Monday, September 5, 2011

My Favorite Amazon Grocery (and Non Grocery) Deals

I was asked in my Saving Money With Amazon.com and Giveaway post for some of the items I have found that are good deals. These are just some of my favorites, items that happen to be much cheaper via Amazon than locally or simply unavailable locally for me. Since this will really vary depending on the items you like to buy and where you are at, make a list of your own often-used items and look them up--there is everything from flour and sugar to cereals, rice, pasta, honey, granola bars, cookies--countless grocery items and almost anything else  under the sun you could need. I purchased a case of laundry detergent for a great deal, got a free Pack n Play for my youngest a little over a year ago thanks to the gift cards I earned from Swagbucks, get most of my textbooks from Amazon and have also recently paid nothing for cloth diapers, a grill basket for fish, canning supplies, a two-pound jar of honey, a flat iron (for hair), a replacement gasket for my blender, a protective floor mat for under the baby's chair, a closet doubling bar, a hanging closet organizer--I could go on and on...... :)

There are several grocery products that require the purchase of a case, which has typically been between four and six items per case for the products I have been purchasing. Don't get scared by the word "case"--most items I buy are in fairly small packages and really don't take up much room at all. If it's something you don't use much of and don't have the room in the cupboard, pantry or freezer for, then clearly paying the bit extra for one item at the grocery store is the more sensible option you. But if there is an item you are really interested in and can't get it locally, don't dismiss Amazon just yet--talk to local friends and family to see if some of them might want to split a case with you!

Note: make sure you are looking closely at package sizes so you are accurately comparing prices!

(Typed this part after finishing the whole post) There is a lot of info here already, so I will stop where I am at and maybe make this a regular feature as I come across deals on new items! And I apologize--until I can figure out if there is a way to do it so that it shows up correctly, I had to take off information I typed under each item regarding the lower Subscribe and Save price plus how many packages and what sizes come in a case if applicable. I had it all nicely laid out, and then when I previewed the post, it looked like a big mess! So the Subscribe and Save price is actually going to be lower than the price you see on the pictures--it will be clearly visible on the product's listing on Amazon.


Bob's Red Mill

You already know thanks to my Bob's Red Mill Giveaway post that I love their products and respect them as a company making an effort to give their customers healthful, natural and/or organic grains and other foods. My favorite grocery store has a growing number of BRM products, but there is still much I can't get there. Every BRM product I have checked on Amazon so far is cheaper than at my grocery store, but if it's not something I use much of, I am happy to pick up one package at the grocery store versus a case on Amazon. I love their Organic Oat Bran Hot Cereal. The organic version is not available in my grocery store, and the organic version on Amazon is actually cheaper than the regular version in my grocery store. We go through a lot of quinoa, and buying a case of four packages through Amazon with Subscribe & Save saves me $10 over the price in my grocery store! We haven't gone wrong with any of their pancake mixes, and I especially like the organic high fiber mix. I grind/chop my own flaxseed (necessary to be able to digest them for your body to use) and throw it in granola, pancakes, bread, any baked goods, on oatmeal/hot cereal, in yogurt, even many main dishes. They are a great source of omega-3 essential fatty acids, lignans and fiber.


 


Kashi

I never knew just how many Kashi products there really are until I went to a larger grocery store out of town! I was quite displeased to see I had been missing out on Cocoa Beach, an amazingly delicious chocolate coconut granola cereal! As soon as testing for gluten issues is done in our house, we'll be going back to gluten free and making my own chocolate coconut granola with gluten free oats, but I am enjoying this in the mean time. I picked up a box the first time I saw it (they are small boxes!) at that other grocery store, but it is much, much cheaper on Amazon than it was there (almost $5 a box!), especially with Subscribe & Save. GOLEAN Crunch Honey Almond Flax was another favorite, and that too is much cheaper with Amazon's regular price and more so with Subscribe & Save than the regular price at my store of $3.99 per box.


 

Gluten Free

If you eat gluten free, you know it can be very expensive. Right now we have had to bring gluten back so my husband can undergo testing, and as miserable as it is making everyone, especially my youngest two kiddos, I do have to say my grocery bill has been just a little lighter! I try to stay away from as much processed foods as possible anyway, but sometimes we want to enjoy sugar cookie s'mores around the campfire, a pizza crust that actually tastes familiar, a fresh baked loaf of whole grain bread or whip up some quick pancakes! There are some items I can actually find and get a little cheaper at my grocery store, but these items I have highlighted are priced well below what I can get them for locally. I use a lot of gluten free rolled oats in my homemade granola, in baking recipes and as breakfast for the kids, and buying a case of four packages from Amazon (I always need at least two packages on hand anyway) saves me $10 over my grocery store's price!




Baking Supplies

If you do a lot of baking, there are some really great deals to be had. You can get 25-lb bags of flour (I use organic 100% whole wheat flour in my non-gluten free baking) or four 5-lb bags. I haven't found large packages of yeast yet locally, so I already added a case to my Amazon cart. And I had no idea Bob's Red Mill produces baking powder and baking soda, so those are in my cart as well. I use a lot of organic unsweetened coconut--for granola, other baking and making my own coconut milk, and buying a case through Amazon saves me $19.48 over my grocery store's price!


 

Miscellaneous Non-Grocery Items I Can't Find Locally

I am all about shopping locally and do so whenever I can, but I live in a not-really-big town, so I don't have a lot of options for shopping when it comes to non-grocery natural/organic/"green" items. I pack lunches for my oldest two children to take to school, and I needed something in addition to our reusable sandwich and snack bags, something that could hold the "wet" items but that was not plastic. I finally decided on the LunchBots Duo stainless steel containers, and they are PERFECT! One side is plenty big enough for a main dish for them, and the other side can hold a couple different items. Or I can put two different finger foods on each side, whatever they feel like that day! I am also getting a couple small round stainless steel containers for the really wet/liquid items like applesauce, salsa, yogurt, really juicy fruits, etc. that I wouldn't want to get on anything in the larger container, just in case. Amazon's price was much cheaper than anywhere else I found online, and with my Amazon gift card balance thanks to the sites mentioned in my previous post, I got two of the LunchBots Duo containers FREE! I also just ordered a FREE Kleen Kanteen 12 oz stainless steel water bottle for my oldest son (you can even get them with sippy lids for younger children!), and while I haven't quite decided on the smaller food containers yet, there are a few in the running, and whichever set I choose, it too will be FREE! I am working on replacing all of our plastic food storage containers with glass and stainless steel, even tough my husband thinks I have finally gone off the deep end! ;)


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