December 24, 2015

Amazon Subscribe and Save Filler Items Under $2 for December 2015

Updated list of items under $2 eligible for Amazon Subscribe & Save :

Pac-Kit 12-018 Benzalkonium Chloride Antiseptic Towelette (Box of 10) = $1.15

PediFix Visco-gel Corn Protectors, Smaoo, 2 Count = $1.27

DEWALT DW4518 4-1/2-Inch by 1/8-Inch by 7/8-Inch General Purpose Metal Cutting Wheel = $1.32

Pac-Kit 1-009 Fabric Adhesive Light Woven Flexible Knuckle Bandage, 3" Length x 1-1/2" Width (Box of 8) = $1.32

Pac-Kit 12-015 Antiseptic Povidone PVP Iodine Wipe (Box of 10) = $1.33

Luden's Great Tasting Throat Drops, Honey Lemon, 30-count = $1.35



Curad Rolled Gauze, 4 Inches X 4.1 Yards = $1.46


PureBites Beef Liver Cat Treats, 0.85-Ounce = $1.69

Softsoap Liquid Hand Soap, Moisturizing with Aloe, 7.50-Ounce = $1.69

True Lime Limeade Stick Pack, Black Cherry, 10 Count (1.06oz) = $1.70

Barilla Protein Plus Spaghetti Pasta, 14.5 Ounce = $1.70



I'm citing the price for each item including the 15% discount that you'd get with 5 items which is the point here.

I try to list a variety of items so you'll have a better chance of seeing something on this list that you'd actually get use out of so its not just bought and wasted.

Warning :  If you use items off this list then make sure to watch them and cancel your subscription if you no longer want them or if the prices go up.   The cheap items I find seem to change pretty quickly so they may have large price hikes or be removed from the subscribe and save program.

Prices change!   Note the list will get out of date within days or weeks.  I'll probably post a newer list before all of the above items are gone or have price increases.  But if you can't find something good here you can always go to Amazon and search for Subscribe & Save and sort based on prices and poke around to find something cheap to use as a filler.

I've discussed before how you can get a  better discount on Amazon Subscribe and Save purchases if you order 5 items at once.  However if you don't buy a lot of stuff then it can be hard to come up with a 5 item order.   However if your products are worth enough then it can be worth it to add some filler items to get up to 5 items to get the 15% discount. 

Say for example, you want to buy a couple cases of Pampers Swaddlers Diapers  that run $45.97 each with a normal purchase.   With Subscribe and save you'd get a 5% discount.to get the price down to $43.67.    But if you have 5 items in your S&S order then it is only $36.78 or a $6.89 savings.   And if you're buying two of those then thats double or $13.78.    Adding the 4 cheapest items listed here to the S&S order would only cost you $4.99 total with the 5 item discount so its worth buying those items to get you a net savings of $8.79.

Note if you don't want the filler items and only use them to get a 5 item discount then you can of course always give away the food items to someone you know or donate them to the local food bank.


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December 23, 2015

Couples Should Buy Two Tubes Of Toothpaste

Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the end or do you do it wrong and squeeze from the middle   Do you fail to put the cap back on the tube when you're done like some sort of half crazed Visigoth?   If you and your significant other does these things differently then you may have some squabbles about the topic.   Its one of things couples fight about (youtube link)  If you're not openly fighting about it then it may be brewing resentment that will explode in a few years.    Its probably an uphill losing battle to change these kinds of habits.   Maybe you're trying and failing.   But why live with the problem at all when you don't have to?

So... buy two tubes so you each have your own.  Problem solved.   You're welcome.

With just one tube you may end up bickering over how its used.   With two tubes you can use your toothpaste however you see fit and it won't give your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend anything to argue about.   Its that easy to fix this problem, yet people seem not to do it.   Plus as an added bonus you can also each pick your own preferred flavors or variety of toothpaste.

And one of the best parts about using two tubes simultaneously doesn't cost you any more than using one tube at a time.   Each of you will use the paste as fast as you use it then buy another.   Toothpaste isn't going to expire on you either.   Theres no financial downside to buying two tubes.

Granted this exactly nobel prize worthy idea and I'm sure many of you out there already have your own tube of toothpaste.   But I'm sure theres lots of people who share a tube for no specific reason.   And doing so can cause unnecessary, easily avoided friction.

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December 21, 2015

ShopYourWay Points - I Got $165 Worth of Stuff at Sears / Kmart for $37

I've been a ShopYourWay (SYW) rewards member for a while but not really used it too much.   A long while ago we bought an appliance at Sears and I signed up then because they had a deal where you get something like $50 in SYW points for spending over some threshold amount like $300 or similar.   I just cashed in the $50 on something and then didn't think about it for years after.  

Lately I signed up for PureTalk and got a SYW bonus for that.   I also got a $10 bonus from some other purchase I made in a promotional deal.    I turned around and had about $28 in points all the sudden and then I saw some "surprise points" show up on my account good for a limited time promotional deal.    I think they also had a coupon or something plus they were offering free shipping if you spend $35 or more.   I used my points and got $37.13 worth of clothes.

Then I saw a thread on Fatwallet about several items being sold at Sears with 100% points cash back (now expired).  In other words if you pay $x for the item you'd get $x points.  Thats like getting the items for free basically, but you get your cash back in points.   You can find a list of current weekly member deals for Sears and a list for Kmart too.

I bought $57.46 worth of stuff and I spent $45.87 out of pocket.    I got a 32 GB and 16GB microSD cards for our cell phones.  I got an HP mobile wireless mouse and HP keyboard too.   I paid using my Discover card which is currently offering 5% promo cash at Sears and they have 10% discount deal as well so I ought to net about $6.88 cashback too.  That makes my actual costs about $38.99 net.

I then noticed I had more surprise points to spend on a deal as well.   I bought another $35.13 worth of clothes and then I also got $35.96 worth of paper towels at Kmart.   For those I will also got $1.08 and $1.05 cash back from Ebates.    This makes my total net cost just $36.86.

In total I got about $165 worth of merchandise for just under $37.    Some of that stuff isn't worth the full price to me.  I don't really need an HP keyboard so that wasn't really worth spending money on.   The paper towels I got are definitely worth the money I paid on those.   I'm using the 32GB card but I could have gotten that for around $9 versus the $20 price Sears had.   All the clothing was certainly a good deal for the prices.   Between the paper towels and the micro SD I definitely got my moneys worth.   So its more like I bought an SD and a pile of paper towels for ~$37 and I got ~$70 worth of clothes, a 16GB SD, a keyboard and a mouse for free.


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December 18, 2015

Best of Blogs for Week of December 18th

Every Friday afternoon I share some of the more interesting or notable posts that I have seen in the personal finance blogs and other sources for the past week

MyMoneyBlog discusses a Financial Independence Heat Map: Starting Age vs. Savings Rate
Note it ignores social security.

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