HOWEVER, use common sense in taking advantage of offers.
- Do not share personal information such as your social security number. Don't submit credit card information. Limit your identification to an e-mail or mailing address to which the company can send the freebie.
- Be aware of any conditions the company puts on the offer. Do not refer friends without their OK. Watch for expiration dates. Be sure that the offer does not require action on your part beyond what you are willing to do. Think before you start to fill out a long survey.
- If the offer sounds too good to be true, look for the catch. A high-end freebie must require something more than your simple request.
The provider of http://HeyItsFree.net passes along information he discovers on the web.
http://e-Rewards.com offers free magazine subscriptions.
FreeCycle.org matches people who want to give away items with people in the same city who want them.
At FreeBirthdayTreats.com you can find out who gives free or discounted meals or services to people on their birthdays.
For children, Kidsmealdeals.com tells where they eat for free with a paying adult. If you register and type in your Zip code, you'll get a list of nearby freebies.
Kids eat free at Denny's and Lone Star Steakhouse every Tuesday night (and some Saturdays) with a paying adult. IHOP, American Cafe, Hooters, Red Robin and Roadhouse Grill restaurants offer kids-eat-free deals at select locations. Check website [the restaurant may call the offer "Family Night"] or call Lebanese Taverna, 301-951-8681 www.lebanesetaverna.com; Jackie's Restaurant, 301-565-9700, www.jackiesrestaurant.com; Hard Times Cafe, 301-951-3300 or 301-294-9720, www.hardtimes.com; California Tortilla, 410-897-0333, www.californiatortilla.com.
At Restaurants.com, you'll find sites offering coupons for discounts and free food.
Avvo.com gives free legal advice from an attorney.
See www.throwplace.com for free items that have been donated. Find the 'Up for Grabs' section and follow directions.
These web sites are devoted to trading and bartering. On http://Swaptree.com, people trade books, DVDs, and CDs and pay only for shipping. http://Textswap.com lets college students trade textbooks. You can swap pretty much anything on http://U-Exchange.com. At Swapstyle.com, swap clothes, accessories, shoes or unused beauty products.
These web sites provide communities. In some cases, you can get something in exchange for your action: http://MeTime.com, http://TheMotherhood.com and http://5minutesformom.com.
It is remarkable how many places offer coupons for discounts, freebies, or free shipping. You can get coupons over the web at these sites:
- Safeway Coupons
- Get Printable Coupons
- Grocery Coupons
- Print more coupons from your computer
- Coupons for 10,000 retailers - Coupon Scout lets you compare.
- At Coupon Sherpa the staff tests promotions.
Free Video Games
If you're looking for games, head to Popcap.com, Pogo.com and OnlineFlashGames.org for thousands of free online and downloadable games of all types. For educational or just-for-fun games suited to young kids, check out PBSkids.org, DiscoveryKids.com, NickJr.com and Scholastic.com/kids.
Free Birthday Goodies
Anyone can get free admission to Disneyland or Disney World parks in 2009. Join the birthday club at Toys R Us and your child (younger than 10) will get a free toy or gift card every year. If you sign up in advance to join the club at your favorite eatery, you could score free food on your birthday too. For example, you can get a free meal at Famous Dave's BBQ and free ice cream at Cold Stone Creamery and Baskin Robbins. (Call your local restaurants to ask whether they participate in the deal.)
Free Software
For most of your computing needs, you can get free software. For word processing and spreadsheets, go to OpenOffice.org. For antivirus protection, head to http://free.avg.com. For free basic photo editing, check out http://picasa.google.com, or for more advanced touch-ups, try Gimp.org. And to manage your finances, use the free programs at Mint.com or Wesabe.com.
Free TV and Movies
Head online to watch free episodes TV shows -- old and current -- as well as free movies, and it's legal. At OVGuide.com you'll find a list of TV and movie sites including Hulu.com, Veoh.com and Fancast.com, as well as individual network Web sites, such as ABC.com and CBS.com.
Free Rewards
When you have to make a purchase online, start at BondRewards.com to earn another cool freebie: You click on an affiliated online retailer to do your shopping as usual, and a percentage of your purchase is given back to you in your BondRewards account. You then redeem your rewards for U.S. savings bonds or cash.
Free Tech Recycling -- With Benefits
You may get some free cash from your old electronics. Services such as BuyMyTronics.com, Gazelle.com, and GreenPhone.com recycle or refurbish your old tech and send you a check in return. They take cameras, cell phones, MP3 players, game consoles and more.
Free Recipes
Not sure what's for dinner? Allrecipes.com and Epicurious.com are perennial cook favorites. Together, they boast more than 100,000 recipes. You can search by ingredients, meal or occasion, read user reviews, watch cooking-demonstration videos and even save your favorite meals in virtual recipe boxes.
Free Directory Assistance
Save a buck or two and dial 1-800-GOOG-411 next time you need directory assistance. Google's free phone service will connect you with the business you're looking for, and there are no ads to listen to. However, it doesn't offer residential listings yet. You could also dial 1-800-FREE-411 for business and residential directory assistance, but you may have to listen to a short ad.
Free E-Books
When copyrights expire on books and music, the masterpieces become "public domain." That means you can get your hands on classic texts and sheet music for free -- and it's completely legal. For instance, at Gutenberg.org, you can download more than 30,000 e-books, including works by Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and James Joyce. At http://books.google.com you can search the text of seven million books (even those that are still under copyright).
And here is one more set of websites to find free stuff:
The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) is a nonprofit organization with a website that can help you find money that might be due you. See http://www.unclaimed.org/
Free stuff on your birthday: http://www.frugalliving.tv/free-stuff/birthday-freebies.html
Download free audio books on the nonprofit website, http://www.librivox.org/
Possibilities for free samples are: Free Lodging for Travelers: http://www.CouchSurfing.org is a nonprofit network of more than a half-million people around the world who will let you sleep on their couch (or, often, in a spare bedroom) while you're traveling.
Here is a separate page from "Financially Fit" with ten more ways to find the free stuff.
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