It's happened more than once. I've carefully prepared the lesson plans for the next few weeks. I have all my ducks in a row. I'm ready to begin a new homeschooling term. On Sunday night I sit down to verify my lessons for the week and to pull out any supplies we need when...I don't have one of the books we're supposed to read for this quarter.
I thought I picked up that book already or checked it out from the library. I was just sure I did. But...no.
Thankfully I don't have to stress too much. Because we're Amazon Prime members I can order the book on Amazon on Sunday night and get it- with free shipping- by Tuesday. We'll only have one day without the book to read.
Amazon Prime has been a lifesaver for me many times. We use many of its features over and over and over in our family and homeschooling. Although there are tons of features that come with the Amazon Prime membership, here are a few of the ways its been so good for us.
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Free two-day shipping
I can't say enough how much this helps us. I can order many of our homeschool materials off of Amazon because they have such a wide range of books and resources for sale there. And with a Prime membership, I get free shipping on almost everything. That saves us tons of money.
I also get some of our groceries off of Amazon. I did some research before doing this. I listed out all of the common things we always buy, things like toilet paper, detergent, cleaners, snack items, cereal, canned goods. Then I compared the price for these things in each of the regular grocery stores where I shop and on Amazon. The things that were cheaper from Amazon, I order each month. And I get most of them shipped for free and shipped in two days.
The free shipping feature also helps me to save money on Christmas gifts. I keep an eye out for Amazon's Daily Deals that may have goodies for our family or friends for Christmas gifts. I can order things when they are significantly on sale and get free shipping on them. The Prime free shipping doesn't have a minimum price that must be met, so even if I see one or two things that don't add up to much money, I can order them and still have them shipped for free.
Free Prime streaming video
We don't pay for cable. It's too expensive, and there are too many things we don't want to watch. Amazon Prime members get quite a few streaming movies, tv shows, and original Amazon shows for free.
Not all of the streaming video is something we would watch, of course, but there are a good many family-friendly movies and tv shows as well as documentaries that can be used for school- or just for fun because I love documentaries.
There are many devices that can stream the Prime video- Kindles, iPhones, Android phones and tablets, game consoles. Or you can buy the Amazon Fire and attach it to your tv. The Fire can stream Amazon movies as well as Netflix, Hulu and other streaming channels as well as play many apps from the Amazon app store.
Kindle lending library
I love my Kindle. Although I still love to hold and read physical books sometimes (call me crazy!), I love the convenience of my Kindle and the fact that I can carry and access thousands of books in one device. As a Prime member, I also can borrow Kindle books from the Kindle lending library.
Amazon Prime members can check out one Kindle book per month from the lending library. Yes, I wish it were more than one. But I can check it out on any device, and there is no specific due date. When the month is up, and I turn it in, I can check out another. It's a good way to read a Kindle book I wasn't sure I'd like and didn't really want to pay for.
These are three of my favorite money-saving reasons to keep our Amazon Prime membership. There are many, many other benefits of Amazon Prime. My current Amazon Prime price is $99. Occasionally Amazon has certain offers or deals that may change the price. There is usually a 30-day FREE trial so that you can check it out before you commit. You can find out all the details of membership benefits and price here.
Are you an Amazon Prime member? What's your favorite benefit?
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July 12, 2016 is Prime Day over at Amazon. Prime members will have access to all kinds of deals throughout the day. There are over 100,000 deals that day on all kinds of products. It's a bigger even than Black Friday. I'm planning on using Prime Day to shop for upcoming Christmas and birthday gifts.
If you've been thinking about Prime membership, signing up before July 12 will allow you to shop the Prime Day sales.
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