Freebies and free stuff

EDIT: This code is now expired.

I’m sometimes asked why somebody should like HIF on Facebook. Other than making me insanely happy, tonight’s free 100 Pampers Gifts to Grow points of MYBABYREGISTRYT is the perfect example of freebies shared there. The code expires tonight at midnight (sorry newsletter folks), so had I been out stimulating the economy at my local respectable drinking establishment, then I probably would have missed this. But Facebook fans wouldn’t have!

If you’re already a member of Pamper’s site, then use this link to head straight to the log-in page. Otherwise, use the first link to sign up!

[thanks LaShonna!]

By now you’ve probably already heard of Groupon. Any company that can turn down a $6 billion acquisition offer from Google is sure to get people’s attention. Well I’ve been using the site since Christmas last year and long story short, they’re freaking awesome.

The site name comes from a combination of Group and Coupon, which is a good way to describe how it actually works. In essence, once a day there is a super deal offer presented to your region. If enough people buy it, then the deal “is on” but if there aren’t enough people interested, then it dies and you aren’t charged anything. For instance, in my Groupon region recently, there was an 18-hole round of golf for two people plus cart for $39, which was around 70% cheaper than the normal cost. Now the only golf I play is putt-putt, so I passed, but you get the idea.

How about this for a better example: right now, Groupon is running a deal with Redbox. For $1, you can get 3 movie rentals! The offer is good through midnight tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 14) and the Redbox codes don’t expire until March of next year.

That’s pretty much it! Sign up, check the site each day, and snag whatever they’re selling cheaply if it tickles your fancy (I have no idea what that means). With birthdays always cropping up, I figure I’ll buy anything I see priced especially well and bask in the glow of my friend’s praise!

Of course, Groupon‘s enormous success has spawned thousands of copycat sites. Below you’ll find some of the more well known ones here in the states.

So what Hiffers are already using any of these sites? Let us know in the comments what kind of great deals you’ve snagged!

EDIT: It’s gone!

There’s a new free Excedrin medicine offer available. This is only available to the first 10,000, so it’ll die within minutes. Good luck!

The freebies are dried up today, so while I slog through my pile of drafts and possible posts, I figured I’m mention the P&G Give Health offer again. They’re trying to give away 100,000 days of clean drinking water by the end of 2010 and for every person who enters their email in the widget below, one donation will be added. To sweeten the pot, for every 1000 Hiffers who enter their email below, P&G will give me a $50 gift card to give away. We’re almost at the 6k mark, so that’s six $50 gift cards for sure!

Remember, you can donate once per day! When you donate water for the first time, you have to verify your email address by clicking a link they send you. However, every day after that you can simply come here and enter in your same address again without going through any more verification steps!

If you enter your email above and “Click to Donate Water,” then you just gave 2 liters of drinking water to somebody in a developing country through P&G’s Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program. Feels pretty good, huh?

I don’t talk about Cellfire nearly as much as I should, but it’s only because I don’t have a participating store nearby. However whenever I do mention one of their offers or coupons here on HIF, I end up getting questions as to how their program works. So I decided to put together a quick guide to using their free service.

Using their coupons is actually quite easy. First off, you have to make sure your grocery store is participating in the program. They add new chains frequently, but the current list of stores include:

• Fry’s
• Giant Eagle
• Kroger
• QFC
• Ralphs
• ShopRite
• Vons
• Dozens more…

So now that you know your local store participates, what next? Well, it’s quite simple: before you go shopping, head to Cellfire and “load” any coupons you want onto your store loyalty card. Then when you scan your card while checking out, the coupons will be automatically added to your bill.

There’s no printing or physical coupons involved, which is pretty nice for anybody without a printer. Heck, I have a printer and I still wouldn’t mind not having to carry around coupons with me all the time. I’d even go so far in predicting that within five years the majority of coupons will be handled this way. It’s cheaper for everybody involved, it cuts down on waste, and it’s easier. That’s a win/win/win for anybody scoring at home.

So if you shop at one of their participating stores, be sure to check out any coupons on Cellfire before you go shopping!

With holiday season in full swing, it’s more important than ever to save a few bucks. Luckily, I’ve compiled some coupons for a variety of everyday products, allowing you some extra spending cash for this month’s gifts and parties. Of course, you could save even more money by just giving out a bunch of freebies as presents this year. It’s a little-known* fact that 92% of people include mini bottles of shampoo and toothpaste on their gift wishlist.

As always, you can find many more coupons similar to these at HIF’s Coupons.com and SmartSource pages.

*And by little-known, I mean made up.

Grocery Coupons

Betty Crocker: $0.55/1 box of Betty Crocker boxed potatoes [ff] [ie]

Chex Mix: $0.75/2 Chex Mix snacks (4.5 oz bags or larger)

Cuties: $1/1 five-pound box and/or $0.55/1 three-pound bag of Cuties clementines

Heluva Good: $1/1 Heluva Good chip dip [ff] [ie]

Maxwell House: $1/1 Maxwell House coffee or instant cappuccino mix [ff] [ie]

Nestle: Save up to $12 on Nestle products, including bottled water, candy, cookie dough, juice and more!

Old Orchard: $0.50/1 Old Orchard juice product (64oz bottle)

Yoplait: $0.50/4 cups of Yoplait yogurt or $0.50/1 Yoplait frozen smoothie, assorted flavors and varieties

Health & Beauty Coupons

Cottonelle: $1/2 tubs of Cottonelle wipes

Curel: $1.50/1 Curel Sensitive Skin Remedy lotion

Listerine: $1/1 Kids Listerine mouthwash or Kids Reach toothbrush[ff] [ie]

Little Remedies: $1/1 Little Remedies medicine for kids

Maybelline: $2/1 Maybelline New York foundation [ff] [ie]

Pond’s: $1.50/1 Pond’s cream, towelette or cleanser

I was excited to find the cat food earlier tonight, but after I found that I could feed them for free, well, I needed something for myself as well. That’s why I’m now excited about this free Member’s Mark infant formula sample. I mean, at work, my phone shows up on caller id’s as “Children’s Office” for a darn good reason, and now you know!

The survey page for this free Whole Living magazine subscription says the offer is dead and yet the direct signup form is still accepting new submission. Does that mean the offer is still valid? I’m inclined to think so. Then again, I also think zombies, aliens, ghosts, ninjas, pirates, and Pluto exist, so what do I know?

Ahh, gourmet cat good. While some cats dine on high class free Natural Nutrition cat food, I’m stuck eating measly Fancy Feast. Wearing a tuxedo, top hat, and monocle while eating it doesn’t help matters either. It just feels desperate.

Oh my goodness, look at the photo. Look at it! What wonderful lighting! Okay, fine, there are some weird shadows over on the right. Maybe the bottom as well. I guess the left side is a shade darker than it should be. But the top! I really lit those Wall Street Journals up, huh?

Oh yeah, the freebies are nice too.

Freebies Received

• P&G booklet with $51 in coupons (plus my name on the cover, which was a little creepy)
• Ester-C gummies
• Lawry’s Mediterranean spices & seasonings
• Crest 3D White Whitestrips & toothpaste
• One weeks worth of Wall Street Journal newspapers
• Dec. 6-Dec. 12, 2010 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine
• Dec. 13-Dec. 19, 2010 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek magazine
• January 2011 issue of Parents magazine
• Nov. 19, 2010 issue of Golf Week magazine
• Dec. 13, 2010 issue of Ok! magazine
• Dec,.13, 2010 issue of Sports Illustrated
• Dec. 2010 issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine
• Dec. 31-Jan. 15, 2011 issue of Wine Spectator magazine