Is the Amazon Subscribe and Save program actually worth the hassle and do you really save money long term because I am honestly stressed trying to budget for this new house. We just moved to Austin and between the mortgage and everything else I'm trying to trim every cent I can from our monthly overhead. I need to place a big order for household stuff in the next 48 hours and I'm staring at the little radio buttons on the screen wondering if I should click them. I did some digging online and I keep seeing mixed reviews which is making me even more indecisive.

Some people say it's amazing and you get 15% off but then I read a couple of threads saying the prices jump up right before the shipping date and you end up paying way more than the local grocery store price without even realizing it. Like is that a common thing or just people not paying attention to their emails? I'm terrified of getting hit with a $200 bill for stuff that should have cost $150 because a price hiked while I wasn't looking. Also I read that if an item goes out of stock they just skip it and don't notify you until the last minute? If I'm counting on diapers for my two year old to show up on the 5th and they don't come then I have to drive to the store anyway which totally defeats the purpose of the convenience.

My husband wants to just do Costco runs but the traffic here is a nightmare and I'd rather spend that hour doing literally anything else. Right now I have 4 items in my cart- Seventh Generation diapers, cat litter, coffee pods, and laundry soap- and I need a 5th to get that top discount bracket but I'm worried it's just a trap to make me buy stuff I dont need. Does the price actually stay stable or am I gonna have to babysit my account every single month to make sure I'm not getting ripped off... is there a trick to making it actually work?