Are you a super-savvy, coupon clipping, smart phone app, pre-planning, list making, bargain hunter? Then this post is probably not for you. You probably know way more tips and money-saving strategies than I do! {smile}
Are you a busy momma that tries to make smart choices and spend your money wisely, but just can’t fathom how all these ladies manage to bring home $600 worth of groceries for 28 cents or get their entire Christmas list at 92% off? This post might be a help to you.
I’m more like busy momma #2. I enjoy getting a great deal. I like to stretch my dollars and be a wise steward. But I just don’t have the time, patience (mostly patience!), or awesome organizational skills to pinch and save every penny that’s humanly possible. The plateau of diminishing returns is a bit lower for me than some of these super-savvy shopping ladies out there (that I totally admire!). Here’s a few simple-to-implement strategies for saving money using Amazon for your shopping–since they pretty much have everything and their prices are usually pretty good anyway.
1. Use Save for Later your Shopping Cart
Amazon changes prices constantly. And sometimes drastically. And usually only temporarily. Save for Later is one tool I try to use that to my advantage without becoming a crazy, on-the-web-constantly, deal stalker. Once you put something in your shopping cart at Amazon, you have three choices.
1. Buy it. 2. Delete. 3. Save For Later.
As I’m browsing on Amazon, I throw everything that catches my eye into my shopping cart, but when I go to check out, I weed through to the best deals for what I’m actually paying for today. I usually stash 1/2 or more of the rest of the items in my Save for Later cart. Here’s the cool thing about your shopping cart–every time you log in to Amazon, it gives you a price update on everything in your cart that changed price since you put it in there–including all the items you may have stashed as Save for Later.
It tells you exactly how much the item has increased or decreased, both cost and percentage of savings. By waiting a few days to buy and checking every day (or less often, depending on how soon I need the item) to see if the price went down, I’ve saved 40-50% and more on movies, books, and toys for the family! This is how I get movies for family movie night at such a steal all the time.
2. Use Amazon Wish Lists
This is an awesome feature on Amazon! Have you tried it? You can create as many lists as you want and they can be private, public, or shared (meaning through a link, not just generally public). I have one for each family member as gift ideas, and I’ve started creating one for each unit study that crosses my mind. The great thing is that, just like the shopping cart, every time you log in and open your List, Amazon includes a price change update for each item.
So, for example, I created one for our summer Jamestown Unit Study, months before I expected to need it. I loaded it with new and used resources I found and checked it regularly to see if any prices dropped into the buy-right-now!! killer deal range. (That’s how I got Jamestown Graphic Library for $2.49!) I have a Wish List for Revolutionary War, Cowboys and Indians, the Gold Rush, and Vikings. I have one for Fiber Arts, Homesteading Skills, and (of course) Family Movie Night. That’s how I know that Rough Riders is 70% off right now. (That one’s on my Family Movie Night wish list!)
Plus, you can share your lists with friends and family. The only thing that beats getting something you wanted for 70% off is getting it free as a gift! That way–even if they don’t actually buy it from Amazon–family has a good idea of what you’d like them to get your kiddos. {smile}
3. Use Amazon Prime
My favorite feature of Prime is that you get FREE 2 day shipping!! The FREE 2 day shipping includes shipping to multiple addresses as well. So I can send birthday and Christmas gifts straight to my nieces and nephews for free without all the repacking and reshipping hassle.
The free shipping applies to qualifying used purchases as well–any purchases which are “fulfilled by Amazon”. When you’re searching used item prices, you can click on the “Prime Offers Only” tab at the top of the list to see if any items will qualify for Prime free shipping…like these offers for The Wild Country by Disney. (It’s on our Family Movie Night list!) That’s how I got George Washington Frontier Colonel for only $1.50 and Sterling Biography of Sacagawea for $0.99! {Note: If you’re shopping used and it doesn’t have the checkmark symbol, you’re going to pay shipping as usual, so be sure to double check your total price before picking the best deal. You can sort your used buying list by price and it will calucate by the total, including shipping, for you.}
Plus you get 1,000s of movies and TV shows for free with unlimited Prime Video. We don’t use this feature as much, but I did enjoy seeing all of the Friday Night Lights Series for free over a month of lunchtimes at the office. I know they have 100s of episodes of Sesame Street and Wonder Pets for free as well, which would be perfect on your phone or tablet while shopping or waiting at the doctor’s office, but our kiddos aren’t on the computer much.
{EDITED TO ADD: We now use Prime Video ALL. THE. TIME. Good content, easy to monitor the kids usage on their Fire Tablets, and it’s so easy to turn Channels on and off as I want to.}
BONUS TIP…
4. Sign up for Swagbucks
You sign up for Swagbucks and then there’s a ton of ways you can earn Swagbucks for pretty much doing nothing–just searching the web using their search bar. Or you can be very active and earn Bucks for playing games, watching YouTube spots, taking polls, signing up for emails, or shopping through their links. Then you turn around and exchange your Swagbucks for Amazon gift cards.
I’m not the highest earner out there because I tend to use the passive earning streams (mostly using the toolbar every day, using their search engine, and the occasional daily poll) but I do usually earn enough to cover gifts for the nieces and nephews. You can use them to pay for your Amazon Prime membership too!
And you can use the Swagbucks for all kinds of other stuff too, by the way. They have thousands of prizes. I just stick with the Amazon gift cards because Amazon usually has everything we need at the best price. {smile}
Do you have any great–but simple!–shopping tips?