So now you have figured out how to save on the specialty items by checking RetailMeNot first, but what about the every day items you seem to burn through? Laundry detergent, wipes, protein bars, paper towels, coffee pods, juice boxes, razor blades, these are a few of my favorite things. Do you know about the wonderful world of Amazon Prime ?

A few years ago Amazon introduced a little “members only” club called Amazon Prime (modchik’s secret weapon #2).  I quickly signed up for the FREE 30-day trial and started filling up my virtual shopping cart.. oooooh the deals to be had. For the first 30 days I was expediting all my orders to 2-Day Air for FREE…yep F-R-E-E baby! After the 30 day trial was over I was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt this program fit my needs and paid off its initial investment quickly.

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Brief overview: For a yearly subscription fee to Amazon Prime (currently its $79) you get every item shipped 2-day air at NO COST and for those “oh cr*p… I need that gift like yesterday!” folks you can EXPEDITE your shipping to overnight for just $3.99 . The item does have to be eligible for PRIME – which is clearly shown in the item page (see above) and I will say that 99% of the items I need are eligible, maybe every once and awhile I find a specialty item that ships directly from a vendor and shipping applies. For more information about the program click here.

You can imagine the bulk ordering I do during the holidays, 90% of all my gifts arrive in Amazon Boxes! No schlepping and no struggling to find a parking space and I can shop at midnight in my pj’s, life is good. I also find that Amazon book prices are lower than any book store, including Costco! I challenge you to find an item that’s NOT on Amazon, pretty hard. Another little secret ?Amazon’s Subscribe and Save! Here’s where I have my shopping on ‘auto-pilot’, never having to worry about running out of anything again.

If you find an item you need on a regular basis you can join Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program FREE.

When you order through Amazon’s Subscribe & Save program, you’ll:
• automatically receive a new shipment at intervals you select–every one, two, three, or six months
• get a discount on the posted everyday price (I usually save an additional 15%)
• free shipping on every Subscribe & Save shipment
• pay for each order only when the item is shipped
• have the option to cancel at any time

I use been taking advantage of this program for almost 3 years now. I used to manage our office supply ordering with this program as well. Good bye hauling loads from Costco, hello happy lower back!

The site is easy to navigate and you get reminder emails before EVERY item that ships – this allows you to simply CLICK and skip a shipment if you quite haven’t polished off that case of granola bars!

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I love this program and see the item above?  That’s another one of my favorite Laundry Tools, Dropps Laundry Packets.  I have an He washer and these DROPPS are fragrance-free and self dissolving. Can’t tell you how nice it is to have a little bag of DROPPS vs. jugs or boxes of detergent to store!

I am in the process of collecting all my favorite Amazon items into an Amazon store – I will be updating daily!

Do you have a secret shopping weapon?

Send an email to Lindsey (at) themodchik.com

YOU may be featured in an upcoming post!

(modchik’s disclosure policy on my Amazon links can be found here)