I caught this on one of my favorite cheapskate deal sites and thought I’d pass it on to fellow Amazon shoppers.

Amazon.com is running a promotion right now for their Amazon Prime shipping membership which gives you free 2-day shipping or $3.99 overnight shipping without a minimum purchase requirement on any merchandise shipped by Amazon.com. (Items sold by third party merchants are not eligible.) The membership price is still $79, but you will receive a $50 e-coupon in your Amazon account that can be applied toward purchases made from the Amazon Grocery area of the site.

So if you are a frequent Amazon shopper and have need of any of the products sold in their Grocery store (which includes vitamins, mineral supplements, diapers, and personal care products as well as food) in the next year, this is a pretty decent deal. Amazon ships quite a lot of items free with their Super Saver Shipping, but there is a minimum $25 purchase for SSS and it can take quite a while for items to arrive this way.

Amazon Prime + $50 Grocery Certificate Deal

Yup, yours truly has racked up another year of life as of yesterday. I celebrated by organizing the January company potluck lunch on my birthday, cannily tricking my co-workers (most of them ardent foodies and pretty good cooks) into turning out a massive birthday spread of fabulous homecooked good eats for me.

:eat:

A brief list of what was served in our break room yesterday:
- Taco soup
- Jamaican spiced beef
- Thai chicken skewers with sweet and spicy sauce
- Key lime pie
- Chocolate chip blondies
- Fancy spring mix salad
- Tuna macaroni salad
- Corn dogs
- Chicken risotto
- Chicken pasta
- Stuffed shells with beef and spinach
- Marshmallow/PB pancake sandwiches
- Miso soup
- Seasoned potato wedges
- Cookie assortment
- Mixed fruit salad

As usual, there was a lot of gorging by all, followed by a few hours of food coma drowsiness, groans, and belly pats.

I love potluck day!

The only reason I wasn’t stuffed to the epiglottis like everyone else was that I had to save room for a steak dinner with Chris and my parents at 7:30 that night. We went to Fleming’s Wine and Steak House in Winter Park and had some fabulous aged steaks that cost as much APIECE as a full two weeks’ worth of healthy eats on my Cheapass Challenge–I kid you not. If Mommums hadn’t had a $100 gift card awarded to her from American Express for the place, I would have thrown up a little bit in my throat thinking about the price of my surf ‘n’ turf special.

I received a beautiful dressy watch, a Slinky fabric skirt, and a check to help offset the cost of the wedding from my folks, and a free slice of blueberry cheesecake in honor of my venerable years from the restaurant. Having already partaken of two slices of Key lime pie that day, I wasn’t in the mood for any of the desserts on the menu, so I chose the cheesecake for Chris.

My last cheesecake experience in December (a Key lime pie cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory) was altogether not conducive to my wanting any more cheesecake ever again. Did you know that half of one cheesecake sans Lactaid can cause a lactose intolerant individual’s lower abdomen to swell by over 10 inches?

I didn’t either, until last month. Ouch.

Never again.

Ever.

Anyhow, back at my parents’ house, I blew out a single candle on a Publix chocolate Strawberry Delight cake and managed to find enough room for a small wedge. I was pretty much finished for the night at that point. The thought of more food was :yuck:.

Chris and I headed back home and there he revealed my last spiffy birthday present:

A Weider weight bench with a leg extension, preacher curl station, and rack that can be adjusted for bench press or squats. He’d already put the Powerblock barbell he got me for Xmas on it.

The bench is used, but in fantastic condition from Play It Again Sports.

$50.

Gosh, a man after my own miserly little heart. :love: