Now Amazon Has Layaway?

 As if I needed another way to spend money I don't have... Amazon has a layaway program. No thank you, ma'am. As if it is, I have to restrict myself from even looking at the Amazon site for 3 days of the week just so I don't go broke(r).

Reading the morning news, I saw a CNET article about Amazon's new webpage. The Bezo money vacuum site wants to make sure that we shoppers don't miss any chance at all to send our money that way.

I need to follow @poutnpowder!

I've never been much of a layaway kind of shopper. I mean, I have used layaway programs once or twice (maybe three times) but using layaway was a big motivation for me to keep my credit in good standing. The times I used a layaway program were during my bad credit days. (And, yes, I know that not everyone is able to build good credit.) 

To be honest, the Amazon layaway program isn't for the faint of heart. There are a couple of pros but you do have to pay the amount off within 8 weeks' time. That's not better for me than how I use my credit cards. I don't buy anything that I cannot pay off in full when the bill comes due. That's why I really don't care too, too much about APRs. It's a great way to build your credit rating and keep your spending in check.

It is probably a good thing though that Amazon is trying to keep shoppers informed about its attempt to take over the world all the "perks" of a membership. I have posted here before about some things that people weren't taking advantage of.

At any rate, do check out the CNET article and do explore all the membership benefits. If you are paying, you should at least get maximum usage.

Peace

--Free

Amazon's Been Hiding (Bulk Buy) Stuff

 Katt Williams will understand me when I say that I am both happy and sad right now.

I just found out that Amazon has a bulk Bulk Food Supply department. I do probably 90% of my grocery, household, and personal goods shopping on Amazon. I actually once found their site directory. And that directory does not link to the Restaurant and Bulk Food Supply department I just discovered. By complete accident.

So I am happy that I stumbled onto the page but sad that I didn't know about it before.

Lately, I've been in bread-baking mode. I have refined my basic bread skills and am working on learning the Tangzhoung method for my yeast bread.  I love baking for two reasons: it's cheaper to bake it than to buy it (especially brioche or other specialty bread), and it's therapeutic. It's probably beneficial to brain function because I really have to focus and concentrate on each step. 

The smell of flour and yeast and eventually, fresh-baked bread is just a whole other level of aromatherapy. 

Yesterday, I made my first mostly-successful loaf of Japanese Milk Bread. Next time, I plan to get it just right. Because mine did not come out this nicely...

Anyway, I was going to buy more yeast in the little neighborhood market. A tiny set of packs - about a tablespoon each - was almost 2 dollars. The last jar I had - that has lasted me for a long while - was from a neighbor. Once when we were out and she lost her card, I gave her a tiny bit of money. I wouldn't let her return it so when she saw me baking one day, she ran home and came back with a brand new jar of yeast. She bought it thinking she needed it for a one-time recipe.

I checked all the groceries on Instacart and, yep, yeast is pricey. I decided to look for something in bulk. Nothing at Walmart, Target, or Amazon. At least, that's what I thought when I tried just using the Amazon search bar.

Where do most of us go searching online? Google. My search query? "online food supply".  Because I' lazy. Guess what came up right near the top of the search returns?

It's probably because the internet spies know me better than my own family. I wasn't surprised that Amazon was at the top. But I kinda was...

Normally, when I'm searching for food products and Amazon switches categories for me it's from "All Departments" to "Grocery & Gourmet Food". Not this:

Anyway.

Since I was there, I went about looking for some yeast in larger packages. I found this 1-pound package.

I like everything about it except that the package is not resealable. 

I had to put some in my old yeast jar in the fridge then seal the rest airtight to keep in the freezer. Every time I open the main package, I will risk spilling yeast everywhere. Annoying.

Back when I started this post, I had only been looking for things very basic bread-baking supplies. Recently, I have been looking into buying things to make seeded and sprouted grain bread. I will have to check out this Bulk section so I can do price comparisons. Another thing I find worth buying in bulk are paper plates, plastic utensils, and other household items I love as a single gal.

Anyway, there you have it. In case you were looking.

To summarize:

Buying in bulk saves money. You don't have to have a large family to buy in bulk. Amazon has competitive prices when buying in bulk. Compare prices. Get a food sealer. Do your research.

Peace

--Free

Amazon's Shabby Monitoring of Sellers

 Amazon will sometimes reject my product reviews. It doesn't happen often but it happens. Most recently it happened when I noted that a product had different ingredients listed on the product page than what was on the label of the product I received. I wish they were as diligent about checking the product page information as they are about gatekeeping on customer reviews.

I got a fast refund for the product I just mentioned. Just yesterday I got another product that had different ingredients shown on the label than what the product page showed.

In this most recent instance, the difference was irritating but not harmful. 

I bought this balm because of the ingredients shown on Amazon. You know how I have gotten about checking the 1st 5 ingredients. Well, this was kind of bait and switch, don't you think?

what I ordered

what I got

Totally different arrangement of the ingredients, yes?

I was irritated but not too concerned.

However.

In the other instance... I refuse to use the product because one of the ingredients is a little sketchy.

what I ordered
(magnified for you)

what I got

What is that on the next to the last line on the ingredients? Urea? Urea is something I've had used during pedicures to remove dead skin. Just sloughed it right off after a few minutes of massage. I'm not sure it's something I want near my hair.

You all know that I rely heavily on Amazon - and Walmart, Target, and whoever else delivers - since I no longer drive. I don't think it's a pesky thing to ask that they try being more accurate.

Anyway, once again, I will be contacting Amazon and the seller to let them know about this. At least I usually hear back from Amazon or the sellers there. Walmart is still new to problem-solving. That's one of the reasons I have not switched from Prime to Walmart+. Same price but totally different services.

Jeff Bezos is no longer hungry so he no longer cares.

Peace

--Free

**REVIEW** Resolve Easy Clean Pro Carpet Cleaner Gadget

This apartment is tiny and I am tidy but the carpets are terrible. The fibers are cheap and flatten if you look at them. Also, the carpeting shows every speck of dirt. 90 percent of the time, I am the only living being here so I've managed to keep it decent. Mostly. I have had to blot up a few coffee and juice spills. Also, I have knocked over more than one potted plant.

My 3-year move-in anniversary is just around the corner so I guess my carpets aren't that bad. It probably helps that I have a really good vacuum. Still, dirt happens.

I have tried all kinds of foams, sprays, and powders. I misread somewhere once that I could get up more grime by sprinkling a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. Misread. The article was actually about using the concoction to get rid of odors. At any rate, I ended up getting the sticky powder mess all over the outside of my vacuum and clothes. It was a total ache in the hind parts. Never again.

I was almost to the point of pricing carpet machine rentals. Then I ran across this:

And then this:

Look how happy she looks. Happy to be cleaning...

That's the Resolve Easy Clean Pro Carpet Cleaner Gadget, folks. I love that they call it a gadget and didn't give it some fancier b.s type of name.

This is what I want: to use a scrub brush without having to do kill my back and knees. And then I saw the price and was very happy. When I got mine a few days ago, the price was just under $19 for the gadget and a can of the foam. I checked back just now and see that the price has skyrocketed up to - get this - over 40 bucks.

unassembled

Let me tell you all about how I love this thing first, then I will tell you that there is no way I would pay over $25 for it. So all the positives I list are for the price I paid (or up to $25):

The worst part of the carpet is in the immediate entryway and it looked like before cleaning:

You can see how dirty it is leading to the kitchen from the front door

Less dingy and much softer

PROS:

• Fairly easy to assemble (took me 15 minutes only because I had a little trouble getting one part of the handle to connect).
• Comes with a can of cleaning foam.
• The foam had no chemical-ly or overly toxic-like odor. I did have the windows open and ceiling fans going but there were none of those cough-inducing fumes some products have.
• Disperses the foam in even patterns. This made it easy for me to clean the carpet in grid sections.
• With the scrubber, it was even easy to get the edges clean (where the carpet meets the linoleum) and I always had trouble with that area.
• I didn't have to kneel to scrub and crawl around on the damp floor.
• The included foam was decent enough. For my moderately dirty carpet, this worked really well. I don't think it would do a great job on heavier staining.
• The scrubber works really well for brushing the foam into the carpet fibers. I have cheap apartment carpet where the fibers flatten easily. The scrubber helped raise the nap which made the carpet look "revived".
• The dried foam vacuumed up well without leaving a lot of residue and it felt so much softer afterward. 
• The device is easy to rinse clean when finished and the handle can be disassembled for storage if needed. (It doesn't take up much space as is so I am leaving it assembled and stored with the rest of the mops and brooms.)

CONS:

• The handle is slightly flimsy. I had to grip with one hand higher up and the other hand lower down to apply good pressure without worrying about breaking the handle. (I am thinking of wrapping the entire handle with packing or duct tape to strengthen it.)
• One can of the foam isn't enough to treat even a small section of medium-soiled carpet. I am guesstimating that my entryway (more than seen in the photos) is around 6' x 8' and I used over 2.5 cans of foam.
• The foam worked better when I lightly dampened the carpet with a spray bottle first. The water helped the foam penetrate better and helped cut back on the amount of foam I had to use so I highly recommend that.
• The Pet Xpert foam that came with the device didn't seem to work as well as the additional High Traffic foam I bought.  This is fair because the High Traffic is advertised as having "3 times more dirt removal.  (And I noticed that the Pet Xpert that is sold separately is different than what came with the device. All the single cans are marked with "5x" the benefits. The can I got did not have this on the can.)
• I don't have pets or kids so I can't comment on the smell "removal" but I didn't get a hint of any kind of "fresh" smell afterward. But the foam didn't stink either so... 
• In the humid climate I live in, the foam took way more than the suggested 2 hours to dry. To be fair, I did dampen the carpet and I did go over some areas more than once with the foam. In the end, I started cleaning around 3 and finished in a couple of hours. I checked the carpet at around 8 and it was still damp. I left it to finish drying overnight.

You can tell that the cleaner highlights the slight dinginess of the parts I didn't clean. I will deal with that later by going over the rest of the carpet lightly,

Overall, I am really glad that I got this thing - especially at that good price. I hate cleaning my carpet just because of the bending and scrubbing by hand. I get dirty, my clothes get dirty and wet and, ugh! This way was also better because I was able to do more scrubbing with less work. The High Traffic cans of foam did an amazing job.

Because this made carpet cleaning easier, I am thinking of doing the chore on a more regular basis.

The one thing that stops me from recommending this as highly as I could is the more expensive price. I would suggest watching the price (maybe use Honey or another price-watch app) for a drop. If they were selling it at under 19 bucks so recently, they'll probably do that again. By the way, the 4 cans of High Traffic foam cost me around 16 bucks. Since I still have a couple of cans left, I think that's a bargain. Because the carpet is now clean, I will be able to use those additional cans for spot-cleaning.

This will make a great gift for someone older or with a back bad. Just make sure to wrap the handle if you feel it's too flimsy for you. And don't forget to slightly dampen the carpet first!

Peace
--Free

**REVIEW** Kevyn Aucoin's Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation

Don't even ask me how I snagged a 58 dollar product for 18. Either I got supremely lucky or I got a fake. Even if this stuff is fake, it's a dang good fake

stole the photo from
Amazon

That is Kevyn Aucoin's Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation in the shade of ef 16 - Deep.

I wasn't even looking for a foundation when I saw this. It popped up on side-advert when I was shopping for shampoo. For real. But once I saw it, I remembered watching a documentary about Kevyn Aucoin. I had been struck by the fact that he was kind of responsible for the makeup industry offering products for more skin colors. Thanks to him, I guess, "nude" doesn't just mean "nude and pinky/peach". Also, he died young, which was really sad.

The documentary really played up Aucoin's natural talent with makeup and artistry. If I never believed his skills before now...

This foundation is so amazingly sheer that it looks sort of sprayed on. And sprayed on in a light mist of color. It's sort of veil-like. The name says it all: ethereal and illuminating. By the way, I just took a peek at the Kevyn Aucoin Beauty site and saw this about the Etherealist line:

...Creates a natural, luminous, airbrushed appearance. The Etherealist Skin Illuminating Foundation blends effortlessly for shine-free, comfortable wear. 

All true and I'll tell you what, for 58 bucks, it's supposed to be this good.

I've tried pricey foundations because I haven't always been this broke. And I get spoiled by family and friends. I remember thinking that Lancome's Teint Idole was awesome (and it is). I even tried Armani and St. Laurent. Borghese would have been awesome but had no suitable shades for me at the time. All of these were amazing but with amazing price tags. Aucoin's only cost me 18 dollars and I still can't get over it.

As I said, this has a very light and veil-like look. I almost feel as if I'm wearing only my moisturizer. The shad, if I didn't mention it, is ef 16 Deep and I have never - not even with the Teint Idole - matched a shade so perfectly.

That's a neck swatch you can't see

This shade matches me so well that the only way I know I'm wearing any is that it softened my features. The website says that this is a "medium" coverage foundation but I think it leans towards very sheer and light coverage. Probably it's because it does match my skin so well that it doesn't seem to be buildable.

Not blended in

smudged

Blended in

So I have decided that I am basically the color of chocolate milk. I have also decided that I love this foundation. The one downfall is that I won't be able to afford it should the price go back up. If it's a fake, I will be looking for more. This will be right up with my favorite Foach bag, Folex watch. No shame to my game. I don't need the real thing, I just like a cute face, purse, and watch. So, for the person on Reddit who bet me that this foundation is a fake, if they are offended, they can always buy me a bottle of the authentic stuff.

Peace
--Free

**SIFO** UPDATE Amazon's Solimo Brand

UPDATED: Go to end of post for mew pics/items

You all know that I am an Amazon fanatic. I would like to stand on my moral high ground and hate them for the way they allegedly treat their employees and conduct internal business. I am too broke and carless to be that pious in my shopping habits. Therefore...

Have you noticed the Solimo brand of products while on Amazon? If not, you need to take a look.

I can't vouch for anything but the paper towels - which have disappeared off the face of the earth along with toilet tissue, baby wipes, and common sense. However, those paper towels were pretty good. I can't remember what they cost now, but I know that they had to have been cheaper than or about the same as what I usually buy (Viva and Bounty).

Looking at the customer ratings, most of the products get good marks. I will just show you some comparisons of common items I shop for. I took screenshots of the first Solimo brand items to come up un a heading (not sorted) and screenshots of other brands that came up first in the search ( sorted by the highest star rating).

For the coffee Kcups, there is quite a bit of difference. I am picky about my coffee but I might give Solimo a try after I read some reviews.

I would most definitely be willing to try the laundry detergent if I had a family to wash for.

These are just some of the things that I typically search and shop for. There are also sections for Baby, Vitamins, Pets, etc. If you are shopping for a family, check out the Value Pack section. It's a little like Costco-mini, I guess.

I was going to do shampoo/conditioner, bandaids, etc, but I got wiped out. You get the idea though. While it's more often true than not that you get what you pay for, cheaper alternatives can sometimes be worth it. I have not used name-brand bleach in forever. I also will usually get the store brand of dairy and bread. Every saved penny adds up. Eventually.

If I end up using any more Solimo items (that coffee might be the next thing), I will surely let you know how that works out.

Peace
--Free


P.S.: Speaking of coffee...There is a cheaper Kcup coffee that I tried a couple of years ago. I got it at Menards and couldn't find it anymore until recently when I spotted it on Amazon (of course). If you like Yuban (dark roast), this Founding Fathers French Roast is awesome. and 50 percent of the profits go toward supporting military families.

UPDATE:

It's been quite a while since I composed this post. Since then, I have tried the pantyliners from the Solimo brand. They are just as good as the Always brand (long length)  that I have preferred for such a long time but every now and then, I have a problem with them bunching up right after I put one in place.

The Solimo liners are the same length (and maybe an itty-bitty smidgen longer?) and they are most definitely sturdier, which I am loving. I like Always liners because the ones I use are thin and very comfortable. The Solimo liners are the same in that respect but they don't have the tendency to bunch up.

Here's the thing though: in comparing prices, the Solimo liners are $5.30 for the 68-count box of liners (at $0.08ea) against the $6.99 for the 108-ct box of Always liners (at $0.06ea). There is a $9.99 ($0.08ea) 120-ct box of Solimo long length liners that is cheaper than Always. Now that I know how much I like the Solimo brand liners, I will probably get those next time.

Since I like the non-bunch factor with the Solimo, they are a better buy for me. No use having more liners if I'm not happy with the way every last one of them fits.

**REVIEW** Babassu Oil

After I review this oil, I will explain why I blacked out the brand name/seller on all the photos.

This is the babassu oil I'm going to be talking about:

First, let me say that this is the very first time I have heard of this particular oil. And you guys know that I use a lot of different kinds of oil. So, what's so great about this one?

• It feels very moisturizing - much like coconut oil - but without being oily.
• It absorbs better into the skin than does coconut or olive oil (two of my favorites). Coconut oil seems to stay on the surface of the skin and hair and this oil doesn't.
• There is no heavy smell - like with coconut or olive - and the slight scent it does have fades quickly.
• I can apply this to my face before makeup - as long as I let the oil finish absorbing. 

That's all the stuff I like about using it. There are more positives and potential benefits I've read about since getting it.

• Has anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties.
• Rich in fatty acids - which makes it a great moisturizer and potentially good as an immune booster.
• It does not seem to cause or aggravate acne.

Babassu oil (or cusi oil) comes from the babassu palm. The only possible negatives I've heard about so far are when consuming the oil. Like coconut oil, it can be used in cooking. Babassu oil might cause problems for people taking blood thinners or who have thyroid problems. As with anything you can ingest, use common sense. Pregnant or nursing women should check with their doctors before consuming babassu oil. 

As far as any downsides I experienced, this was better on my skin than on my hair (more on that in a moment). Oh, and the price. I will definitely have to find a more affordable brand if I want to use this on my hair. This small jar will last a long while if I only use it as a skin moisturizer.

I am not planning to consume the oil the way I do coconut and olive. This one is purely for my skin and hair. I love that I found it in the Loreal Paris ingredient library. I'm kind of surprised that I haven't heard more about it before now.

This oil seems to be pricier than coconut oil, but when I check for another brand/seller, I will see if this is normal. For this 2-ounce jar, I paid $6.00. I only pay a little more than that for 14 ounces of the coconut oil I use. So, yeah. However... I can add to the list of positives that a very little bit of this oil goes a long way. When I was first testing it, I only had to use just over 1/4 teaspoon to treat my hands, my chest and neck, and my feet. And anyone reading this blog more than 5 times will know that my feet are a special kind of dry...

By the way, this oil - which is refined - melts almost as fast at body temp as does unrefined coconut oil.

Started melting when I scraped
some out with my nail

Also, like coconut oil, it will go completely liquid if left in a warm room.

Now, here is what I mean about this being more absorbent than coconut oil. It's a little less greasy than coconut oil when you first apply it - but almost as greasy.

Once you massage it in a little, you can see that it's not just sitting on the surface of the skin the way coconut oil does.

After less than 30 seconds or so, you couldn't see the oil even though my skin felt softer and more supple. (It took me about 10 minutes of frustration to remember the word "supple"!)


When I applied it to my face, I could feel it more than I did on hands, but you can't really see much of an oily sheen. (And for daring to show you my undone face and hair and that toothpaste-speckled mirror, you are welcome.)

Remember that this oil completely absorbs and I wondered if it just kind of dries away. When I finished applying it to my face, I dampened my hands and rubbed them together and noticed that my skin felt soft almost the way my silicone potholders feel. Weird but nice.

I was excited to try this on my hair of course. And this is interesting. I washed and conditioned my hair and while it was still very damp, I applied some of this oil to a section. I don't know what I expected but I really couldn't tell a difference in the way that section looked or felt. This jar is so small that I don't want to use it up so I only applied a little to the rest of my hair. I don't think that I applied enough because, when my hair dried, I still didn't see or feel a difference. I will have to wait until I can find a cheaper brand so that I can apply more liberally. In the meantime, I love what this does for my skin.

So, that's the review. Now I need to explain why I won't be showing the brand.

WHY I REDACTED THE BRAND/SELLER 

When I received the product, there was an insert with the offer of a free product. Wow, right? I mean, like I mentioned, I love the oil so I was excited to be offered a chance to get another product from the seller. I assumed this was just an appreciation gift and a way to show new customers more of their line. I assumed. Always a mistake. What would you have assumed?

Emphasis is on loving the product, I guess...

As instructed, I sent an email to the given address and, just to show that I had purchased the product, I included my order number. I received a response that was basically requesting a 5-star review. This is basically what the pictured email says (with all identifying things redacted and with my thoughts in red)).

Dear buyer,

We are happy that you have used our product and that you love it!

You can check all our products on our website  https://www.REDACTED.com/  

Getting your free product is simple, just follow these simple steps.

 **Required

**1) Please post a 5 star review of the product on Amazon/eBay (wha-???)and we wouldlove if you post a picture with your review. If you are unsure of how to leave a product review: (Oh, I know how to leave a review!)

Here are simple step-by-step instructions for Amazon:

http://www.wikihow.com/Leave-a-Review-on-Amazon.

**2) Provide information to complete the process:

Ø  Amazon/eBay Order Number

Ø  Email address

Ø  Full name

Ø  Shipping address

Ø  Full name of the item you’d like to receive

3) Tell us how we can improve our products or service. Every opinion matters for us. We are trying to build Happy and Healthy community.

Thank you for your purchase of our product on Amazon.com or eBay.com

All our products you can find at our Stores:

https://www.amazon.com/REDACTED

https://www.ebay.com/str/REDACTED

IMPORTANT: If you did not write a "5 STAR REVIEW" about the product you used, please contact us first to discuss any issues you had with the product. (What's to discuss?)

Your Amazon Order Number can be found in the email notification or under "My Orders" on Amazon.com. Example Order ID for Amazon looks like this: 101-1475239-8843522 

Your eBay Order number can be found in the email notification or under “Purchase history” then “More actions” and “View order details”. Example Order number for eBay looks like this: 23-03559-44680

Thank you for redeeming your free product. *** Orders typically SHIP WITHIN 3 - 5 BUSINESS DAYS. *** If you have any issues please contact us at contactREDACTED@gmail.com. Thank you! (Well, no thank you)

Here's the thing, I had already written my review when I emailed them about the free product. I even asked if they would provide me with any additional product info because I loved the product so much I planned to blog my praises. Here is the email I sent requesting the product and info:

And I was such a fangirl...

Here is the letter I sent after they requested a 5-star review.

What bothers me so much about this is that, not that long ago, I was banned by Amazon for a while because they suspected that some of my reviews were not legit. Even though Amazon lifted the ban, I am not eligible for things like being chosen as a Vine reviewer - or at least I don't think I am. There is some kind of rule about Vine reviewers not having been banned or anything in the past. Whatever. At any rate, I hope that this show my blog readers that I try my hardest to be really honest when writing reviews - whether or not they are sponsored.

When I find another brand of this oil, I will most certainly do a review/comparison. Even if I end up repurchasing this brand, I won't promote it on this blog.

Peace
--Free

UPDATED **SIFO** Pt 2 of SO Many Things About Amazon (you probably did not know)

UPDATE: 

As of June 10th, when I checked, the link to the Amazon Directory no longer works. The best way to find your way around the site now is to go to the very bottom of any page and check those links. It looks like this:

The link for afro-natural or "textured hair" is here.

I will try to locate any of the other missing pages and add the links as I can in future updates.

Whew! This is the 2 of a 2-part post about things some people might not know are available on Amazon. Keep in mind that I am not an advocate for breaking budgets. I do know that I have been able to stay within my budget by knowing how and where to save on things I need. The key word there is NEED. I can't even list all my wants without feeling like a selfish waste of skin...

UPDATE: Since Part 1 of this post did not seem to attract as much attention as I expected, I will be cutting it short. I will just post what I had already prepared before now and not invest any more time in it.

Anyway, in Part One, I warned you about rabbit holes...

The Amazon Directory

I could have just linked to the Amazon site directory and left it at that, but I know how many things I missed the first time I found that page. You can hit the link and explore if you want, or you can visit some of my favorite rabbit holes...

Rabbit Hole 1 - Across the top are 6 areas you can click on to check out some of the areas most users are familiar with already. They aren't hidden because they are all on the regular Home page drop-down menu. I don't use the links here, I just go from the Home menu. The ones I tend to use at least once a month are Health & Household and Grocery & Gourmet Food. Don't get huffy with me; I only go to "gourmet" food because it's where I find my diet-healthy turmeric and cacao powder and the like. The household stuff is where I price-compare bathroom tissue and cleaning products.

Rabbit Hole 2 - Prime Reading is kind of a hidden gem. If you slide down that 2nd column on the Directory page, you will see it under Books & Audible.

I admit that I rarely use this free benefit but I do get reminder emails about it all the time. Lifewire does a wonderful job of explaining Prime Reading.

However, there is a lot to explore under this one heading. In addition to the plain old Prime Reading, there are just Book books, Children's Books, the good old Audible audiobooks, magazines (worth checking out). Then, things get a little more interesting.

• AbeBooks is for those who are into the fine, rare, and collectibles in books and art. Yeah, I can't even afford to click on the link without taking out a loan.
• Comics & Graphic Novels is where you can get, well, comics and graphic novels. Best of all, there are some items here that are "Prime Reading Eligible" - aka free for members.
• Of interest to students - of all ages, mind you - are the Textbooks, Textbook Rentals, Sell Us Your Books, and Prime Student, of course. I notice that the Sell Us section seems to be more for selling devices. For selling textbooks, that was just under Textbook Rentals. Maybe that is because I am not a student. 
• By the way, Prime Student has awesome bennies: "Amazon Prime Student is a Prime membership program created for college students. As a Prime Student member, you receive a six-month trial that includes Free Two-Day Shipping on over 50 million items, unlimited streaming of Prime movies and TV shows, unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos, 20% off pre-order and new release video games, exclusive deals and savings, and more! After your six-month trial ends, your Prime Student membership makes you eligible to receive 50% off Amazon Prime, and includes access to all Prime benefits." Sign up for a 6-month Trial here.

 Rabbit Hole 3 - Amazon Music is... I only use the free stuff so I can only tell you about Prime Music which you can listen to via a phone app or the web player. I did try Amazon Music Unlimited but let it drop when I was cutting even the tiniest pieces of fat from my budget, but if you get that you can also download music.

Rabbit Hole 4 - Prime Reading - you have probably noticed that anything with the "Prime" prefix is free for members. Prime Reading is another goodie. However, if you do want to check out one of the books available, you can read on a free app from Play Store, Windows Store, Amazon Apps Store for Android or Apple Store. You can access those links by clicking on the "read with our free app" notice under "see all formats":

Also, notice that for some of those free books, Whispersync - which is audio for the reading app:

This means that, for some of those FREE books, you can also get them with audio. This is awesome for those of us who prefer audio but don't want to add Audible to our budget. The trick to this is that you will be using the Audible phone app or web application to listen to the Whispersync audio. It's like getting at least some Audible books for free. Free, people. Fah-ree.

(By the way, you might notice that I skipped over the entire Echo & Alexa category. There's quite a bit of stuff there so you might want to check it out. As for me and my house,  I have to tell you that my love affair with my Echo Dot was hot, fast, and over in about 4 months. I almost never even turn that thing on anymore. While I realize that there is very little online privacy, I am that person who covers the cameras on all my devices and tries to block any microphones. When I used the Dot - mainly to listen to audiobooks, music or podcasts - I always turned off the microphone. I thought that gave me some measure of privacy until someone in a video pointed something out: If the microphone is off and Alexa's not listening, how does it know when you speak the 'wake' word? Not listening, aye? So, yeah, I keep that thing in the very back of the closet, under a heavy blanket and with tape over any possible 'ears'. Echo is on a time out.)

So this is about where I had gotten on this post. Like I said, I'm not going to dive any deeper. This has been a rough week, physically, and I don't have the energy. I do think you now have an idea of all that is possible on Amazon and can explore the rabbit holes on your own.

Peace
--Free

UPDATED **SIFO** PT 1 of SO Many Things About Amazon (that you probably did not know)

UPDATE: 

As of June 10th, when I checked, the link to the Amazon Directory no longer works. The best way to find your way around the site now is to go to the very bottom of any page and check those links. It looks like this:

The link for afro-natural or "textured hair" is here.

I will try to locate any of the other missing pages and add the links as I can in future updates.

***NOTE: Sorry that some of the photos are small. You can enlarge the view using  CTRL and the  + key on your browser or just click on the photo and see what happens.:***

This post started out just being about the Amazon Outlet, some deals and the coupon pages. But... I decided to go deeper. Instead of one simple post, this turned into such a monster that I just had to break it up into parts. So...

 This part is going to just cover a couple of my favorite things about Amazon. Later, I will get deeper into the site directory and highlight some really interesting parts. Or at least the parts I find most interesting. For now, let's get to the potentially money-saving sections...

Outlet, Coupons & Deals

I didn't think about this when I wrote the SIFO post on finding your Amazon stats. I was reading this story recently about the spat between PayPal and Amazon when I realized a lot of people might not even know about t the Amazon Outlet. (I just love an outlet. I once almost got lost in New Mexico trying to find one I'd heard about. I was on my way to drive the Alcan and was almost a couple of days late because of my distraction. Never did find that outlet.)

enlarge the photo to see the other deals, steals & woot-woots at top of page with blue arrow

To be honest, I don't go cruising through the Amazon Outlet just to window-shop. Doing that would make it too easy for me to talk myself into random purchases. What I do use it for is to check for deals on something I am already planning to buy. It's already hard enough to go on Amazon, get what I want, and get out before I start thinking I really just might need whatever gadget Buzzfeed is pushing. I once almost bought a clip-on couch table. I never sit on my couch long enough to need a place to rest beverages or the remote.

Still, I think everyone should know about the Outlet. I will tell you a couple of things about it before you check it out though.

1. It is a lot like Amazon's Deals (see photo below) that most people only notice during the holiday shopping season. You can get tricked into going back into the Outlet for a price that was shown as "starting at". While there, you might start looking around again. It's a little like a brick and mortar store rearranging their aisles so you have to wander around noticing a lot of other stuff while looking for your regular items.
2. There are some good deals to be had, but you should still do a regular search on the whole site. Also, it's smart to search for items - not only in the Outlet but also sitewide - by using the department filter to keep wandering-eyes-temptations low.
3. I don't care what Amazon says, the Honey/browser extension has been great for auto-applying coupon codes on a lot of sites I visit. I almost always save at least 10 or 20 % on vape devices and supplies because of Honey. (And, yes, like every other app or site in the world, Honey probably does collect your data. Go in and select to opt-out of that or see what the other options are for controlling the use of your info.)

I use Amazon a lot and I am not deceived. They are in the business of selling stuff - and not necessarily helping you find the lowest price on their site. Have you ever tried to do a search and start filtering by price or ratings? Notice how some things with great prices and ratings don't show up? Yeah. I see what you're doing there, Amazon... 

Take a note that there is a page for Amazon Coupons also. You probably have seen these pop up next to an item on the product page or when checking out. It will be something like 5- or 10% off and instructs you to "clip the coupon" so that you see the discount before paying. Using this coupon page, you can clip before you send the item into your cart. You can sort and filter by coupons you have used before or by certain department sections. Notice that across the top of the Coupons page, there are links to other enticing "deals". Just don't go click-crazy. Bezos already has a private jet so let's not buy him more.

I really am amazed at how many people don't know about these links. I mentioned the Outlet to a neighbor before writing this post and she was totally blown away. This is one of my very few neighbors who shops online for everything the same way I do. I thought she was going to put me in her will when I told her about all the other links on Amazon. I am not sure why these things are kind of hidden - or at least, aren't easy to spot if you don't know about them. I can't remember but I think that I found out about them when I learned about the yearly "Lightning Deals" a few years back.

Anway.

Once again, all these price-saving links are ways to get you to look at stuff you might not need to be tempted with. I use this the same way I use the Outlet: check only for items I was already intending to buy. You have been warned.

One last tip about the Outlet: make sure to price check things there against Walmart and your local shops. Amazon is very often not the cheapest. This is especially true for food items.

In the next post (Part 2) I will go over part of the Amazon Directory which is just one big, budget-killer rabbit hole. Oh, it's gonna get deep...

Peace
--Free

Once again, instead of music, I thought I would share this. It's old but interesting and I am still poking fun at Buzzfeed, though I do love their lists of products on Flipboard Mag - this one for example

I give them so much respect (or maybe not) for trying this stuff

because all of it is a big old NOPE for me