The Money Mustache Community
Learning, Sharing, and Teaching => Ask a Mustachian => Topic started by: MayDay on July 24, 2019, 06:47:53 AM
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Does anyone use Amazon subscribe and save? What do you get?
We started getting the gum my kids like on SAS and it has made my life easier. It's significantly cheaper on Amazon and now it just comes when we need it, and if we get a little too much piling up, I skip a month. For anyone who is curious, it is the bags of Our gum.
Since you get a bigger discount for adding more things, I'm trying to come up with ideas, and drawing a blank.
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Dog food, dog treats, dog meds (heartworm & flea/tick preventative), vitamins, food saver bags, Kind bars.
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Instax camera film (Don't facepunch me!). Not strictly a necessity, but I enjoy having instant pictures and being able to share physical copies with people in the moment. Much cheaper on amazon, especially with the subscribe option.
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Balance Bars, toilet paper, pet food, chew toys for the dog, batteries, cabin and engine air filters, deodorant, vacuum bags. As a one-off, we got a six-pack of replacement pads for our Shark. Our go-to filler item, if it's on sale: multi-packs of Colgate manual toothbrushes (for travel bags and overnight guests). We skip shipments if the prices aren't appealing or the weather's not right for a food delivery.
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Peanut butter and trash bags.
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Just signed up for my first subscribe and save. Pull Up diapers for my 4yo which arrive monthly
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Dog food, dog treats, dog meds (heartworm & flea/tick preventative), vitamins, food saver bags, Kind bars.
Check chewy.com - for the dog food we use, the price was the same, but their customer service is amazing. I've heard stories of them sending flowers to people who cancelled an autoship due to the passing of a pet. When we moved, the shipment went to wrong address, so they sent another for free. When the original shipment was eventually forwarded to us, they told us to either keep it or donate it to a shelter.
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Toilet paper, paper towels, laundry detergent, tissues.
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
I can't speak for other items, but the TP we buy in bulk is shipped directly in a manufacturer's box, it's not repackaged by Amazon.
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We "use" SAS for things we need soon, but not immediately.
I say "use" because we never, ever maintain a subscription. If I buy something on SAS, I'll wait until it arrives and then immediately cancel the subscription.
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My unusually-sized air filters that we use three at a time--if 6 come every 6 months, then we'll hopefully remember to change them every 3!
Specialty supplements (long story, no face punches please).
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
Far worse than the packaging is the fuel transport costs required to get that box from the manufacturer to your door. Much less fuel involved transporting 5000 boxes of that "thing" from the manufacturer to the bog box store (e.g. Costco, Walmart, etc).
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We "use" SAS for things we need soon, but not immediately.
I say "use" because we never, ever maintain a subscription. If I buy something on SAS, I'll wait until it arrives and then immediately cancel the subscription.
Me too. I only buy it if it's a great price and don't need the item immediately. Put the recurrence on 6 months and then cancel after the first shipment arrives.
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
Far worse than the packaging is the fuel transport costs required to get that box from the manufacturer to your door. Much less fuel involved transporting 5000 boxes of that "thing" from the manufacturer to the bog box store (e.g. Costco, Walmart, etc).
Good thing we have carbon free transporters to get things from the big box store to my house! :)
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A huge box of diapers dropped off by the mailman who stops at our house every day anyway, is way better than than running out frequently and having to make a special trip, is the way I see it.
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
Far worse than the packaging is the fuel transport costs required to get that box from the manufacturer to your door. Much less fuel involved transporting 5000 boxes of that "thing" from the manufacturer to the bog box store (e.g. Costco, Walmart, etc).
Good thing we have carbon free transporters to get things from the big box store to my house! :)
If I'm getting that Amazon box once a month anyway, I'd rather fill it with 4 more things. Obviously it depends on the size/weight of the item- unfortunately none of the suggestions here are working for us since we do not have a dog, get TP/detergent from Costco, etc.
It seems valuable for stuff you would be ordering from Amazon anyway- group shipments, automate them, and get a discount!
Now I just need to think of what other obscure things we need regularly that Target doesn't carry.
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
I've thought about this, but we really don't see what the process is for what's on the store shelves. It could be less, same, or worse environmentally.
But - it isn't nothing. We're just not seeing it.
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I love Amazon, but you guys are really using it to buy basics like toilet paper and laundry detergent? Aren't you worried about the extra waste with all those boxes and packing material?
I've thought about this, but we really don't see what the process is for what's on the store shelves. It could be less, same, or worse environmentally.
But - it isn't nothing. We're just not seeing it.
If you live in a more rural area and drive a fuel efficient car, it is probably environmentally better to have a big truck drop things at a central location once per week/month and then have you and your various neighbors each drive to the central location for pickup, rather than having a massive truck drive out to each of you individually, probably on several different days over the course of a week/month (thus essentially making the trip to the central location multiple times PLUS the individual trips from there out to each of you).
I'm not as sure for urban areas if the difference is as substantial--I imagine if Amazon or whoever they contract deliveries out too is planning efficiently they can schedule their routes to be as fuel efficient as possible. But making many stops is still going to mean lots of stop and go and idling engine time. Personally I know our urban street is kind of a pain to access in a large delivery truck and I'm sure that results in a bit more gas being burned than if the truck were to simply dump everything at the Target <1 mile away and we were to then either drive our small and more maneuverable car over to pick it up, or (even better) walk or bike. With all the emphasis on next-day or even same-day delivery now, it's also harder for Amazon can say "hmmm, we have 15 people on that street scheduled to get subscription boxes over the next 2 weeks, let's try to schedule all of them for the same delivery day", so again, the truck is going to be making multiple trips up and down our street vs. one central dump.