Thursday, September 24, 2015

5 Monthly Subscriptions Worth Subscribing To


I love subscription services! For crying out loud-I own one! But, that really isn't the reason I love them.

I love subscription services because they automatically and regularly provide something needed (or wanted). I don't have to remember to order and reorder. My subscription just arrives-weekly, monthly, or quarterly, as the case may be.

Subscriptions often are a bit pricier than if you'd just pick up the product at your local store. But, that isn't always the case. Sometimes they are the same price, or even cheaper because of quantity discounts. With subscriptions what you are paying for is convenience, automation, and regularity, as well as the product itself. Personally, I feel that those things are worth paying for. I don't have to remember to buy razors or flowers because they are already scheduled to arrive on a certain date each month.

Not long ago, a subscription would generally fit into one of two categories-newspaper or magazine. Nowadays, subscriptions can be purchased for just about anything under the sun. Clothes, jewelry, menu plans, laundry soap, flowers, wine, razors, books, and much, much more.

Here are the subscriptions we use. These are the subscriptions I'm excited about! (in the interest of transparency in advertising-some of the links are affiliate links. You don't pay any more for purchasing through the links, but it might knock a dollar or two off my own subscription.)

Dollar Shave Club. I bought this subscription for Mr. Hippie last Christmas. It seemed like he was never shaving because either his razors were dull or non-existent. Well, this subscription solved those problems. I opted for the $6 per month plan (the 4X). Each box contains 4 razor blade cartridges, plus a sample of one of their other products. The reason it is called the Dollar Shave Club is because there is a dollar a month option, that actually comes with 5 cartridges. They are not as quality as the ones we get, but they still have good reviews. There is also the executive plan for $9 per month. Those razors are of an even higher quality. But, whatever. We both (him-the shaver; me-the kisser) are happy with the razors we get. It is totally worth the $6 per month. This subscription is paid for as you go, and can be cancelled at anytime. Also, I just switched Mr. Hippie's subscription to every other month, as he has a back log of razors still to use up. Oh, and Mr. Hippie loves the Dr. Carver's Shaving Lotion, which I just add to the next box when his is getting low. (more info here)


Wine Club. We are on our second wine club subscription. We started a couple years ago, using a subscription that came solely from one winery. While we loved their wines, we wanted to branch out to other wineries. We are currently subscribed to the National Review Wine Club. Essentially, our subscription arrives once a quarter, and contains 12 bottles. (okay, so we are giving them away to anyone we know who has any occasion in their lives.) The wine runs about $15 per bottle with a flat $10 shipping rate. With our last subscription, we were paying closer to $30 per bottle with all the fees. (shipping alcohol is expensive). I know a lot of local wineries have a pick-up your subscription option, which can run from $10-$15 per bottle. I will just say that there is not much of a chance that I'd pay $15 for a bottle of wine in a grocery store. I'm too cheap. This subscription allows us to enjoy some good wines that we'd never actually fork out for in regular life. This subscription is paid for as you go, and can be cancelled at anytime.  (More info here)


Flowers. Did you know that there are flower subscription services? I didn't-until just recently. Bouqs offers three tiers of flower subscriptions-$40 for a regular size bouquet once a month, $50 for the Deluxe, and $70 for the Grand. Bouqs has gorgeous flowers. And they only send flowers, not vases, so your money goes towards fresh flowers, and not a vase that you just want to give to Goodwill. And, I almost signed up. I had my info filled out, and I was going to save 20% by paying for the year in a lump sum. But, then, like a good wife, I decided to talk to my husband about it. Because, even $40 a month for flowers is quite a lot of money. And do you know how many Aldi bouquets I can buy with $40 every month?! Well, this discussion with Mr. Hippie got his wheels turning. And he did a really romantic thing. He went to our local florist, and asked them what kind of bouquet they could make for $25 per month. (He's Dutch. What can I say?) So, he ended up buying me a flower subscription anyhow, which I think is pretty great, because they are so pretty on my table. And he thinks it is pretty great because he looks like an awesome husband every month without even trying. Win-win. (more info on Bouqs here) Or, just check our your local florist for what options they can offer.


Laundry Soap. I know, I know. It's laundry soap. What a boring subscription! My Green Fills sends you a laundry soap bottle in your first shipment. Then all they send you is refill packets that get placed in that bottle with warm water to dissolve. Each packet is for 50 loads, and costs $6-$8. That is totally a savings. Plus My Green Fills is totally transparent about the ingredients in their products. Its eco-friendly (what-what? not non-green me?!), cost-effective and rather healthy. My package arrived the day after I signed up. Like, I signed up at dinner time, and it was here mid-afternoon the next day. Crazy fast! (more info here)


Menu Subscriptions. There is the competition, and then there is me-She Plans Dinner. Either way, a menu subscription is a fantastic subscription. And by supporting She Plans Dinner, you are supporting a small business. Regardless, the grocery list, is worth it's weight in gold. How much time do you spend assembling a grocery list every week? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? How much time do you spend writing up a menu each week? 5 minutes? 30 minutes? An hour? 30 minutes per week adds up to 2 hours per month. She Plans Dinner costs $5 per month. $5 per month to have the convenience of an already written up menu and grocery list? Totally worth it! Bonus...the coupon code "fall" will save you $5 on any subscription to any of our 6 plans. So, essentially you'll get a whole month free. Which is pretty awesome! (more info here)




Well, those are my 5 favorite types of subscriptions. Obviously, some are more luxurious than others. Luxurious or not, each is worth it's cost.

Do you have any subscriptions? Tell me more!