Conserving energy, and making the most of it, extends to Saving Money. After all, we put huge personal energy into making money. So, why not treat our money with the same respect we show to water, air, heat and light?
I order my staple groceries online because I can’t drive since I had tetanus, and it’s much less costly than hiring someone to go to stores for me. Plus, I get to select what I want rather than relying on someone to make choices for me, which almost never match up to what I would have chosen after discovering my first choice sold out.
The question for me is ~ Where do I shop to best conserve my money? Does Vitacost or Amazon cost less? Or… Swanson? I recently discovered that Swanson (the vitamin people) offer Better Than Bouillon ~ Organic Chicken, Doctor Kracker (crackers with significant protein content), and organic peanut butter, which were the things I needed the day I made the discovery. There was 10% off that day at Swanson, so in fact Swanson was cheaper than either Vitacost or Amazon.
For overall selection my first choices are Amazon and Vitacost, and as of today, I’m adding Swanson to that.
Better Than Bouillon is a great way to make my brown rice taste spectacular, so I love to have it on hand. Roasted Chicken Base is $4.81 at Vitacost, $5.30 at Swanson, and $6.07 on Amazon.
Amazon offers free shipping with a $35 purchase, or you can pay $119 for Prime for free 2-day shipping for a year which allows you to order smaller amounts. If you’re a student, that drops down to $59/yr. There are also monthly rates. An added benefit is that you get free video streaming and a lot of free music options.
Swanson charges $9.99 for shipping any size order, but sometimes offers free shipping on orders of varying amounts.
Vitacost also offers free shipping on orders of $49, or more.
Since Amazon and Vitacost offer thousands of products a comprehensive comparison is beyond my capabilities. What I did, instead, was compare a sampling of items I regularly order online. In many cases the two sellers have matched their prices, but for Olive Oil, the clear savings, almost fifty percent, is with Amazon. And, there’s a small savings to be had on Doctor Kracker flatbreads (which happen to have a good amount of protein in them and, they’re strong enough to dip peanut butter from the jar.)
There’s a savings to be had with Vitacost on several items in my monthly list of buys, to include $2 on Maca and Organic Whey Powder, over $4 on Coconut Flour and Organic Sugar, and $6 on Meyenberg Goat Milk. Bob’s Red Mill Powdered milk, 22 oz. is $7.19 on sale at Vitacost, $9.59 at Swanson’s with an additional 10% off if you have the current code which would make it $8.64, and $7.19 as an add-on item at Amazon, meaning your order must be $25 or more for free shipping.
For the following chart I widened my comparisons to include things you may buy but I don’t.
| Amazon | Vitacost | Swanson |
|---|---|---|
| Baby Food | Baby Food | Baby Food |
| Earth's Best 12 pack $9.20 | Earth's Best .89/jar | Earth's Best .89/jar |
| Gerber 18 pack $15.99 | Gerber $1.43/jar | Gerber N/A |
| Rice and Legumes | Rice and Legumes | Rice and Legumes |
| Lundgren organic Brown Rice 32/oz 6 pack $28.74 | Lundgren organic Brown Rice 32/oz $4.79 x 6 $28.74 | Lundgren organic brown rice N/A |
| Westbrae organic black beans 12 pack $15.84 | Westbrae organic black beans $2.41/can | Westbrae organic black beans N/A |
| Eden organic black beans 12 pack $26.74 | Eden organic black beans $1.69/can | Eden organic black beans $2.29/can |
| Canned Vegetables | Canned Vegetables | Canned Vegetables |
| Farmer's Market organic pumpkin 12 pack $19.28 | Farmer's Market organic pumpkin $1.89/can | Farmer's Market organic pumpkin $2.14/can |
| Organic canned peas 12 pack $16.03 | Organic canned peas N/A | Organic canned peas N/A |
| Muir diced organic tomatoes 12 pack $14.18 | Muir diced organic tomatoes $1.99/can | Muir diced organic tomatoes N/A |
| Muir tomato sauce 24 pack $20.18 | Muir tomato sauce .99/can | Muir tomato sauce N/A |
| Canned green chiles 12 pack $21.86 | Canned green chiles $2.29/can | Canned green chiles N/A |
| Canned Soup | Canned Soup | Canned Soup |
| Wolfgang Puck organic chicken noodle 12 pack $38.99 | Wolfgang Puck organic chicken noodle $3.09/can | Wolfgang Puck organic chicken noodle N/A |
| Wolfgang Puck organic chicken rice 12 pack $27.57 | Wolfgang Puck organic chicken rice $3.09/can | Wolfgang Puck organic chicken rice N/A |
Prices on Amazon fluctuate more than prices at Vitacost.
I’ve switched to Palestinian Olive Oil to support the kids there, but for the record, in the time since I did my original research, Amazon’s Colavita Olive Oil has gone up to $29.48 for two 34 ounce tins. Vitacost offers a single 34 ounce bottle for $18.69, which is $37.38 for two, or $7.90 more than Amazon. Swanson offers a 17 ounce bottle for $10.99.
I use a lot of olive oil, which is super healthy for us, so for me the savings was one for which I was especially grateful. But then I decided to buy my olive oil from Gaza to support Palestinian kids. The Palestinian Olive Oil spout in narrower, so it lasts surprisingly long. It is more costly, but I feel good about supporting the kids.
In the final analysis, I order primarily from Amazon because of the extensive choice, quick shipping, and largely lower prices. I love the Prime option and use it frequently for streaming as well as shipping. Their Bosch detective series is Excellent.
Together, Amazon, Vitacost and Swanson deliver excellent food options for me, especially since I switched to Organic.
3/16/2014 ~ Medium, pitted black olives are great in spaghetti sauce. I like them better than meatballs, though the Italian Sausage from my local Italian shop in Chapel Market, London, made absolutely superb meatballs.
Vitacost’s Santa Barbara Olives are $2.79 per can, while on Amazon I found Mario Camacho Low Sodium Black Olives for $27.51 for a pack of 12. That’s $2.29 each. I have Amazon Prime, so on Wednesday, that’s two business days from now, I’ll have my olives. Happiness! If I “subscribe and save” I’ll have to wait till the 25th of the month but the cost will be reduced to $23.38. Swanson’s doesn’t offer ripe/black olives.
Wild Garden Hummus is a lifesaver on days I forget to start my brown rice in time for it to be ready by dinner. A jar of hummus is a lovely dinner, eaten with Doctor Kracker Crispbread while I watch episodes. I like it better than popcorn.
Amazon offers a 6 pack of Wild Garden Jalapeno (very hot, by the way) for $29.88. It’s from an outside seller, so shipping is free without prime or a minimum purchase amount.
Vitacost charges is $3.39 a jar which comes out to $20.34 for 6, saving you nearly $10. Swanson doesn’t carry Wild Garden.
7/28/2015 ~ Organic peanut butter: Amazon’s best deal (that I can find) is a 6 pack of Peanut Butter & Company Smooth Operator for $23.64, each 16 oz. I use “Subscribe and Save” so it’s $20.09. Vitacost is $5.89 for Santa Cruz, organic, 16 oz. Swanson is $7.59 for Arrowhead Mills.
I use a lot of peanut butter for the protein and potassium. If you find yourself feeling weak, it could be a lack of potassium. We need thousands of mg a day. Potassium is essential ~ Read more.
I tried the Earth Balance with coconut oil, which tastes lovely, but I think the oil is just too much additional fat for me since I’m having more pain. I think the pain may be related to inflammation related to eating more fat.
No, apparently NOT. I just did some quick research and found that researchers have discovered that in fact coconut oil has more anti-inflammatory properties than some prescription drugs for RA (rheumatoid arthritis). Read more.
4/24/2014 ~ Vitacost removed me from their affiliate program today. First they said I was not to order from them via my site, then they objected to me getting a discount and a commission. What confuses me about that position is that I’d get a commission if someone else ordered from my site and got the discount, so the overall numbers are exactly the same.
I was surprised to see that I didn’t have any Vitacost links on this page, anyway.
It feels good to be rid of an irritating relationship. I don’t like fighting for commissions. That takes all the fun out of promoting a company or product. I like commissions since they are vital to keeping my home, but I want to be healthy in my home and stress is very UN-healthy.