Hey, It’s Free!

Good morning, HIFers! Well, as you can tell other than Goob’s post this morning, us here on the blog have been tied up with one thing or another. For me, it was a huge turkey-day weekend with my family and one set of my in-laws, and my sister staying with my wife and I for most of it. Cap that off with a bit of r&r, and most of the action for freebees has been over on the forums.

Which, speaking of that, we received some sad news from one of our members about PrivatePhone (post on the forums and original post on the blog). Apparently, as of December 15th, service over there will be ending. Very sad. I know that Goob and I used ours a lot–him for girls he’d meet in bars and me for a front for my “production company” when meeting strangers and talking music. One way or another, it got us both through a lot of hard times.

With that being said, one of our members, our loyal and hardworking moderator Pru, sprung into action and found us GrandCentral.com, a service that she attested to using herself. Me? I just had to try it. And believe me, it works wonderfully! My review and her comments on it can be found on the link at the end where it always says “via the forums.”

So needless to say, it’s an option for folks interested. It’s currently in beta testing now, but for everyone in on the beta testing, it gives them 10 invite codes. I’ve got one or two to spare which I’ll be giving out to the board members, but have no fear! For me, I got my beta invite just by signing up for more information and a few hours later, I had my beta invite link! So its worth a shot, and if not that, join the boards and see if anyone has any invite codes to give away, and I’m certain we all have plenty to share around.

And with the holidays gone, I’ll be back here more often and our fearless leader has returned from the Australian outback, so I’m sure he’ll have more stories of koalas, kangaroos, and good beer (not Fosters, not that its bad) for us on the blog. And me? I’ve just got final exams to procrastinate from…

Goob Edit: This is the perfect opportunity to check out the Invite Share website I posted about earlier! They’ve already given away over 4000 invites to Grand Central!

EDIT: Wow, never underestimate HIF, eh? I’ve received a lot of messages asking me for invite codes, and all I can say is this: I don’t have enough to go around. So because I got them all at the same time, I can’t give any out right away. What I would advise is this: apply for information with them and see if you get accepted. Like I said with mine, I was invited by them for the Beta within a few hours of applying for more information. So just go to the site, if you don’t hear anything in a few days, come to me then, and we’ll get you set up.

[via the forums and Pru]

This free “It’s Cool To Care” Earth poster would be great for any classroom or kid’s room. When I was a kid, my walls were decked out in posters of my favorite sports players. Ok, so maybe there was a poster or two of My Little Pony. And in the corner, there was that one of the Cabbage Patch Kids. But I swear, those weren’t mine! I was, uh, you know, holding them for my sister. So what if she wasn’t even born at the time, I knew she’d be around eventually. Ok, fine, I admit, they were mine. But I just liked the colors, that’s all!

All of these tons of free stuff from Mastercard are obviously intended for restaurants, but as you can read here in the forums, people have been getting this for over a year now with no hassle whatsoever. Basically, you can get any of the following just for signing up:

100 Coat Check Tags
40 Tip Trays
25 Pens
40 Check Presenters

You can even get the check presenters stamped with your logo, if you even have a logo. I have no idea why you might need all of that, but the 25 pens might be cool! And I guess if you have a massive dinner party, you could make your kids handle the coats with the check tags. But then what happens if more than 100 people check their coats? Oh boy…

I’ve never been a big fan of work. Any work, that is. That includes writing my return address on a letter. Yes, I am that lazy. But thankfully I just found these free mailing labels so now all is well in the life of Goob, as I can now save a precious 15 seconds every time I mail a letter!

[via the forums]

EDIT: Sorry folks, but this is now dead.

Last night, I couldn’t sleep.

I think it was the combination of caffeine and sugar. I mean, my last class on Tuesdays does run from 6pm-9pm, and seeing I stayed on campus studying from then through on till 11:30, well, I thought I’d be tired when I got home at midnight. But still, after laying in bed for an hour or two without falling asleep, I thought of this freebee I saw last night: a free hypoallergenic pillow cover. And all I needed to do was submit some information about my allergies.

Too bad I don’t have any allergies, but I think I found my own hypoallergenic pillow cover: a black trash bag. I shall name it Fred.

See… This is what happens when I don’t get enough sleep…

[via the forums]

Do you have a case of the Mondays? Or more like a freebee withdrawal from a quiet and slow weekend? Hah, don’t blame me or Goob. That sucker was out of town for a wedding, and me? I’ve been studying for a Quantitative Business Tools II test this Wednesday almost as hard as I might have been if I’d spent all day Saturday filing TPS reports.

Well, cozy on up with Milton and head on over to grab this free Swingline Stapler pack offer. With it, you’ll get the stapler, some high quality staples, and a staple remover. And yes, I know it looks like a sweepstakes or contest, but let me assure you, it’s just a very limited supply so you’d better act fast.

They’re like Michael Bolton CDs… They just fly right off the shelves…

[via the forums]

I love to read, and I love to read non-fiction. Yup, you heard me, non-fiction. I find there’s a strange sense of power I get from actually reading these books on current events and being able to apply them outward on things really going on. For example, last year I read The World Is Flat, Freakanomics, The Undercover Economist, and The End of Poverty. Yeah. We’re talking some stuff that you wouldn’t normally read for fun. But I did it. And next up? Brag! The Art of Tooting Your Own Horn Without Blowing It. No, I’m not joking. Its sitting in my bookbag today.

So it comes as no surprise that when I saw this survey sponsored by The Economist in which I could get a free book for participating, I signed right up. You get a choice of one of three books that are business self-help or history style books. Really interesting selections. I sadly only could choose one.

And for those looking at those books and wondering which one to get? If you don’t like the choices, I’m getting The Tiger That Isn’t. So you could always get one of the other ones and give me an early birthday gift. Sure, my birthday isn’t till January, but that’s why it’s early!

EDIT: Well folks, looks like you’ll have to get a free book from your library if you want one, because this offer is dead. Carry on…

[via the forums]

It’s hard for me to sometimes believe that we’re in September already. I mean, it seems like just yesterday was April. And that the yesterday before yesterday was January. Time just has been flying by so fast, its like Father Time took a few extra laxatives into work this year.

Though, I guess with an offer like this free 2008 calendar and coupons from Senokot, well, we could all pass the new year as quickly as we could pass breakfast through lunch. Or so the makers of any and every laxative would want you to believe.

Now, after that lovely thought, I think I should actually consider finishing my breakfast before making a post like this. Suddenly, I’m not hungry anymore…

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: free, calendar, 2008, father time, coupons, senokot, laxatives

Wow! What a year it’s been! Between Free Scoop Day at Ben & Jerry’s, Free Coffee Day at Denny’s, Free Iced Coffee Day at Dunkin’ Donuts, and Free Hugs Day? I’m almost pooped out of free days for Free Days!

And just to think that today, my computer could have a freebee if I still had an empty ink cartridge for my printer. Yup, because today is Free Ink Cartridge Refill Day at your participating Walgreens. So click on that link and find a local Walgreens that’s participating, and then make sure that your printer’s cartridges are compatible. Then, just use the coupon that’s in their in-store ad. Don’t worry. They’ll have ads in store. And if they don’t, just tell the cashier you heard about it, and they should be able to ring it up right.

Me? I guess I’ll have to head to campus and just spend a normal day bumming around and doing my classes, praying that my computer doesn’t remember these words I typed and goes on strike.

So if I disappear for a while? You’ll know it got its revenge on me.

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: free, ink cartridge, walgreens, free days, computer, revenge

The second I saw this freebee, I have to say that I had to read the website for a little bit. I mean, when I see “Babycake,” well, I think of a cake. It’s like baby powder and baby oil. When you were younger and you first heard the names, you thought “Hmmm, well, if a fruit cake is a cake made from fruits, and a baseball glove is a glove made for baseball, then baby powder and baby oil must be powder and oil made from…”

Needless to say, I had the same “fruit cake” logic when reading about this free babycake creations sample. Of course, when I read around on their website, I learned that it’s actually business cards for mothers and fathers announcing their relations to their baby.

Not actually cakes made from…

Well, you get the idea.

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: free, business cards, baby, cake, fruit cake

EDIT: Dead now

If I were to make a Freebie Hall of Fame for companies that are awesome at giving out free stuff, 3M would be the first inductee. Seriously, it’s as if they have a Freebie Department whose employees just sit around all day thinking of new products to send to us. And you guessed it, they’re at it again, this this with a free Post-it sampler pack. You’ll get some free post-it notes, a free highlighter pen, some free flash cards, and more.

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: freebies, 3m, post-it notes, highlighters

For Father’s Day this year, my father-in-law got a gift that COULD SAVE HIS LIFE, as the package advertised it. It was one of those multi-tools in the shape of a key with the glass breaker, screwdrivers, and everything you never think you ever really need all too compacted to be really functional in some plastic package that was seen on TV. So all in all, if you don’t have a TV the question of how it COULD SAVE HIS LIFE would be lost. Because how it COULD SAVE HIS LIFE wouldn’t be known because he wouldn’t have a TV to see how it COULD SAVE HIS LIFE so then he wouldn’t be able to SAVE HIS LIFE.

Lucky for us, if you don’t have a TV but have internet and click on this link from Hennen Publishing and take their survey, you can get your very own free multitool. Maybe it COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE too?

EDIT: You have to now e-mail them for the survey, so if you’re still up for it, go for it…

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: could save your life, multitool, free, survey

EDIT: Already dead now

These free Ziplock Zip N’ Steam bags from Wal Mart will probably die out in the time it takes me to type this post, but oh well. I’m just hoping they actually come, not because I want to cook something with them, but because I want to stick some of my sister’s Barbie dolls in them and watch them melt in the microwave. I mean, of course I myself wouldn’t do something like that, because I’m supposed to be a “mature adult” or “responsible” or something. But if my little brother were to wake up and find these bags and a pile of Barbies on his bed with a typed note that said, “Hey, Clay, go melt these when I’m in the kitchen getting my coffee so that I can watch with you,” then I don’t know if I’d have the authority to stop him.

[via Froggie]

Technorati Tags: Wal Mart, Ziplock, free bags, freebies, Barbies

3M continue to secretly offer these free Post-It Notes and Flags. Every few weeks, they seem to change the web address, yet I’m onto them! You can’t fool me! In fact, that’s the buzz around town says about me; that I’m unfoolable. And yes, unfoolable is a word, for the buzz also says I make up new and awesome words all the time. As you can see, my town is full of buzz. It can be hard to get to sleep at night with all that buzzing going on around you. Where was I again? Oh yeah, freebies.

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: 3m, post-it notes, freebies

EDIT: No longer available folks!

If you don’t mind getting some stupid brochure about a drug you most likely don’t need, you can sign up for your choice of a free backpack, lunch bag, or combo ruler & calculator. Pharmaceutical companies tend to give out quality freebies though, so I signed up for the free lunch bag. I still have a Viagra pen that was given out by a drug rep at my high school year ago and it’s pretty darn nifty. And yes, you read that right. A drug rep. At my high school. Trying to sell Viagra. Go public educashion! They teacheded me good!

[via the forums]

Technorati Tags: Singular, viagra, pharmaceuticals, freebies, free stuff