Shopping from my ArmChair with Amazon Prime Pantry

I recently discovered Amazon's Prime Pantry.  I have been waiting for this service, in fact I have been known to tell people that if Amazon offered groceries I would never go to a store again. That may have been an exaggeration, but not by much.

We became members of Amazon Prime when we were both buying college textbooks and needed that free 2 day shipping, and we still buy enough to make it worthwhile.

A few months ago, we started using Amazon Subscribe and Save because I like not having to go to the store. Sitting down at the computer, putting together my list and having it all delivered to my door is just my style. I appreciate being able to take the time to calculate the number of toilet paper rolls we will use in the next 30 days and compare the cost per square inch without feeling pressured to get out of the aisle or get home to my family. I can even add things to my list individually as I have time and notice the need.

I love that every month a giant box of toilet paper arrives on my doorstep just as we are about to run out!

I thought I would fall in love with Prime Pantry too. I want to love it.

I spent over an hour scouring the list on their site (see link above), calculating prices per ounce to compare to my favorite store and pricing in the $6 shipping fee and then calculating the % of my pantry box that each item would fill. I don't like going to the store, but I can't stand paying extra for something if I don't have to.

When I had it all calculated out, I did what any good researcher would do. I compared my results. I drove over to Aldi's (calculating the mileage into my comparison, of course).

I walked the aisles with my list and was both elated and disappointed to find Aldi's prices better on nearly every item - and not just slightly better, but significantly better.

Your circumstances may warrant using this service, especially my friends who live an hour from a reasonably priced grocer, so as always I encourage you to do your own research.

As much as I dislike shopping, Prime Pantry doesn't yet deliver refrigerator goods so I'll still have to go to the store for those, and Amazon's grocery prices aren't quite good enough to meet my needs yet. But, I'm looking forward to the day that they are. I would be happy to do all of my shopping online and never have to spend time in a retail store again, so this is a program I'll be keeping my eyes on and someday I'll do all my shopping from my favorite armchair.