Amazon's Best Kept Secret

Amazon.com - apparently one either LOVES it or HATES (but secretly even the ones who profess to hate it still love it at least a litte!)

I personally think it's great - my orders are shipped free (mostly - some things don't qualify) and arrive in two days (or less) because we have a Prime membership.  From October thru January the UPS guy(s) and I are on a first name basis!

But what I'm really learning to love about Amazon is their "subscription"  feature.  Anything you use on a fairly regular basis is probably available via subscription to Amazon.com.

Example:  I love to cook (might not have mention that before) and often use stock - chicken, beef, vegetable, occasionally turkey.  I suppose I could make it from scratch but until recently it involved time (which I don't always have) and tossing of whatever meat was used (which seemed very wasteful).  Couldn't see myself doing that.

Stock-in-a-box is a great option but if you're like me and don't want to make another special trip to the grocery store for that one item (see previous posts) it isn't ideal and storing it takes up a LOT of space. 

I couldn't even tell you how I discovered this but somehow during one of my seredipitous wanderings on the Amazon site I stumbled across:

• Savory Choice Chicken Broth Concentrate - little tubes of concentrate that take up practically no space and are delivered right to my door.  The webpage also shows that I could Subscribe to this product and have it shipped automatically at whatever interval I choose!  And if that weren't fantastic enough, subscribers automatically get free shipping and 15% off of the Amazon current price.  WHAT A DEAL!!!

Naturally I signed up!  There is absolutely no downside to this idea.  I control how often it will ship and Amazon is great about notifying me in advance of their shipment.  That way if I need to "skip" a shipment, I can simply click on the button and decline that shipment.  Conversely, if I somehow run out between scheduled shipments, I can ask Amazon to go ahead and send my next shipment immediately.  There is no penalty at all - I can cancel or make any changes to my subscription at any time.

The only problem I've encountered is trying to actually explore all 23,000 items available for subscription (Amazon only loads about 8-10 items at a time which limits the amount of time I can remain seated at the computer!), but so far, I've found a number of things that I just like to get more conveniently:

• Savory Choice Liquid Beef Broth Concentrate (every 6 months) and Savory Choice Reduced Sodium Chicken Broth Concentrate (every month - go thru that a lot!)
• If You Care Unbleached Large Baking Cups (6 months)  Okay I won't go thru them all in 6 months (even though I share a shipment with Jenny) but figured I'd just skip the next shipment until I actually do need them.  No point in paying full price if I don't have to!
• Let's Do Organic Unsweetened Coconut Flakes (6 months - can't make granola without it!)
• Nutiva Organic Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (3 months)
• Golden Malted Pancake & Waffle Flour (6 months - we really like Belgian waffles!)
• Kitchens of India Paste for Butter Chicken Curry (6 months - won't go thru it that often but this stuff is scrumptious and really handy to have on hand to make a quick meal!)
• Twinings Earl Grey Team K-Cup for Keurig Brewers (6 months)  I don't have a machine but Jenny does and I thought I'd get some to have at her place so I can have a cup of tea when visiting!
• Stonewall Kitchen All Natural Jam Collection (6 months)

I haven't made it thru all 23,000 items (nowhere near!)  which include not only grocery items but also household cleaning supplies, baby care, office supplies, automotive, and pet supplies. As you can see I'm rather eclectic in my choices just yet but I've been more than happy with this service from Amazon and will no doubt be adding to my list of subscriptions soon!

~later, tw