It was very fun to come home from our trip to a living room full of boxes to open! Thank goodness we have a young man living with us this summer since we were out of town when our monthly Amazon order came in. Bless his heart – I had forgotten to warn him that the UPS man drops by with boxes very frequently at the Coppinger house. :)
The boys had a good time opening the boxes to discover what Mom had ordered this month. Besides our Amazon order, we had a box from NuNaturals (watch for a giveaway later this week!). Plus, we decided to give NatureBox a try.
That was a super fun box to open! We tried some of the snacks yesterday afternoon and really enjoyed them. Having those snacks come to our door (free shipping!) is a treat. Whether or not we chose to keep our subscription or not remains to be seen, but we thought it would be fun to try it out. Have you looked into NatureBox?
Now on to our Amazon Subscribe and Save order. FYI: If you want to learn more about why I love Amazon Subscribe and Save and how I use this wonderful tool to save tons of money for my family, read this post. Remember, I have an Amazon Deals page that I work to keep updated with all the latest deals I find on real food groceries and homemaking items.
This month, I splurged a little on beverages. Typically, we drink water, water, water…and milk at our house. Okay, and one of us drinks a little coffee. But do you remember the post about how I get a soda fix without added sugar? My Amazon order shows you the most cost effective way I’ve found to keep these fun drinks on hand. What you see in this picture will last us for a LONG time. The Switch sodas will be lovingly rationed out for the next few months.
Oooh. Aaah. Toilet Paper.
Next, you’ll see that we bought cases of sliced black olives and coconut milk. Having items like this on hand are so helpful so that I can just grab them when I need them. These cases were on sale for a great price, plus Amazon was offering coupons at the time. I got super good deals and stocked up! For the record, I prefer regular coconut milk instead of lite – but I couldn’t pass up the price. :) The coconut milk coupon is still good, by the way…as is the sliced black olives coupon.
Last but not least, I went a little crazy buying cases of my favorite brand of tuna. We go through at least 6 cans each time we eat tuna – so buying 72 cans seemed like a good idea, especially for cool, summertime meals.
Have you learned how to take advantage of Amazon Prime/Subscribe and Save deals with coupons yet? You’ve got to join me, especially if you like buying in bulk!
Kelley says
Wow! Awesome order!! Strangely enough, I LOVE, and look forward to pictures of boxes full of goodies! I think it’s wonderful how you take such great care of your family and yourself. I bought processed crap this month because we only have a budget of $300 a month to feed my family of 5. It was cheaper, so I thought I’d do that instead. BAD ( I repeat, HORRIBLE) mistake! I have Crohn’s disease and diabetes, so I have to be careful about what I eat. Only 2 days into the crap and I’m having a horrible Crohn’s flare up :( I know, my fault. You Laura, me Dummy! I thought it would make our food budget stretch, but as sick as I’ve been, it’s soooo not worth it! Naturally my kids love it, but my body definitely does not! How do you get kids on board with healthy eating? My oldest daughter is an absolute junk food freak!
Laura says
Glad I’m not the only one who loves looking at boxes of food. :) So sorry to hear your Crohn’s flared. I learn the hard way too when I decide to splurge on junk. My body just hates it now. Yet, those Cheetos still taste good sometimes. Grrr.
My kids have gotten on board gradually, mainly because I always put the good stuff in front of them on the table and make them eat it or at least try it. Thankfully, strawberries and other real foods are super delicious – so that helps! But my kids still love junk and will eat it every chance they get. They are starting to feel the difference now, so I believe that will help them make good choices in the long run.
Hang in there! :)
Carolyn says
I can’t wait to read your posts on Amazon grocery shopping! Have you found that you’ve saved money by ordering online from them? So interesting!
Laura says
Yes, I find some super good deals. My Amazon Deals page is where I post all the latest and greatest: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/amazon-deals
Bethany says
I don’t know if you order from Azure Standard, but they have the cases of Natural Value organic full fat coconut milk for $28. I was super happy to find that!
Laura says
Yes, Azure is great. Thanks for the tip!
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup says
I, too, love buying in bulk with Subscribe and Save, but I need to go back and reread your post about using coupon in addition. I, too, order sliced olives, coconut milk, and tuna. I order canned salmon, as well. I’m looking forward to the NuNaturals giveaway!
Laura says
Oh yes, you have to learn more about couponing along with S&S! I have found lots of great Amazon coupons on products we love. Talk about money saving!
Courtney says
I order quite a few grocery items from Amazon, but I may stop ordering canned items. Lately, so many of the cans have been arriving with huge dents, which is unsafe. Has anyone else had this problem?
It’s aggravating because it didn’t used to happen very often, but now I’m receiving more dented cans than cans without dents. Amazon will replace the order if you notify them, but that gets to be a pain when every single order is arriving damaged.
Laura says
Yes, my cans sometimes arrived dented, but as long as the tops are still “unpoppable” I don’t worry about them being unsafe: http://voices.yahoo.com/how-tell-if-dented-safe-use-2150192.html
Courtney says
I’ve read differing opinions, but the USDA recommends that any can with deep dents in the side or near the seams be discarded. Unfortunately, many of the cans I’ve ordered recently have arrived in that condition. :(
Mary G says
If that happens, as it did with me recently with canned tomatoes, I emailed Amazon customer service and they provided a replacement order at no charge. You can also leave packing information feedback for your order to indicate that more bubble wrap or other packing material was needed, etc., and what damage occurred.
Lisa says
Here’s a question . . . we have 2 teenagers and we always seem to have lots of teenage friends at our house. Which means we go through a lot of food with so many hungry kids hanging out at our house. We’re super happy to have them hang out at our house and be under our influence etc. I wouldn’t feel right “rationing” out our food, yet I’m having to increase our grocery budget to keep them all fed. Suggestions? Ideas? Can anyone else relate?
Lana H. says
Hi Lisa! I can totally relate to what you are saying. I have 6 boys with 5 still at home , ages 6 to 20. We have had the same issue as well. In transitioning to healthy foods I’ve found that a lot of the kids that visit won’t eat the healthy foods and only drink milk or water. Those kids know that they will have to eat at home or purchase food prior to hanging out. We don’t buy fast food for them and the friends know that. The kids that do like home cooked meals will usually eat spaghetti or a casserole pretty well-foods that go pretty far, as well as soup. Snacks consist of popcorn, carrot sticks, or fruit. Breakfast is pancakes or muffins. We don’t always have a breakfast meat even when the kids don’t have friends over. A batch of cookies go pretty far. Sometimes I do buy cheap bags of chips or pretzels to put out of it’s a pretty big group. Grilled cheese goes over well. With todays grocery prices I feel that it’s okay to ration food-even with our own kids. It’s okay if they don’t have a snack every time they are bored. No matter how you plan it cost to feed them! It is a blessing to have your children’s friends be around and get to know them and speak into their lives. Blessing to your family!
Laura says
I love all of Lana’s suggestions. :) I definitely agree that a batch of cookies goes a long way, and really, don’t feel bad limiting the kids. It’s your house, your food, and your money. I never mind if my boys are somewhere and another mom limits them, in fact, I appreciate it when they do. Otherwise my boys might eat an entire box of something being offered!
Another thing I’ve heard of (though never done myself because I’ve not felt the need at this point): A friend of mine used to ask for other moms to pitch in for snacks. Her house was always the hub for kids after school before games, etc since the other moms were working outside the home. The other moms were happy to pitch in with a bag of chips or a few bucks here and there since they knew how much their kids ate!!
Rhea says
Hey Laura, I really love your blog for the advice that you share on various topics. In addition to the amazing deals above for food items and pyrex, could you also mention the deals on paper products that you order.
Laura says
Sure! I got a pack of Quilted Northern, 48 double rolls: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007UZNS5W?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B007UZNS5W&linkCode=xm2&tag=wwwheavenlyho-20 with subscribe and save and a coupon Amazon was offering at that time. Plus I got Cottonelle Toilet Paper, 32 double rolls also with subscribe and save and a coupon. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BV4HEE4?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B00BV4HEE4&linkCode=xm2&tag=wwwheavenlyho-20 :)
Rebecca says
Did you notice the reviews are really bad on this lite coconut milk? More bad than good. Like the above commenter, I’d rather get Azure’s case of full fat for just under $30.
laurie says
Looks like the olives and tuna are quite a bit cheaper through azure.
Laura says
Yes, at this point, Azure has the better price. At the time I bought these in June, Amazon’s price was lower, plus they offered a 25% off coupon in addition to the great price. I got such a steal! :)
Cheri says
Hey Laura, nice post! I only get 15% off my subscribe and save orders for ordering more than 5 items per month. How do you get 20%?
LindseyforLaura@HHM says
Laura describes how she gets the 20% off in this post:
https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/why-i-dont-have-a-sams-or-costco-membership-and-how-i-get-great-bulk-deals-delivered-to-my-door