Dad tip #38: Use Amazon.com's 4-for-3 promotion for stuff you plan on buying anyway

Did you know that there's all kinds of crap on Amazon.com that you can buy four for the price of three? The Amazon 4-for-3 promotion obviously includes all sorts of select books, but it also covers certain home & garden products (cookware, bedding, pet supplies, etc.), some single issue magazines, as well as some CDs & DVDs (like Adventures in Babysitting, which is listed on the 4-for-3 DVD page but doesn't actually seem eligible for the promotion). And, you're more than welcome to mix and match, but be sure to try to group things in batches of similarly priced items as it's always the cheapest of the four items you purchase that ends up free.

So, as a new parent, you maybe planning on stocking up on children's book by the likes of Dr. Seuss, Margaret Wise Brown, or Sandra Boynton. The 4-for-3 promotion covers all those authors and more.

Alternately, you could pick up something for everyone in the family at once. For baby grab copy of The Merriam-Webster Dictionary (for future reference); for your wife some stainless steel chopsticks (for fashion or for eating); for your cat a plush opossum (for playing or terrifying your wife); and for you ... umm, maybe the Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Issue 2008 (for reading).

So, I now challenge you the reader to go find cool 4-for-3 combos and post your finds to the comments! (Oh yeah, save even more money by using Amazon Prime!)

Dad tip #6: Amazon Prime is a worthwhile investment

Babies need lots of stuff. They need BPA-free bottles, they need brain-stimulating toys, they need cartoon-related music, they need potty training books, and they NEED Star Wars-themed costumes. Obviously they need lots of love, too.

However, love is available in abundance at home and fortunately does not require any annoying trips to the mall or pesky charges for shipping and handling. Everything else does. You're either stuck bringing your baby to the germ- and jerk-infested corridors of the closest mall or you pay out the wazoo for the convenience of shopping at home and the shipping charges that entails. UNLESS you join Amazon Prime.

[Cue heavenly fanfare and white light from above!]

For $79/year you get unlimited free two-day shipping (or $3.99 overnight shipping) for orders of any size for up to four members in your household. $79 might initially sound like a lot at first, but think of everything baby needs ... if you happen to think of one new thing a day, you can order it guilt- (and shipping fee-) free. Furthermore, it's a LIFESAVER for Christmas shopping. You'll probably break even on that alone.

[Cue the intro music to "The Final Countdown" by Europe.]