk, but the nearest large grocery store is 14 miles away and the nearest department store (a small Walmart) is 15 miles away. Given the distance, and limited choices with local shopping, I find that I do a majority of my shopping online. For the most part, my "go to place" is Amazon.com.
There are many features of Amazon.com that I love. I love the vast selection, the customer reviews, and the ease of placing an order and having it delivered to my door. I pay special attention to prices though. If there's a particular item that I know is available locally for a lesser price I'm willing to forego the instant gratification of buying online, and visit the brick and mortar store in the area to make the purchase.
Beyond the listed prices, Amazon offers a number of different ways to save you money when shopping through their site.
Amazon Prime: Amazon Prime is a paid membership program. The cost of Amazon Prime membership is $79 a year. At first, this cost deterred me, but after having Prime for the past few months, I'm convinced that it's well worth the upfront cost. This membership entitles you to free two-day shipping on Prime eligible items (you can refine your Amazon searches to only show Prime eligible items), as well as Prime Instant Video, and access to the Kindle Owner's Lending Library.
There are a number of movies, television shows, and other videos available on Prime Instant Video, all of which are free for you to view with Prime Membership. My family has enjoyed countless free movies this way, providing us with hours of quality family time on rainy evenings.
If you own a Kindle, the Kindle Owner's Lending Library is an amazing deal. While there are already a multitude of free books available for the Kindle, the Lending Library offers you the option of borrowing an e-book for free every month! These books are more mainstream than many of the other free books available for Kindle. Books like "Hunger Games", "Water for Elephants", and "5 Love Languages" are all available to be borrowed from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library when you have Amazon Prime membership.
Subscribe and Save: Subsribe and Save is a program that offers you discounts on items that you have automatically shipped to you on a regular schedule. There is no cost to take advantage of this program, and no commitment. You can cancel your subscription or adjust the frequency of deliveries at any time. The discounts vary by the item purchased, and prices are based on the date that the order ships. If the price an item on your Subscribe and Save list changes (either by going up in price, or down in price) the current price, less the discount, is what you will be charged. At present, I only have a couple of items on my Subscribe and Save list; diapers and cat food. I've been receiving these items monthly for the past 6 months and things have worked out great. As I determine the cost effectiveness of having other items on my Subscribe and Save list, I plan to add more to it. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to worry about running out of either of these items, and the fact that they magically appear on my doorstep when they are needed.
Amazon Mom: Amazon Mom is a program for parents with young children. When you initially sign up for Amazon Mom you receive a free 3-month membership to Amazon Prime. This free membership entitles you to the benefit of free 2-day shipping, as well as a 20% discount (5% Subscribe and Save, and 15% Amazon Mom) on select diapers and wipes, and you can also save an additional 20% (15% Subscribe and Save and 5% Amazon Mom) when you subscribe to a total of 5 Subscribe and Save items (the diapers and wipes count towards this total). There is a catch though... In order to continue receiving the benefits of Amazon Mom, you will have to join Amazon Prime after the free trial expires.
Amazon Student: Amazon Student is a program for college students. With this program you get 6 months of free 2-day shipping on Prime eligible items. You can also upgrade to Prime membership for a cost of $39 per year (A $40 savings over the normal cost of Prime membership). Once upgraded to a paid Prime membership, you'll be able to take advantage of Prime Instant Video, and the Kindle Owner's Lending Library. Amazon limits the use of this program to 4 years only.
**I am in no way affiliated with Amazon.com. Please check the links to each program for further information and restrictions.**
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