Sue's Amazon Favorites of 2024

Note: As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases.

If you are not an Amazon fan, I get it... But there is something about the convenience of a few clicks and items arriving 24 hours later or even sooner!  

If you are trying to figure out some gift ideas this coming holiday season or just trying to pick up something different for yourself, I thought I would share a few items that were new for me this year from Amazon.

Kitchen

I admit to having a kitchen gadget addiction.  I am trying to start to get rid of those that I don't use, but here are a few new ones in heavy rotation:

An empty nester's best friend when you are used to cooking for 4 and are down to 2...  Just freeze the extra servings for another day!  I regularly use these silicone freezer trays to save some when I make a big batch of rice in my pressure cooker, so I can make fried rice on my Blackstone when the mood strikes me.  I still have the larger 2 cup trays on my Amazon Wish List.

Speaking of the Blackstone... Through the Blackstone grilling group I am on on Facebook, I learned about a few unknown-to-me sauces/marinades including Bachan's Asian sauces for fried rice (get that at  Costco/BJ's Wholesale at much better pricing than Amazon):

A little pricey, but a simple-yet-unique marinade called Chiavetta's.  Worked well with boneless chicken.  Not sure if I have seen anything like it in the supermarket here, but I may just have missed it.

I *chronically* overcook meat unless probes are involved!  For much less than the price of wireless options, I got a four probe meat thermometer set so that I can have one probe in each end of the roast and then a third in the veggie lasagna for the vegetarian relatives at the holidays!  A small base unit hangs on the handle of your oven door while you can walk around the house with the wireless unit.

Rather than disposable K-cups, we use the reusable K-cup that came with our Keurig.  But getting the grounds out after using it is quite annoying without using these handy filters.  Don't forget that coffee filters and grounds are compostable!

Health & Beauty

OK, this one is more like one of Hubby's favorites, but he's really enjoyed the switch from traditional shampoo to bar soap.  He uses the "Chill Out" scent of Grown Ass Man which is good balance of "mainly" smells without it being too overpowering.  He opts to only use this on his hair and uses other soap on his body.  In our house, Santa includes some personal care items in your stocking, so I've asked Santa to include a bar or two for Hubby's stocking.

Oh but I *do* get my shampoo and conditioner from Amazon too!  Like many women of a certain age, I find my hair has gotten much thinner and more limp than in my youth.  While it was not overnight, PURA D'OR has brought volume back to my limp hair.  Definitely recommend if you are struggling!

Clothing

I lived in these Sketchers Pier-Lite Sandals this summer!  Super easy to slide on and off and comfy!  Sketchers seems to have picked up the Easy Spirit slogan philosophy of "Looks like a pump, feels like a sneaker!"

Outdoors/Home

What are these gadgets you ask?  We have a long driveway in dark neighborhood.  These lights make our driveway look like an airport landing strip for those coming to visit these dark winter evenings.  They can withstand a car driving over them too!  Lights have about a 2-3 year lifespan before we replace them.  So we are on our third set.

I have to admit, this steam cleaner was a frustrated-with-cleaning impulse buy, but did a solid job cleaning various floors.  I even used the more targeted nozzle to clean the crud around the bathroom sink drains and other odd spaces.

What are you looking for this holiday season?

2024 Prime Days - Oct 8th and 9th

 

Links below may be referral links.

So yes, we have learned over the years that Amazon's various promo days tend to just re-hash sales they already had over the last few months.  October Prime Big Deal Days are likely just a method of cleaning out warehouse space in preparation for the upcoming holidays.  

What do I usually look for during promos like this?

1. Gift Cards under Lightning Deals - They do not come out often normally, but there are often restaurant gift cards that are discounted 20% during these sale events.  Of course, as I type this, there are no gift cards but fear not, as Lightning Deals change over the course of the day.

2. Things I regularly buy from Amazon anyway - I have a few obscure items that I wouldn't even know where to find them outside of a larger store front like Amazon.  Like I get little mini filters for our Keurig to make it easier to get the coffee grounds out into the compost bin.  Heck, I pretty much get all my filters including HEPA and refrigerator water filters off Amazon.  

3. Things I fought the urge to impulse buy but left in my "save for later" section of my cart.  I started adding a few items to my "saved" items list that I think my now-officially-adult kids might enjoy.  Like my son now that he's doing his own cooking noted that he enjoys new spices, and I noticed that there is an advent calendar of spices!  Alas, not on sale, so I will continue to stalk.

The important thing - Check a site like camelcamelcamel to see if its really a good deal!

What I am currently kicking myself for buying in the last few weeks because they are on sale today?  We have a long driveway and since discovering the individual solar lights that lie on the driveway it had been a game changer.  Yes, our driveway looks like an airport runway at night!  The solar batteries do deteriorate after a few years so we needed a replacement set.  The brand I normally buy (Jackyled) is actually on sale for 25% today.

What are you stalking on Amazon right now?

Sue the Bargain Hunter: Return of the Bargains

Disclaimer:  Post contains referral links.

It is hard to believe it has now been 20 years since I officially got the title "Mom"!  The budget ran leaner in those early days, and thus the reason for Sue the Bargain Hunter emerged. 

Currently, while I take a break from my professional career, I find myself listening to budget/financial blogs like those from Ramsey, Suze Orman, etc.  Even if you are financially stable, it cannot hurt to pause and pause to check if you are using your resources wisely!  

My shopping habits these days?

I have spent a lot of time (and money) in BJs/Costco the last few years - I am lazy and shop in bulk, but generally try to time my purchasing so that I only buy certain items if there is a coupon.  But now that I am an "empty nester", that bulk shopping is just too much and going to waste.  So I need to go back to shopping the traditional grocery store like ShopRite and Weis.  Bloggers like Living Rich with Coupons continue to be the experts in the local shopping game, so I would continue to defer to them in all those coupon matchups.  And yes, a whole lot of Amazon (referral) continues to be very good at delivery to my house and my Amazon Associates account is still active for when I want to share items I like at Amazon with friends...

But I still continue to use a few saving apps too!

Rakuten  (referral) - Yes, I have given up my privacy to have my shopping stalked!  Just make sure you turn off notifications if they disrupt you and remember to log into the app before you start shopping on your phone!

Fetch  (referral) - Fetch processes both your paper receipts and your electronic receipts received via email, giving you credit on top of sales prices when you buy their target items.  I even recently got bigger bonuses recently after buying something from Dick's Sporting Goods since Dick's shipped via DoorDash (so I was able to combine Rakuten and Fetch!).  I just cashed in my first Amazon gift card.

As an Amazon Associate, I earn commission from qualifying purchases.