Free For All!

I like a good discount.  Probably a little too much, but let's not go there.  A few months ago, I stumbled upon a "free sample a day" site and have been hooked ever since.  Recently, when my free lovely makeup bag FULL of beauty samples arrived in the mail, I just about hooted with joy.  Here is a small example of some of the free stuff I have received in the mail or various other spots over the last few weeks.  Yes, like I said, it's a little bit of a sickness.  Anyway, for this rainy cold weather, I thought I would share some of the "free stuff" love and some of the sites that I really like.

Sampleaday.com:  This is a great one!  You literally get an email every single day with a list of free stuff that you can sign up for.  Some of them are a little strange, or require a complicated series of rebates, coupons, or trips to particular stores.  Many of them though are just "fill out your name and address and get some free stuff."  Here is a list of some of the free things that I have received through this site:  Full-sized Origins facial wash, peanut butter, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, magazines, various toiletries, socks, the list could go on.

Savemore.com:  This is one of those flash sale type sites.  The real trick though is that they give you $10 just for signing up.  That means, that if you buy a deal that is $10 or less, than it's free.  I recently bought a pair of $30 earrings for $7.  With my extra $10, that means it was free with $3 left over!

Freebies 4 Mom:  This site collects and notifies you of daily free or discounted stuff.  Some of my favorites here are free apps or e-books.  If you "like" them on Facebook you can get little "status updates" when there is stuff available.

Thriftme:  This one I like because they list discounts and deals by store.  So, if you want to know what's super cheap at the Tarjay this week, you can find it here.

Speaking of Target, they have pretty great coupons on their website.  And, you can combine their coupons with manufacturer coupons for even deeper discounts.  Also, a lot of toiletries often come with a "buy X amount, get a $5 gift card.  When you combine with the coupon deals, it can end up working out to pretty much free for 4 deodorants/shampoos/toothpastes, whatever.  This is how Hubby ended up with about a 5 year supply of deodorant.

For those of you rolling your eyes and thinking that I'm crazy right now, well, you're right.  However, you really can get some good deals and fun stuff out there for not a lot of work.  As for coupons, I'm not an advocate of buying a ton of stuff that you really don't need.  But, if it is a grooming product or a non-perishable food item and it is free or nearly so, then buy it!  If you don't want it then donate it.  The Hugs Project is a great one for men's toiletries (they send them to soldiers).  Right now my daughter's pre-school class is collecting toiletries for a local shelter.  So, I cleared out a whole lot of those extra shampoos, deodorant, etc.  Now maybe Hubby won't completely ridicule me when I come home with more deodorant!  By the way, I even managed to score a small "stocking stuffer" for Hubby for, you guessed it, free!!!  Shhhh...