Something For Nothing

Who doesn't like getting things for free? I don't know a single person who won't stop in the grocery store for a free sample. So little seems to be free now that we'll take any freebie we can get and run. Freebies aren't always around when you are shopping, so how do you get them? Glad you asked!

I am a self confessed freebie junkie. I will get ANYTHING (well, almost anything) for free if I can. After about 10 years of digging across the Internet, I have found some great ways to get freebies in quite a few categories.

First, you need to find a couple reliable sites that catalog freebies daily. You can find some on the sites I posted earlier (BensBargains and SlickDeals), but there are sites that really put a lot of freebies together. My favorites are http://www.totallyfreestuff.com/ and http://www.sweetfreestuff.com/. Also, the coupon site http://www.savingsmania.com/ has a good freebie section, but they don't necessarily update daily. You can also check store websites, like Walmart or Kroger, to see if they have any freebies available. I have gotten everything from a Guiness magnet, to a t-shirt, to full sized products, all mailed to my front door. Can't beat that. Just be sure that any link that you click on is actually a free item, not a "participation in offers" required site. You can easily tell by the first page you go to. If they only ask for your e-mail address, and there is a little link at the bottom that says "Terms and Conditions", you are probably looking at a too-good-to-be-true kind of offer. If you try to go through with one of these, your e-mail may be spammed into oblivion. I just recommend staying away from them for sanity's sake.

Second, you need to be willing to get some e-mail on a semi-regular basis. By this, I mean you need to sign up for some online mail lists and programs. One example is http://www.kraftfirsttaste.com/. This, of course, is run by Kraft and features their family of products. By joining the program, every month or so they make coupons or samples available to their members. The most recent offer I signed up for was this week. They will be mailing me coupons for one of each of these items: Oscar Meyer Deli Fresh lunchmeat (the new varieties), DiGiorno Deep Dish Pizza, Kraft 100 calorie cheese packs, Kool Aid Fun Fizz, Kraft Mac and Cheese Homestyle kit, Ritz Crackerfuls. Yep, each coupon will be for one of the item FREE. After I've had enough time to get the coupons and try the items, they will e-mail me a link to a survey to see what I think. Hey, I figure a few extra minutes online to answer a survey is worth a couple free meals.

These type of advisory programs are available all over. You just need to sign up for the e-mail list for any product you use regularly. Sometimes they will ask if you are willing to take surveys and try new products. Free stuff...heck yes I'll fill out surveys. I've done this with Harlequin books. I periodicaly go out to their website, http://www.eharlequin.com/, and request a couple free books, then cancel the program after I get my free books. Because I'd been a member for several years, they asked me to be on their advisory panel. Oh, darn, I'm a Guinea pig for corporations. And I get to tell them what I like and don't like, which may make improvements in products I already buy. Sounds like a real hardship, doesn't it?

Also, if you sign up for e-mail lists for restaurants, you can get freebies. I get at least 10 offers for free dinners, desserts, or buy one get one free offers for local restaurants for my birthday each year, and most of the offers are good for anywhere from a week to a month around the day. I got something free each day for a week around my birthday this year. I was a happy girl. This also works for kids. My son is a part of every kid's club (all contact is through my e-mail, of course) I could find. We get free food from just about any place that has a kids menu. I even signed up for chains that aren't local, just in case we are traveling around anyone in the family's birthday. That makes traveling cheaper. During the rest of the year, we get coupons for different things, like buy one get one or a free or reduced price for new menu items. We've gotten pretty good at being able to get two adult entrees for the price of one anytime we eat out.

Third, you need to be willing to save receipts and UPCs. There are rebate offers all over, and sometimes there are gift with purchase offers that you can send in for. One example of this is the Dove tote bag program. For 3 years, they offered you a free tote bag with free samples and some coupons if you purchased a certain amount of products within a certain time period. You just needed to fill out the printable form, and enclose your receipts with it when you sent it in. They turned out to be really nice tote bags, and I didn't need any travel sized products for a long time. It really wasn't all that hard to do, and I was already getting the products. I've also gotten mail-in rebates for toilet cleaners, snack foods, and cheese, among others. It's a little work and a stamp, but getting a check for $5 or $10 here and there is worth it.

Last, you can sign up to have a house party for a product. This a new type of viral marketing that invests in people, not traditional advertising. The premise is this; you go out to a site like http://www.houseparty.com/ and sign up, then fill out an application to host a party that sounds interesting. If you are accepted, you use the provided site for planning your party and inviting guests. A week or so before the party you will receive a party pack from them containing coupons (free product for the host, really nice dollar off for your guests), party favors, host gifts, and more. You host the party on the agreed upon date, have fun with your friends and take some pictures. After the party, you post the pictures on the provided party site. You will be sent a survey to complete as the host, and then a survey to send to all your guests to fill out about their experience. It's a great way to get people to try your new products, get feedback, and have people spread the word for you. I've hosted a party for Jell-O Mousse Temptations/Your Shape for the Wii, and one for DiGiorno Pizza. It's easy, inexpensive, and a great excuse to get your friends together. Everyone had a great time, and I got some cool stuff to keep.

This can sound pretty weird until you start getting things in the mail. I have a couple baskets in my upstairs linen closet that have samples for just about any personal care product you could possible ever need. I never need to buy small sizes when flying, and I haven't had to buy deodorant or toothpaste (unless I get a coupon deal that makes them free) for a couple years now. I have tried out tons of snacks from a variety of companies for free, and had a great coupon to buy a full sized box if I liked it. I've even recently applied to test a new HP wireless printer (don't know if I'll get that one yet.) It's fun getting things in the mail, and even more fun trying out products knowing that you didn't lay out any money to try them.

I imagine that there will be even more ways to sign up for freebies in the future. I've seen some you can get by texting from your phone or by using Twitter, neither of which I do at the moment. All I know is that I will always be keeping my eye out for ways to get things for free. Now if you'll excuse me...I haven't checked Walmart's site for freebies yet today.