There is almost nothing I won’t do to save money, no matter how small it might be. For example, this week at Aldi I purchased some milk. According to the date, it wouldn’t expire for a couple of weeks. But when I got home and poured a cup for my son, it was beyond sour. I called up Aldi and they said they would take it back, give me a new gallon of milk, AND refund my money! Sure, that only saved us a few dollars. But you know what? A few dollars can add up fast, especially if you are loose with those dollars in all areas of your budget. Anyway, one of my favorite ways to save is to save money using Amazon. Not only do I almost always pocket extra cash, but it helps cut back the amount of time I spend in the store. Plus, not being in the store means that I will be less likely to buy things that I don’t need. Being a busy working parent who is deeply in debt, that is a win-win-win.
THE BEST WAYS TO SAVE MONEY USING AMAZON
Subscribe and save.
One of my favorite ways to save money on Amazon is to “subscribe and save” on certain products. Amazon offers a deep discount if you subscribe to receive certain products as a subscription. This works well for products that you know you are going to need to buy throughout the year, such as: toilet paper, house hold cleaners, laundry detergent, etc. The best part about subscribe and save is that you can customize your settings for how often you want to receive that product. For example, get it once a month, every three months, six months, or once a year! No matter which option you choose, you still score the deep discount. And of course, if you decide you no longer wish to subscribe, you can always opt out at no penalty. It really is a no brainer.
Use Amazon’s coupons.
Did you know that Amazon has its own coupons?? Another one of my favorite ways to save money using Amazon is simply to use coupons. You can save a lot of money on Amazon by taking advantage of any of the coupons that Amazon is offering. You can find their coupons HERE. Sometimes Amazon will notify you that a coupon is available before you put a product in your shopping cart. But I’ve also had the experience where they didn’t notify me, so be sure to check for available coupons to score even more savings.
Shop Amazon’s “Deal of the Day”.
Another favorite way to save money on Amazon is to take advantage of their deal of the day. Amazon posts a daily deal on certain products at a crazy discount. Be sure to sneak a peak at Amazon’s deal of the day when you are doing your other shopping, just in case it is something that you were already planning on buying. Be careful not to get sucked into buying something that you really don’t need just because its on sale. Use this technique with caution– you’re not really saving money on a product if you buy it when you didn’t plan on buying it in the first place, even if it is a great deal.
Use free Amazon gift cards.
My absolute favorite way to save money using Amazon is to earn free Amazon gift cards in exchange for doing my shopping, taking online surveys or performing other simple tasks online. Yes that is right. I actually earn Amazon gift cards by shopping on Amazon for the things that I already would have purchased on Amazon, using the website Ebates. It really is that simple. Any time I need to make a purchase on Amazon, I login to Ebates, search for Amazon, and then make my purchase. Then, Ebates credits me a percentage back of whatever I spent and I cash it out for an Amazon gift card. Then on my next Amazon purchase, I login to Ebates again, search for Amazon, make the purchase, apply my gift card and get credited back a percentage of whatever I spent– including the gift card.
I also use Swagbucks and the app “Survey Mini” to earn Amazon gift cards by taking surveys and performing other simple tasks online. Using these gift cards has made shopping on Amazon one of the cheapest options for us.
Get deals with Amazon Prime.
Another way to save money on Amazon is by using Amazon Prime. Yes, Amazon Prime charges a monthly or yearly fee ($12.99 per month or $99 per year). But, if you employ the other money saving strategies in this post, you’ll save well over what you spend on this service. You’ll get free two day shipping and access to tons of great deals only available to Prime members. Plus, you’ll gain access to Prime Daily Deals, food delivery right to your door, free streaming of music, audio books, games, tv shows, and other discounts on every day products. If you’re worried about taking the plunge and starting a membership, you can always GET A FREE 30 DAY TRIAL HERE to see if its a good fit for you.
Get deals with Prime Student.
The only thing better than being an Amazon Prime member is being an Amazon Prime Student. I LOVED taking advantage of Amazon Student when I was in school. You basically get all of the Prime member benefits for only $49 per year! Plus, instead of a 30 day trial period, they will hook you up with a 6 month trial. I loved buying all of my school books and other supplements on Amazon in addition to my regular shopping. GET A FREE 6 MONTH TRIAL HERE. P.S. Be sure to check and see if your college participates in Amazon @ Your University. You’ll get hooked up with even better deals on your textbooks and other classroom essentials.
Get deals with Amazon Family.
If you have kids, another great way to save money on Amazon is to get an Amazon Family membership. Now that we have M, we are constantly hunting for the cheapest diapers, wipes, and other baby swag. Amazon Family offers the best consistent discounts on name brand diapers. Plus, when you pair it with gift cards that you earned from Swagbucks or Ebates, the prices just can’t be beat. There is literally no reason why you shouldn’t take advantage of a FREE 30 DAY TRIAL to see if you its the right fit for you. You’ll get 20% off subscriptions to diapers, baby food, and more, PLUS 15% Baby Registry completion discount.
Shop for deeply discounted “Add On” items.
Add-on items are the bomb. Amazon sells tons of items that you would use every day (think toilet paper) at deep discounts. The only catch is that you have to spend $25 to qualify for the add on item, so just make sure you are buying it when you are doing your other shopping as well.
Shop Amazon’s Warehouse deals.
Occasionally Amazon will have an unbelievable deal from their Warehouse. You can simply explore the “Amazon Warehouse” tab on Amazon’s website and hunt for the things that you already need. (Don’t get sucked into buying something you weren’t planning on buying and or don’t really need! It can be tempting.)
Sell your stuff on Amazon’s market place.
In addition to buying things on Amazon, you can save money by selling or trading in your stuff to Amazon’s market place. We’ve had some good luck with both. Selling on your own will definitely pay you better than trading into Amazon itself. Amazon usually doesn’t pay as well for taking your goods off your hands than you would get if you sold it on your own, but the convenience of it can’t be beat.
Don’t buy the stuff in your cart right away.
This does not work every time, but we have had some good luck simply leaving stuff in our cart for a few days (or weeks if we can wait). Amazon will sometimes get antsy and remind us that it is in the cart and offer it at a discount. It is certainly worth a try if its a product you don’t need right away.
Buying many household and other products that you would already purchase is a great way to make your budget go even further. What are some of your favorite hacks for shopping on Amazon? We’d love to hear from you!
Hi there! I’m Amber! And welcome to the Deeply in Debt blog where we’re offering simple solutions for big debt.
I think the most important one that I found by accident is to go back and check the price of the items 1-2 weeks after purchase. Amazon uses pricing algorithms so on some items the pricing is dynamic. I’ve found on 30-50% of the items I buy from Amazon (not sold by another vendor through Amazon) have 10% knocked off the price after you buy it once. A quick email to Amazon and they will do a price adjustment for the difference.
Nice!! Thanks for sharing!
I used the Prime student membership while I was in school, and it was such a lifesaver! Now we share an account with my brother and sister-in-law, which cuts the cost in half!
I’m confused, I went to check on Amazon’s subscribe and save and the products were mostly overpriced from what I pay at Walmart. Just one example; a 6 pack of the Puffs Plus Lotion that I normally pay about $1.25/box is $15.99 for 6 boxes. My trash bags were cheaper, but I would have to take out 80 bags of trash a month in order to order it as often as necessary. What products have you found that were more cost efficient to order that way? I’m a Prime member so I would get an even better deal than if I wasn’t, but it still turned out to be way more expensive than ordering pick-up from Walmart. 🙁 I’m sad