Freebies and free stuff

EDIT: Aw, it died.

Thanks to whoever just sent in this free Burt’s Bees moisturizing cream link. This stuff is like liquified rainbows.

I try to take certain days off. Weekends aren’t a must, but I like taking them off so I have a semblance of balance between work and personal time, like most people. Christmas, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July are always nice free holidays. Then you’ve got Easter, New Years Day, Talk Like A Pirate Day, Wednesdays, National “Insert Dessert Food Here” Days – you know, the usual. But my birthday is one of those random days where I always say “no, no, I’m going to treat it like any other day” and then by mid-afternoon I’m like “screw it, I’m out of here.”

Today is that day. The freebies are especially weak today anyway.

In lieu of extravagant gifts hand sculpted from gold, I humbly ask that you follow my personal accounts on your social network(s) of choice.

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• Personal Blog

Thanks in advance. My fans on these places are like a sounding board for little projects I do outside of HIF, some of which eventually develop into larger stuff. You guys rock!

Since my memory is so bad, I like to invent little games to exercise it. Todays activity was memorizing the 5 point Pampers Gifts to Grow code of TWITL9E8XAGTG12 instead of merely copy & pasting it. I failed miserably for 10 minutes then got distracted on Twitter and Wikipedia. In the end I pretended my keyboard was a piano and wildly mashed buttons to a made up song in my head. And it worked!

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!

First, the Amazon Kindle Fire giveaway ends on Wednesday. If you haven’t already entered, what the heck are you waiting for, an invitation? Well consider this your official invite. Also, please bring cake.

Next, I hope you entered the Papa John’s Super Bowl coin flip contest, because America called it right. That means those who entered get free pizza and Pepsi! According to their latest statement, we’ll get an email at 4pm EST with a promo code on how to redeem our freebie. And contrary to what some sites reported, the code will be valid through March 4, so there’s no rush to use it.

EDIT: Well, that’s that.

After liking them on Facebook, you can sign up for free Tums Freshers. The site says “When your favorite foods fight you: FIGHT BACK FAST.” But I have to disagree. Going into battle against food is never smart. I can’t tell you how many unfavorable peace treaties they’ve made me sign. Going up against them is as pointless as getting involved in a land war in Asia.

EDIT: It be dead.

CVS is offering free Simple Moisturizing facial wash. Trust me, this beats those Rube Goldberg facial washes any day of the week.

[thanks to Nicole for posting this on our Facebook wall!]

EDIT: Arrrrg, this died after I posted it.

Martha Stewart decided her Living magazine wasn’t enough, so she’s create a new free Everyday Food magazine subscription. She really likes those basic names.

Head Honcho: So, Martha, we need a name for your magazines. What kind of hobbies do you have?
Martha Stewart: Well, I like living.
Suit Man #2: Perfect! Martha Stewart Living has a great ring to it. What’s your thought on food?
Martha Stewart: Oh, I eat it every day.
Head Honcho: Whoa, whoa, whoa. Food…every day? Why didn’t I think of that?

I’m bad at remembering things. Dates, things to do, names!, the point of this post. TL;DR I think today was HIF’s anniversary.

I registered HeyItsFree.net in May 2005. I was a few months away from graduating with a degree in History and, as Gob Bluth would say, it was clear I’d made a huge mistake. One lazy afternoon while in an Australian computer cafe, I was chatting with a friend back home for ideas for new websites. He pitched the name Hey, It’s Free and I liked it. I didn’t even know what I wanted to write about, I just liked the name. The .com version was already registered, so I picked up the .net and promptly forgot all about it.

Fast forward to February 2006. My mom was trying to print some photos. I had seen an offer online where she could do it for free, but I didn’t have five hours free to walk her through it over the phone. Then I remembered I still had the rights to this domain, so I quickly set up a blog and wrote this:

Similar to Wal Mart, Walgreens has 1 hour photo. To get your 20 free prints, sign up for an account at http://www.walgreens.com.

Click on Photo, and upload your first photo. Once you do that, you will automatically be credited 20 free prints (glossy only for pick up in store). No shipping charges if you choose to pick up in store amd(sic) no credit card info required.

One more thing, you can create more than one user. Then you get print 20 prints for each user, and just pick them up all at the same time.

And thus HIF was born. I followed that up with four more posts that day and by March I was more or less working at the pace I do now. But the above post is the oldest I can find in the archives, which means SIX YEARS AGO TODAY I started this site. That’s longer than half my friendships. That’s way longer than any of my relationships.

I’ve been going through the archives a lot recently. Boy were there some crappy offers back then. It took me a month or two to figure out what freebies were legit. It was funny how fast I started getting readers. I remember plateauing around 500 daily readers for the longest time, but it was amazing to see how quickly those 500 found the site. I didn’t remember starting the forums (remember those?!) in November 2006. I figured it had been at least a year later. And the jokes! Oh, the jokes, when there were any, were awful. Worse than they are today! Though I have to admit, I hit my stride that summer.

That’s what honestly kept me going – the silly jokes. I used to create & flip sites all the time, but I found writing jokes about freebies refreshing in the strangest way. I’d always wanted to “be funny” for a living, but I could never make myself do it. Suddenly I was being forced to come up with something new every day without picking the topic myself. It was like a bizarro version of The Daily Show. Instead of waking up and making fun of the news, I’d be given toothpaste, a granola bar, and a magazine offer. And after the 40th toothpaste offer, it got really interesting to see if I could keep it original and fresh without ever rehashing the same joke. I loved it.

So yeah, it’s HIF’s birthday. I have no idea what the next six years will bring. More stuff like the Amazon Kindle giveaway from yesterday? Live chat or Q&A sessions? More writers to cover coupons or contests? Who knows but I hope you’ll be there to find out with me. Thanks for everything.

EDIT: Hiffer Shirlie pointed out they’re being slammed and trying to call people to confirm the freebie request. Forget that.

Whose idea was it to make a free Verve energy drink video based off a three-year old Ford commercial? Hats off for even hiring a horrible Denis Leary impersonator.

And please make sure to use a freebie email address on this one. Also, for those who don’t like requesting freebies from small companies, you want to stay away. The company checks out, but it’s a small startup launched by a single guy.

Stop in this weekend to get free Burger King onion rings on February 4 & 5. Heck, go both days, what are the odds an employee will remember you? No purchase or coupon is necessary, but it’s not valid during breakfast hours. Besides, who eats onion rings for breakfast?