As a mom, it seems that buying groceries and household items is a never ending chore. We would forever be running out of things like toilet paper, cereal, and laundry soap if I let us. I’m not actually 100% sure that everything gets used because some days it all just seems to go *poof.* No, the dryer is not eating everything, although, I hear the washer sometimes eats socks! Because of that constant need to stock up, I’m always looking for ways to cut costs. One of the biggest ways that I am able to save money on groceries is with Amazon Prime. In fact, I actually do quite a bit of my monthly grocery shopping on Amazon.
If you’re not an Amazon Prime member, you’ll need to be to score these savings. The cost is $99/year but it is totally worth it. They also offer a free 30 day trial to those who have never had Prime before so be sure you take advantage of it if you’re eligible. The trial is a great way to really test how much money you will save on food and other items with Prime without committing to a $99/year fee. Aside from the grocery savings, becoming a Prime member gets you access to Prime Music (free music streaming), 20% off diapers, Exclusive coupons from Amazon Family, Prime video (free movies and tv streaming), photo storage, free 2-day shipping on your Amazon orders and more. It also gets you access to the Prime Pantry which is partially how you will save so much.
Grocery Savings – Amazon Prime & How to Use it to Save Money on Groceries
The tips below are not the only things you should be doing if you’re looking to save on groceries. You’ll see much more grocery savings if you add these tips to ones that you’re already using. Amazon Prime can’t help you save in all areas of your grocery bills. To save money on meat for instance, you’ll need to look for other ways. One of the other ways that I save with Amazon is that I use gift cards to shop. I earn over $225 each month in free gift cards and cash and usually will turn around and use those to help lower my out of pocket costs for groceries and things of that nature. We also save money on groceries by making more homemade and buying less which I highly recommend that you do too.
Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way, onto the ways you can save on groceries with Amazon Prime!
Save money on food with Prime member exclusive deals – Have you ever looked at an item on Amazon and seen a “Prime members only” price? These prices are usually much lower than what the “regular” price is, but if you’re not a Prime member, you can’t get them. These exclusive prices can help you save on groceries, pet food, diapers, household items and more. You’ll see the most grocery savings when you combine these lower priced exclusive items with the other tips below.
Save on groceries with exclusive Prime coupons – Prime offers you a whole page worth of coupons that can really help you save on food and more. They usually offer as high as 25% off, but I’ve also seen them have very high dollar off amounts too. To see the available coupons, simply go to the Amazon coupon page, and search for the items that you want to save money on. Not all of items have a coupon but it’s worth looking for ones that do. The great thing about prime pantry coupons is that they get added automatically when you add the coupon item to your cart so no clipping coupons or extreme couponing just to save money. To really use Amazon coupons to save money on food, pick items that have coupons for the majority of your order and buy items that don’t have sparingly.
Score big grocery savings with Subscribe & Save – Another awesome way to save money on groceries with Prime is the Subscribe & Save program. With Subscribe & Save, you create a subscription for items you use regularly like toilet paper or dog food. The prices for Subscribe & Save items also tend to be lower than regular offers too so buy purchasing them, you’re creating a new way to save on groceries without too much extra work. Even better is that the more Subscribe & Save orders that you have, the more you’ll save. Add 5 and you can will save an additional 15% on top of the S&S prices making it really, really worth it. Your subscriptions can be cancelled anytime after your first delivery and you can schedule deliveries out as far as once every 6 months.
In addition to the exclusive coupons mentioned above, a lot of S&S items actually have coupons too so stacking the deals with each other is another fantastic way to use Amazon to save money on your groceries.
Save money on groceries with lower cost items in Prime Pantry – Amazon’s Prime Pantry is probably my favorite way for saving money on food with Amazon. Available to Prime members only, items that the prime pantry are a lower cost than many items in a brick and mortar store, especially when you take into account the exclusive pricing and Amazon coupons. You can save on everything from cereal and pasta to hand soap, laundry detergent and dog food. When you shop from the Prime Pantry program, you’ll fill a virtual box with your items. Each box will run you $5.99 for shipping, however sometimes Amazon will offer free shipping credits for choosing “no rush” shipping on another order or for ordering specific items in your box. To find the biggest ways to save on food, combine these free shipping promos with items that have e-coupons and lower prices.
Save on food by saving gas and time – Probably the biggest savings that you’ll see when you buy some of your groceries from Amazon is the savings you will see in gas, time or wear and tear on your car. Even if the store is only a few minutes, it can still be cost effective to have it shipped. You’ll also save big on the time that you would spend shopping and we all know that time is money. When you order from Amazon, not only do you save money on groceries, but you also save the time and gas that you would spend elsewhere.
I know that the idea of buying groceries online can seem odd to some, but if you’re careful and you search for deals (as opposed to buying the first thing that pops up), you can save money on your groceries in a way that you never have before. Combine the online deals that you get with the other ways that you already to use to save money on food and pretty soon, you’ll have a home full of the items that you need for considerably less than you’ve been paying!