How about a quarterly grocery subscription?

I mentioned before how I make easy steamers for my wife for a fraction of what we'd pay at a coffee shop. Here's the breakdown of the cost:

• 1/2 gallon of lactose-free, 2% milk runs $2.98, good for 10 steamers: $0.30 per steamer
• 25.4 oz of Torani® Sugar Free Vanilla Syrup is $5.99, good for “about a month”, so $0.20 to $0.30 per steamer
• 14 oz Land O'Lakes Sugar Free Whipped Heavy Cream, $4.29 good for about 20-30 servings, so $0.14 to $0.21 per steamer
• Grand total: $0.64 to $0.81 per steamer (plus electricity to heat it)

We were searching Amazon for some of our staples — we're very impressed with the food selection available, especially for stuff my wife and daughter don't react to — and found that the Torani Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup was available in a three-pack for $15, and it qualifies for Amazon Prime, the all-you-can-eat 2-day shipping for $79 per year. (The savings on one order paid for a full year of Amazon Prime for us.) That's already a buck cheaper per bottle than the store, and it's delivered to our door.

But this next part we hadn't run across before. If we subscribe by receiving an order every one, two, three, or six months, we save an additional 15%, which brings the cost down to $4.25 per bottle, saving us between a nickel and a dime per steamer.

This recurring billing program is brilliant on Amazon's part, and it works for us because we know approximately how much we'll use and it just shows up, more cheaply than if we were to buy it in the store. We just decided beforehand that we would evaluate whether we still wanted the next one after each shipment arrived (we can cancel at any time).

I don't know how long this will last given the rising cost of transporting goods, but Amazon.com is worth a look if you have food staples that you go through regularly, especially more exotic ones.