I Love Free Stuff!

Well, what is better than a low price? Free Stuff! I read an article about 18 months ago about cutting back expenses. The writer had decided that she could not bear with not being able to purchase makeup, so she searched for free stuff. And boy, did she find it. I checked out all of the websites she found. I don't remember any of them.

On my own, I found Sample A Day. I began clicking websites and submitting my address. Six to eight weeks later, I had my first sample. So far, I've gotten free Emergen-C packets, Purex, Yogi Tea, lots of hair shampoo and conditioner, Smuckers Snak'n Waffles and a bunch of coupons. Someone in my household got a holiday card that I got for free and it shipped free, thanks to a tip from Mama Cheaps.

Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of misses. I'm still waiting on a T-shirt from Bacardi. And yo, Ellen, where's my free cat food from Halo? And since I don't have Facebook, I miss out on a lot. But it is still worth it.

Just last week I got two free MP3s thanks to a code for $2. And Amazon has a ton of free music on its website. I don't have a Kindle, but thanks to the e-reader, I have over a dozen free e-books. And I am not talking free chapters, I am talking full-sized books. The minus is my public domain collection is much larger than my new fiction, but I do have a decent amount of still alive authors in my repertoire. Not to be outdone, Sony's e-reader also allows me to read books on the computer, and offers a decent selection of public domain and new authors. As a matter of fact, if it wasn't for free books for GRE prep, I would not have been able to impress the Kaplan interviewer with how much I knew about the company. It was not enough for me to get the job, but I think I gave a pretty decent overview.

I have gotten very little free food. And surprisingly enough, Target and Walmart have a free samples section, and that has garnered me several jewels, including Cheetos. And just today I signed up for Panera Bread's new card, and I have to pick up my card and then get a free pastry.

I've joined several websites for free stuff, and what I have learned is they all have basically the same offerings. When I went on a major search for birthday freebies, I found some decent pickings, but few panned out. Cold Stone Creamery used to give away a free creation, but they stopped that this year. A lot of them are now buy one get one free. That's not really a bargain.

I love free stuff, and the two places I've linked above have a a great amount, but again, they usually say the same thing. If you know of any places that offer free stuff, let me know.

7/12/11 UPDATE: Okay, so I was trying to see if Google had added this blog yet, and I hit the motherlode: Hey Its Free!  Yeah, um, they have a different set of samples, it seems. While there is some overlapping, Hey It's Free finds a decent amount that makes them stand out and I am not talking the local deals they find. Check 'em out, yo!