Adulting Basics

Confession: I hate all chores. Because of this deep-rooted distain, I’m always searching for ways to make mundane adult chores more efficient. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is to keep things off my to-do list. And the most efficient way I do that is by taking advantage of subscription services that automatically send the stuff I need to my doorstep.

The key here is to only subscribe to things that you know you’ll use — don’t fall into the trap of paying for subscription services that you don’t need (or even want). I’ve unfortunately done both, so below I’ll share the subscription services that I’ve loved and still subscribe to.

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1. Thrive Market

If you haven’t heard of Thrive Market by now, what are you even doing? Thrive is a members-only online grocery store that stocks all the organic shelf-stable brands you’d find at your favorite organic grocer, but for wholesale prices.

You pay $59.95 per year to get access to those savings, but the membership pays for itself very quickly — usually within the first two orders (customers save an average of $30 per order). I’ve been a member since January of 2016 (about four and a half years) and my lifetime savings is $5,045.88. That’s over $1,000 per year. So it’s safe to say this membership more than pays for itself.

One of the latest services they’ve rolled out, however, is the AUTOSHIP subscription service. I almost lost my mind when I realized all the stuff I order every month would be automatically shipped to me, like magic. You can customize your box before it ships, and the iPhone app will notify you when it’s time to tweak your shipment. Like I said — magic.

Now about the iPhone app. This is huge because if I think of something I need, all I have to do is pull out my phone and add it to my next Thrive box. I don’t have to think about it and I don’t have to put it on my grocery list.

To top it all off, for every paid membership they donate another to someone in need.

I’ve found that non-perishables I use the most often are the best things to add to my autoship box, like:

• Cooking oils: I like to rotate between ghee, olive oil, and avocado oil.
• Snacks: The New Primal Beef Sticks, Thrive Grain-Free Nacho Puffs, and Karma Turmeric Wrapped Cashews are delicious.
• Other pantry staples: I obviously have to ensure I never run out of maple syrup for my coffee and mayonnaise for, well, everything else.

2. Ritual Vitamins

I gave up on taking multivitamins years ago. Trying to choke down 2+ horse pills first thing in the morning is not my idea of a fun time. Plus, I’m one of those people who are highly sensitive to the iron found in most multivitamins and will get sick if I take them on an empty stomach. Yes, this has happened multiple times.

By the time I finally gave into Ritual’s stellar marketing campaign that actually made me excited to get my hands on a bottle of their sexy vitamins, I was stoked. The unboxing experience by itself was enough to make me cry (can you tell I’m a sucker for good branding?), but actually taking the vitamins was even better. They’re peppermint infused, which just makes the experience absolutely delightful. The capsules themselves are small enough to take two at the same time without gagging, and the form of iron they use is gentle and doesn’t make me barf.

I also like the fact that they don’t have 874 ingredients — Ritual only includes what you need. After not taking vitamins at all for several years, I actually felt better, generally speaking, shortly after I started taking them.

But the best part of this is that Ritual vitamins are delivered right to my door every month. For $30 a bottle, I feel the price is fair and even better than some other high quality brands I’ve tried in the past. I’m now on my third bottle now and am forever smitten.

3. Amazon Prime Subscribe & Save

Oh, Amazon Prime. Like so many others, I have loved you for many years. But it was only last year that I discovered the true value in Amazon’s Subscribe & Save subscription service.

When you buy your first Subscribe & Save item, Amazon assigns you a date each month for your subscription items to arrive. You can add things to this order throughout the month and they will all ship at the same time. You can even set the duration for each item if you don’t need one order each month. For all Subscribe & Save items, you save 5%, but this discount increases with the more items you have in your order (up to 15%). Add in the 5% cash back for Prime members from the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa and you’re basically getting paid to shop at Amazon.

Here are a few things I’m currently subscribed to that I love:

• This micellar water (because news flash — your face wash doesn’t actually remove all your makeup).
• My favorite toothpaste (in a 3-pack!).
• Delicious cat food (my cat is obsessed with the Whasically Wabbit and Savory Salmon flavors).

Again, that’s three things that are now off my grocery list and are delivered to me automatically. Three less things to occupy my precious mental space.

A word of caution: don’t subscribe to things you don’t need on a regular basis. You’ll end up with a surplus of stuff and that’s not cool.

Featured image via Felipe Paes.