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Find the best deals for Amazon Prime Days

Amazon often celebrates Prime Day and has major discounts of their products. These deals are for Prime members only and they happen to fall on October 8 and 9 this year! To get the Amazon deals, you need to sign up for Amazon Prime before you go shopping. But what if you don't want to pay full price for a Prime membership just to go shopping? You have options!

Get a free trial

If you aren't a Prime member, don't despair. You can sign up for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime and you'll have access to all the deals. 

Get a discounted rate

Are you a student? You can get a free 6-month trial to Prime Student. (That's around 180 days if you do the math, and since you're a student you probably already did.) After that, you also pay only half price to keep your monthly subscription.  But wait — before you go sign up for classes to get your discounted Prime membership, you should know there's another way to get 50% off Amazon Prime. If you participate in a qualifying government assistance program (such as EBT), you can get Amazon Prime for just $6.99 per month. And you can still start with a free trial to make sure it's going to be worth continuing. 

How to prepare for Prime Big Deal Days

Before the sales even start, you can get ready to make the most of the bargains. Here are some key tips:If you are already an Amazon Prime member, start your shopping list and set up notifications in the app so you'll know when things go on sale.Make a note of the prices you would normally pay for the items on your shopping list. Camelcamelcamel.com is a website that tracks Amazon's prices over time. Use it to recognize a smoking hot deal when you see it… or  to identify a meh deal when that comes along. The Prime Day deals usually begin at midnight.  As often as every five minutes, for 48 hours, new deals will become available.

Set up an Amazon gift registry beforehand

Expecting a baby or planning a wedding? Set up your Amazon wedding registry or baby registry  right now and give your friends a chance to save on their gifts to you by purchasing them on Prime Day! And read our article about 8 reasons to choose an Amazon wedding registry.You don't need a Prime membership to set up a wedding or baby registry at Amazon. However, if your friends or family are Prime members, they may have an opportunity to get some deep discounts on the gifts they were planning to purchase for you. 

Best bets for Prime Big Deal Day deals

Although we don’t know all of the deals will be until Big Deal Day happens, they almost always have the deepest discounts on Amazon devices like the Echo and Alexa, FireTV and Fire Tablets, and Kindle E-readers.But you’ll probably find deals across almost all categories — TVs, smart home, kitchen, grocery, toys, fashion, furniture, appliances, gifts — and even be able to stock up on everyday items. Prime members also get exclusive savings at Whole Foods Market.Due to the nature of these deals, many will have limited quantities and could sell out fast, so Prime members should come back frequently to view new deals launching throughout the 48-hour event.

Gift card with credit card approval

If you are looking for a new credit card, there is an instant $50 Amazon gift card upon approval for the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa. Think about it though: if they can afford to give that much to everyone who gets approved, how much do they plan on earning from you? So proceed wisely – and don’t do it unless you were planning to get a new card anyway.  

Shopping smart on Prime Day

My recommendation for getting these free credits for Amazon Prime Day is to buy something you were planning to buy anyway, and don’t get anything just because it’s on sale, because that’s not cheap!  However, you could really save some money if you’re sharp and shop carefully. 

Shop These Amazon Prime Deals

See all the Amazon Prime Day Big Deals here.

Living on the CheapMiami on the Cheap is a member of Living on the Cheap, a network of websites published by frugalistas, journalists and consumer advocates. Find practical advice on saving money on groceries, travel and shopping, plus tips from our experts on how to live the good life for less at Living on the Cheap.

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