As I type this, my first child is due just a little over 2 weeks from now and, as a personal finance fanatic (a.k.a. Cheapskate), I wanted to find the best ways I can save some money for all the items my wife and I will need for his arrival without sacrificing quality and safety. Kids can be expensive! According to different studies, your baby’s first year can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 so finding ways to save can be critical to reach your financial goals. What I found is Amazon.com can actually be a great tool to help you save! Just use these tips. Honestly, they are so good I’m writing this without this being sponsored or any affiliate links (*although I wouldn’t say no if Amazon offered…)

1) Use an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Credit Card

Now this isn’t baby specific, but can make a huge difference for savings on Amazon.com. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can earn 5% Cash Back on Amazon.com when you make qualifying purchases with this card, offered by Chase Bank. You also get 5% back at Whole Foods and in Amazon’s physical stores. That means for every $100 spent, you’ll get $5 back. I know that may not sound like a lot but it adds up quickly, especially if you already do a lot of shopping on Amazon. This includes purchases for digital downloads, Amazon.com Gift Cards, the Amazon Prime Subscription, and even some Third-Party sellers sold through the market place. You can also qualify for some “Exclusive Prime Cardmember Offers” which vary from an extra 5-20% back in Rewards. These are changing rewards on different products but sometimes cover those baby essentials.

However if you’re not a Prime member or you end your membership, you won’t get the “Exclusive Prime Cardmember Offers” and you’ll only get 3% Cash Back on Amazon.com instead of 5%. That’s still better than the 1% to 2% you get with other credit cards. Also, whether you’re a Prime member or not, you get 2% Cash Back at Restaurants, Gas Stations, and Drugstores and 1% Back on all other Purchases. Needless to say, these are some great benefits but if you tend to over spend on credit cards and think you will end up not being able to pay off the whole balance every month, you’ll lose more in interest than you make from cash back and shouldn’t get this card. If you can manage the card well though, then this is a “No Brainer”. You can learn more at the link, Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Signature Card.

2) The Amazon Baby Registry Discount Secret

Before you’re baby get’s here, you’ll probably want to make a list of items you need to buy. Amazon makes it easy to create and share a baby registry with your friends and family. This can save some money by allowing you to let your friends and family know what you need for your little one. Their registries have features like;

• Checklist of Items the help you find what you may need

• Easy sharing features

• Tracks what’s been purchased so you don’t end up with two of the same thing and makes “Thank You” cards easier

• There is also a “Group Gift” Option where people can contribute to your more expensive purchases

• A “Diaper Fund” feature that allows friends and family to contribute to Diaper costs

• Review “Other Registries” to see what other new parents are looking to get

These features are all good and great but many other online registries offer similar features and maybe you don’t have many friends or family who can afford to help out with buying some baby needs. One benefit that makes for incredible savings you probably didn’t know about, the Big Secret, is the “Registry Completion Discount”. The way it works is you must set up your registry for at least 14 days and add baby’s “Arrival Date” in the settings. Then, Amazon offers you 15% Off to purchase the remaining items in your registry. The Completion Discount starts 60 days before the Arrival Date and expires 90 days after. To get the discount, you must add items to your cart from the “Completion Discount View”. You access that view by clicking on the “Completion Discount Eligible” link and then the “Completion Discount View”. The items must also be purchased by the Primary Registrant to qualify.

Now, this benefit only applies to certain eligible items and can only be used on up to $2,000 combined value. I know the “certain eligible items” may make you think it’s only on cheap items, but that turned out not to be the case! Some of the more expensive eligible items from the registry we created were;

• The Chico Bravo 3-in-1 Travel System ($399.99 Value)

• 128 count Newborn and 198 Count Size 1 Diapers ($96.25 Value)

• Ubbi Steel Diaper Pail ($79.00 Value)

• Ergobaby Omni Baby Carrier ($108.99 Value)

• And the Graco Pack ‘n Play ($259.97 Value)

I think it goes without saying, you can easily max out the $2,000 value and save on those expensive items you need! You can also stack savings with the 3-5% Cash Back from an Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card. You can read the details for this discount at this link, Amazon Completion Discount.

3) Max out the “Subscribe and Save” Feature

Once baby is here, you can optimize your savings with Amazon’s “Subscribe and Save” Feature. On Amazon, certain products offer two payment options; One-Time Purchase and Subscribe and Save. If you click the Subscribe and Save option, you’ll see you can save an extra 5% or 15% on your purchase. Then, you schedule how often you want these items delivered. You can have them delivered anywhere from once every 2 weeks to once every 6 months and you can skip or cancel anytime. The difference between how much you save depends on how many products you subscribe to have delivered together in one auto-delivery to one address. If you can get 5 or more items automated together, you’ll save 15% on all those items. How does this help us with our new baby? Let’s break down how it works with some baby needs:

• For your Baby, you’ll regularly need;

  • Diapers (you’ll probably change your baby 10 to 12 times per day)

  • Wet Wipes

  • Diaper Cream

  • Tissues (to wipe baby’s little nose)

  • Baby Shampoo (Who doesn’t love that Clean Baby Smell?!)

• You search them on Amazon.com with the Filter “Subscribe and Save Eligible”

• You find the products you need and click “Set Up Now” to set a delivery

• You schedule all 5 to be delivered once a month (or more often if needed) to your house on the same day

• Now Every month, fresh diapers, wipes, cream, tissues and shampoo show up on your front door and you Save 15%!

Seems to easy to be true! And if you use the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa, you can save an extra 3-5% with Cash Back. You could save 20% on diapers every month! That’s huge! You also save by not having to go to the store, not worrying about your next delivery, and not worrying about running out. It saves time and money. It’s also offered on all kinds of products from laundry detergent to protein shakes so you can max your savings on regular purchases. I personally use this service all the time and love it.

The only hard part is judging how often you need specific products. Amazon will recommend how often a product is delivered “Most Common” but you have to do what’s right for your family. You also want to make sure the product isn’t cheaper elsewhere. It doesn’t make sense to save 20% off the Amazon price if you can buy it at the grocery store for 50% less. You can learn more about “Subscribe and Save” with this link, Amazon “Subscribe and Save”.

The Wrap-Up

As you can tell, there are a lot of ways to save with Amazon and ways to stack or max out those savings! Just remember;

• 5% Cash Back only applies for Current Prime Members

• If you can’t manage a credit card, it will cost you more than it will save you

• Along with other features Amazon offers a 15% Off Completion Discount to help with your Baby Registry

• If you can manage 5 or More Items for one auto-delivery to one address, you can save an Extra 15% with Subscribe and Save

• With all benefits and discounts, pay attention to the fine print. They may change from the time this is published until the time you use the benefits.

No matter what, remember that the Number One Key to Financial Success is Financial Literacy, so keep learning.

*Disclosure* This is NOT financial advice and I am NOT a Certified Financial Planner. All information is provided for educational purposes only and is not to be construed as advice. Everyone’s financial situation is different and requires individualized planning. Seek out a Certified Financial Planner for assistance with your own financial situation.