Often times thinking and planning ahead just consume too much time such that the easiest thing to do is just live in the present and do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. Take buying consumables like food, toilet paper, soap, etc. Everyone buys these things day in day out, week in week out, etc. with little thought about what they actually need other than to cook some dish or entertain some guests.

However, what we discovered is that if one puts just a tiny bit of time into how often these frequently consumed items get used up around the house we could minimize those very expensive last minute trips to the convenience store and also save 20-40% on the costs of these items. Here are some examples - there are many more I'm sure you can think of on your own:

Consumables:

Lets start out with something like toilet paper. Everyone needs it and if you buy it from the grocery (where it is convenient) you pay a premium for this convenience but because it is bulky it costs a lot of shelf space at the grocery so you pay extra to buy it there.

• Toilet Paper - One giant roll lasts about 2-3 days per stay at home person. If both parents work during the day one roll lasts 4-5 days. There are 8 rolls in a package and 5 packages in a case. So a case lasts between 120 and 200 days depending on how many parents work. So you could schedule delivery of this item every 4 or 6 months and not ever have to think about it again. This saves you 28% off the list price of this item (excluding the cost of driving to the store to buy it because it is delivered right to your doorstep).

Amazon hasn't yet figured out how to make these items scheduled delivery, but I can imagine that it is only a matter of time before you can order anything that is regularly consumed in advance and at a discount. Here are some food items we use with great frequency to give you an idea how to set up your own plan. Today I just order these items manually but looking forward to the day when I don't have to think about it.

Food Items:

• Cereal - One box lasts 3-4 days and if you buy in bulk there are 6 boxes in each case. So you would need about one case of cereal per month.

How much can you Save?

So lets talk real numbers. Say you just buy cereal this way for a year, how much does this save you? In our case, only Whole Foods carries Familia cereal and the cheapest price per box I've seen them have is $5.64 versus Amazon's price which is $3.82 (which amounts to $1.82 cheaper per box or 32% savings). Over the course of a year that savings amounts to $131. When we lived in Brooklyn, we paid $7 per box plus had to carry it back to our apartment.

The less frequently you buy something obviously the less you save on scheduling delivery of it. But Amazon makes this very "risk free" allowing you to cancel this at any time while still enjoying the 15% discount off their already low prices. Thus far we have enjoyed this convenience provided by scheduled delivery (what Amazon calls "subscription") and figure we save around $400 a year in lower costs of items. Since we don't have a car we don't facture in time in trips to the store, gas, or other things like that. The above cost savings is what we save in 5 subscribed items.

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