I wonder tho... are you better off buying paper towels at Costco if you have one available?
When you go to the store and buy stuff, you are usually getting a lot of things together going point to point with other things that need getting done, or you are walking to the corner grocery store with a shopping cart if you are lucky enough to be urban. Personally, the fuel cost for having paper towels delivered is substantially more vs me going to get them by myself (since I’m walking to the store with a stroller/cart anyways).
You may be able to find a situation where you get someone else to subsidize your cost, but it’s certain to be temporary.
I don't know any supermarket that would let you order just paper towels though...
Having moved somewhere not near a delivery point or a lot of large stores, the convenience of same-day Amazon Prime is hard to beat.
Of course, it's not a universal "or" - sometimes I want to sit a pub with people and try a single pint of beer I've never had before. The (great?!) grandparent point of comparing all these options is a reasonably healthy habit you can build, that often comes from experiencing poverty, and using the options available to you to avoid it in the future.
I couldn't imagine having to go to the shops every week.
Do you still have this kind of product discovery with Amazon?
"You might also like..."
"Customers who did not buy this bought .... instead"
Why? Is it really so arduous to go out in public? To view a selection of products? To select your own produce? I am completely unable to comprehend how running errands is such an exhausting activity. Even when I was my most depressed, the times I would even turn down activities with friends, I still made it to the various stores I needed to live my life.
Some stuff I buy elsewhere because the quantities are too large even for 2 adults and 3 teenagers.
And our time is limited. Our kids are only living with us and wanting to play with us for scant few years. We're only young and healthy and able to do active things for scant few years too. The value of that time is more now than later.
If you're telling me that you would rather spend that 30min driving to Costco, dealing with parking, lugging that big pack of paper towels to the checkout stand, waiting in line, and driving back, all to save $2.50... that says a depressing amount about how much you value your life and the people you spend it with.
EDIT: Or you are actually so poor that the trade-off is "buy low price or don't don't eat next week," in which case I respect it. But then you wouldn't actually be shopping at Costco since it isn't the lowest prices.