I do a lot of shopping in my local stores, but sometimes, shopping online is just better! Here are my top 10 reasons to shop online!

Now before you call me “anti-local businesses” or something like that, I want you to keep something in mind.

When I save money on the things that I HAVE to buy (i.e. food, car maintenance, canning jars…), that means that I actually have more money available to buy those fun local wares that I hadn’t originally budgeted for! I’m looking at you, hand-spun yarn shop!

So by buying what I can online for less, I have more money to put back into my local shops! And it's not just me saying this, Forbes agrees with me!

10 Reasons to Buy Online

Here are some of my favorite reason to buy online, did I miss anything?

1. Saving Money
This one is pretty obvious, but I’m going to say it anyway. I save BIG money by shopping online. The flour that I can buy online for $3.00 / lb is $7.50 / lb at the local health food store. That’s a huge difference, and it makes a big impact on my budget when I factor in all the items I can get for less online!

2. More Money for Local Businesses
I love this one. I have more money to spend in local shops. The shop that sells those really fun, hand-dipped candles? Amazing shop! And since I saved so much by shopping online, I get to support them!

3. Saving Time
Buying things online is just easier. A few clicks of the mouse and you are done. No waiting in line behind Chatty Cathy at the store. No searching the isles endlessly while your child screams as you try and find the right product… it’s all right there at the tip of your fingers.

4. Saving Energy
My energy is finite. I wish that wasn’t the case, but it is. With a baby running around, multiple businesses to run, and making sure my family is well fed, wasting a full day shopping is not on my to-do list. 30 minutes max, and I have everything I need winging its way to my door step!

5. Better Quality
This is a big one for me. We like to use quality foods and well made items around here. But often the stores in our little town just don’t carry them. But you know who does? Yep, the internet.

6. Better Selection
You know those amazing coconut oil potato chips you love... did you know that you can get 8 more varieties online? Yep!

7. Higher Availability
While a brick and mortar shop may only have room for a few of each item, the online market place has a seemingly unlimited supply of anything you could possibly want!

8. Get is FASTER by Buying Online
There have been many times in the past when I had to wait until Saturday to buy an item because of how store hours conflicted with my work schedule... had I just ordered it online I would have had it in 2 days.

9. Freedom to Buy in Bulk
Online stores don’t care that you need 30 of something. They have it in stock, and they will ship it to you. #Winning

10. Saving Gas
With gas prices climbing back up for the summer, this is a big one! Save those gallons for something fun, like a summer road trip!

***************************************************************And before you write this off as just a post for people who want to can their own food or stock up on ungodly amounts of toilet paper… There are all sorts of practical things that you can do with online purchases!

My Favorite Online Items

1. Food is the biggest percentage of my online purchases. I'm able to get 3-4 times the amount of food for the same price when I buy online.

2. Appliances are something you may think you need to buy in the store. But with today's return policies, I just read reviews and buy online. I have honestly never had to return anything and it saves me a ton of time!

3.. Beyond the bulk food we buy, we even buy supplies for our car maintenance online! Recently it was time for an oil change (they sneak up on me), so I went to Walmart.com to check out what I could get.

To my delight, they had Pennzoil on Rollback for a fabulous price. Which I was thankful for, because with our older car the Pennzoil High Mileage Formula is a must to keep us running smoothly... especially when I forget about the oil change for a bit! It helps us go an extra 550 miles per year past the oil change! I need that more than I care to admit. ;-)

But you know the best part? I paid for it online, and they had it waiting for me at the Pickup counter. They even held it for 7 days until I was home from my out of town trip!

So when I was ready to pick it up, I just followed the orange Pickup signs!

You see how happy the baby is? That's because we were literally in and out in 2 minutes flat!

No wasted time, money, gas, or energy. It was bliss. :-) They can ship it to you as well, but that wasn't available in my area.

Since we just recently started doing our own car maintenance, I made this easy checklist for changing the oil to make sure we didn’t forget any steps while it was still new to us. I thought I'd share in case you'd like to have one too!

(These instructions are intended as general guidelines. I highly recommend getting the manual for your vehicle as it will include specific instructions on changing the oil and filter.)

Grab your own oil now at Rollback pricing for a limited time, and start saving your money for all those cool local wares you really want to buy :-)