Amazon's grocery "aisles" are links to product categories.

Grocery shopping just got cheaper and easier. The best part is, you don't have to get in your car to do it, which could easily save you a tank of gas per year.

Kids get into everything.

Watching Fulton Cate and his sister, Barron, is a full-time job for mom Robyn.

"Still working, and starting a business. It's difficult to leave and go anywhere," Cate said.

So she's trying something new: Shopping for groceries online with Amazon.com.

"It will save me on gas, certainly on time, and patience," she said.

The items come in bulk, sizes familiar to shoppers at warehouse stores like Costco and Sam's Club.

And Amazon's prices are competitive — sometimes offering savings up to 77 percent from supermarket prices.

Cate ordered several items for a trial run.

Special K cereal, for example, cost $20 for four boxes; that saves about $2.40 compared to some other suppliers.

Clif Bars put another $2.40 in Cate's pocket, and the savings of money and time add up.

"I don't have time to walk up and down the aisle to find out what the best deal is," she said. "I can do it while my kids are taking a nap."

Cate can buy dairy and eggs, fruits and veggies, organic milk and baby items galore, like diapers, with more brands to pick from.

"All of them are on one page," she said.

There are shipping deals all the time, but on average it takes two to three days.

If you're patient, shippping is free; that can take seven days.

Cutting back a trip to the store cuts gas bills, too.

"That is a huge bonus, because I drive a tank," Cate said.

The problem when shopping online are the ads that pop up tempting you to purchase other things, like shoes.

That's a distraction that won't help you stretch your dollar.

You still have to shop around; not all items will be cheaper on Amazon. B ut the online prices, in many cases, stack up against wholesale giants like Costco.

For example, Huggies Baby-Shaped Fit Diapers cost $39.99 at Costco and $34.99 on Amazon.

Bayer 81mg aspirin is $17.29 at Costco and $12.39 on Amazon.

That's nearly a $10 savings on those two items alone.

E-mail sslater@wfaa.com