Budget Cheat: Amazon Subscribe & Save for necessities

One common resolution in the new year is to save some money, but how does one go about doing that?  Most advices are intuitive: "do not spend more than you make" or "make a budget".  Well no-duh!  However, crossing from advice into actions is where it gets difficult.

So let me share one another one of my budget cheat.  Amazon Subscribe & Save!  It not only saves me money & time, but it also helps me keep my sanity.  This can be a result of avoiding the accidental buying of duplicates or last minute needing of something.

• Saving money example: we buy Teddy Dentastix on a regular basis.  The price at the local Target for a 32 treat bag is $11.89, but on Amazon it is $11.25 (Subscribe & Save).  That is a savings of $0.64 per month.    
• Finish Powerball Tabs (60) is $13.78 at Target & $11.30 on Amazon
• Rimmel London Lash Accelerator is $9.39 at local CVS & only $6.53 on Amazon
• Sanity saving example: For toothpaste, Amazon sells it for only $5.40, while Target has it for $5.69.  Saving me $1.45/year.  Not a lot of money, but the more important savings is my sanity.  I never have to walk by toothpaste at Target or anywhere else and wonder if I need some at home.  Then proceed to buy it, only to realize I had enough.  
• Amazon sells Glad trash bags at $8.75 but I have had last minute cases where I needed trash bags.  The closest place is the grocery store which sells it for $8.68.  Though it is slightly more on Amazon, I never have to worry about getting it.

I have Amazon prime, but with subscribe & save it does not matter.  Because subscribe & save gets free shipping.  So the prices listed above does not need to have shipping cost factored in.  More importantly, the stores are required to charge taxes, which Amazon does not (at this time).  So the savings are slightly more than listed.
There are some consideration before jumping head first into using Subscribe & Save though...

• First: You have to determine how frequently you need the shipment.  It is easy to change the frequency but that can result in a month being skipped that was not intended
• Second: Not everything is cheaper, and the sanity saving is not worth it.  Sometimes you need to do a little research.  If I need something, my first reaction is to subscribe & save it, but I always check the price once I am in school.  You can cancel your subscription at any time.
• Third: Amazon is currently facing a law that could require it to pay taxes.  It would require that I re-evaluate all these savings to ensure it is still worth it.