Freebies and free stuff

If you have at least $40 in coins lying around, you should consider taking them to your nearest Coinstar and cashing them in. For doing so, you’ll get a free $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com, Lowes, iTunes, or whichever other store you choose. The offer ends 12/06/09, so you’ve got almost a month to round up an spare change if you’re short of the $40 requirement. So far I’ve only been able to find three pennies, a Canadian Loonie, and a Cheez-It. I’ve got a ways to go, but at least I’ve now got a snack!

Their FAQ states that an 8.9% processing fee is charged for cashing out ($40 * 8.9% = $3.56 fee), but it also says that if you convert your change into a gift card, it’s free. So, for example, you could get a $10 and $40 Amazon gc or a $10 Amazon gc and $36.44 in cash.

Annye pointed out in the comments that the official rules states you have to exchange your $40 for a gift card, not cash. So on the plus side, you won’t have to pay any fees, but you also won’t be able to get pure cash. It’s still a good deal if you shop at any of the stores which they offer gift cards for. Sorry I initially missed that!

It turns out that if you opt into their e-mail program, you can get a free $5 Kohl’s giftcard for your next in-store purchase plus a code for 10% off your next Kohls.com purchase. During the holiday season, I create a new e-mail account and sign up for newsletters at any of the stores my family shops at. Then I pass along the discount codes they send me and help the Goob Household save a little bit of money.

They used to make fun of me for running a freebie blog, but ever since I started giving them codes, they seem to have shut their yappers

I initially wrote about ExpoTV a little over two years ago when I first discovered it. I was using the site to make some extra cash just for making videos reviewing household objects. I eventually ran out of things to review, but that was a while ago and I decided to have another look at the site. Turns out they recently shifted to a new points format, but the premise is still the same: you set up a camcorder, webcam, or even the video mode of a digital camera and then review any product in your house. In exchange, you earn points that can be redeemed for prizes, giftcards and cash. Kind of like Swagbucks but for video reviews instead of searching. As an example, a $15 Amazon gift certificate costs only 1800 points but you receive 2000 points for uploading your first video!

In addition, they’ve got a new section called Tryology. Basically what this amounts to are free full-sized samples of new products in exchange for promising to make a short video review. Current and recent Tryology product offers include Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs, Honey Bunches of Oats, Herbal Essences, Pantene, Mister Salty Chocolate Pretzels, and more. To find out if you qualify, simply register, fill out your profile, and they will then e-mail you if you qualify.

You won’t make millions with ExpoTV, but it is a fun way to make a little extra cash as well as try out new products for free!

To celebrate getting a million followers on Twitter (wow, HIF doesn’t even have nearly that many ), Amazon is giving away a $1.29 credit that can be used to download a free mp3 song. The credit will be applied to your account and most songs are only $0.99, so you can actually get a song and a third for free!

Amazon is also running an offer this month of 50 different albums for only $5. They have albums from bands like the Rolling Stones, Steely Dan, John Coltrane, The Roots, Willie Nelson, Gloriana, Marie Digby, Crystal Method, Fabolous and Shinedown. So…pretty much something for everybody. It might be worth checking out if you’re a music buff. Check out the banner below for more info.

And finally, as we’ve written about before, Amazon offers a hoard of free music available to anybody who wants it. The current count of freebies stands at 1,200, so never again shall you complain that you have nothing to listen to!

Please raise your hand if you’ve never heard of Swagbucks. Holy moly, why are so many of you holding your hands up?

For anybody who is new to HIF, Swagbucks is basically Google + prizes. You search with them just as you would with Google, but the key difference occurs when you win swagbucks, which can be redeemed for gift cards, books, sports memorabilia, video games, school supplies – you name it, they’ve got it. Unless you just named pet turtles. I don’t think they have those.

Well the bigwigs at Swagbucks are releasing some new features and as a result, have offered new users from HIF a free swag code that gives them 2 free points. Couple that with the automatic 3 free points you’ll get for signing up and that’s…uh…hold on, let me find my calculator.

The code is freeswagcode (in all lower caps) and expires on 9/10/09.

Like I said, Swagbucks has some new features, for new and old users alike. One is a toolbar that is compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari. The cool thing about the bar is that, for the entire month of September, Swagbucks will release an exclusive free swagcode each day on it! That’s 30 free swagbucks by the end of the month! An Amazon giftcard costs only 45 points, so toss in whatever points you’ve already earned and you’ll most likely have enough to get it!

They’ve also got a version of Bingo coming out called SWAGO where you can play and win points. It hasn’t been released yet, but you can check out their blog this week and get all the details there. And as always, their Twitter and Facebook accounts are pretty good sources for unique codes as well.

So there ya go! Put all those hands down now and enjoy the free swagcodes.

EDIT: They’ve most likely hit their limit on this one.

I don’t know much about cars, so when I took the 7 question quiz for this free $10 Shell or Jiffy Lube gift card, I just hoped I had the right answers. Thankfully, the questions were all fairly intuitive, and you only need to get an 85% to win. So if you get something wrong? Just write down the answers and do it again…

No, I won’t share my answers with you. That’d be cheating and teacher would smack the back of my hand with a ruler…

Okay, so I’m confused here. I’ve had people send in this free Discount Drug Card offer for weeks now and I still don’t get how it works.

The website specifically says it’s a discount card to help people without health insurance. I guess I don’t understand how the makers of this drug card turn a profit, but I thought I’d post this and ask my fellow Hiffers if they have any experience with things like these. Do they actually work? I was able to print out my card in under a minute without giving out any info beyond my name, but I’ve never tried using it, hence the source of my confusion.

I called the toll free help number on the card and ended up having a chat with a somewhat helpful CSR. I asked who provided the service and he mentioned that the parent company is essentially a mail order pharmacy that works with insurance companies and thus are able to offer the discounts through their sheer size. He said average savings are around 20% and that most major pharmacies will accept the card.

I then wanted an assurance that this doesn’t charge you in any way. He said that the program provided by the parent company was free, but that some middle-men sites take the program and then sneakily ask for an enrollment fee, which the middle-men sites then keep. He said as long as you find a site that doesn’t ask for a credit card number in exchange for printing the card (like the one I linked to), then you shouldn’t pay a cent.

I don’t know, I’m just throwing this out there for anybody who might find it helpful. The CSR emphasized that this card isn’t meant to replace health insurance but instead help those without it. If any of you fall into that category, hopefully this will help you save a little money! And again, if you have experience with these, please share in the comments.

EDIT: This code is no longer valid.

The exclusive Swagbucks code for Hiffers that I wrote about last week expires tonight at 11:59 PT. If you haven’t signed up yet, what the heck are you waiting for? Go sign up for a free account, then use the code FREECODE (case sensitive), before basking in the glow of your free six Swag Bucks you now have.

If you’re new to the site, here’s the initial review I wrote about Swagbucks back in January.

EDIT: This code is no longer valid.

How many times have we written about Swagbucks here? A gazillion? It probably has something to do with how awesome the site is – in fact, I just cashed out my fourth $5 Amazon giftcard this weekend thanks to them.

For anybody who is new to HIF, Swagbucks is basically Google + prizes. You search with them just as you would with Google, but the key difference occurs randomly when you win swagbucks, which can ultimately be redeemed for gift cards, books, posters, and starting today – video games!

In fact, to promote some of the new changes they’ll be rolling out this week, they’ve given HIF an exclusive code. Signing up for a free account will net you 3 points automatically. Then you can use the code FREECODE to gain an additional 3 points, giving you 6. For reference, a free $5 Amazon giftcard costs 45 points, so you’ll already be 13% of the way towards your first prize. Like I said in my previous Swagbucks post, I average about 2-3 swagbucks a day though my normal search habits, which takes me about 15-20 days to earn my prize of choice. (the code above will expire on June 16 at 11:59pm PST)

Some of their new features this week include a widget that you can place on your blog / website, a newly designed frontpage, and a favorites section in their store. If you were ever wondering why Swagbucks destroyed Blingo and Winzy, I think you now have your answer!

I know it kinda stinks that the Swagbucks code doesn’t work for members who have already registered, but they are holding point giveaways for all users on their Twitter, Facebook, and blog this week. Plus, I’ll be starting another survey tomorrow afternoon with some prizes. So there’s that to look forward to

For the past few weeks, I’ve been putting together a big post on some of the best survey sites around. It’s been a bit time consuming going through each of them, but there’s one site that I thought I’d share with you today since it’s hands down the easiest way to earn a little extra cash. It’s called YouData and frankly, unless you hate free money, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be a member.

Basically you log on each week and view any ads that you qualify for. They generally pay out at around $0.15 to $0.25 each and once you’ve viewed all of your available ads, that’s it. It takes ~60 seconds to view all of my ads each week and in exchange, I generally get about $1. Now, we’re not talking about making millions obviously, but do the math.

$1 per week for 60 seconds of your time. That’s $52 a year for 52 minutes, or an average of $60/hr. If you’re making $60/hr in your current job, chances are this wouldn’t interest you, but seeing as how I certainly don’t make that much and I doubt many others do, this is a sweet little source of side case. Of course, this is predicated on the basis that you’ll qualify for $1 worth of ads each week, but I’ve been safely earning around that rate for the past two months so far.

The best part is that payments are automatic. Most of the other sites that I’m reviewing have a minimum cashout threshold and once you reach it, it’s up to you to request the payment. Not YouData. Every Friday, they automatically send whatever you earned the previous week via Paypal. No minimums, no extra steps on your part to ask for the money, no hassles.

My much longer post on earning some extra cash isn’t going to be ready for another week or two as I’m trying to be as thorough as possible, but I thought I’d share this site with ya now since I’m still searching for the freebies today.

EDIT: As mentioned in the comments, YouData requires a user to have a cell phone in order to sign up. My bad for not mentioning that earlier. Seeing as how I signed up a few months ago, I simply forgot.

H&R Block is offering a free Second Look Review of either your current-year tax return (filed or unfiled) or one of your returns from 07, 06, or 05. Usually this costs $29, so it’s a pretty good deal, especially considering that you can plan ahead and reserve an appointment at your local office. The offer is valid from today, April 3, through Sunday, April 5.

I have a feeling I should probably get my taxes looked at, especially since so many people are telling me that I shouldn’t have claimed the end of Battlestar Galactica as a hardship.

[via Craig - thanks!]

H&R Block is offering a free Second Look Review of either your current-year tax return (filed or unfiled) or one of your returns from 07, 06, or 05. Usually this costs $29, so it’s a pretty good deal, especially considering that you can plan ahead and reserve an appointment at your local office. The offer is valid from today, April 3, through Sunday, April 5.

I have a feeling I should probably get my taxes looked at, especially since so many people are telling me that I shouldn’t have claimed the end of Battlestar Galactica as a hardship.

[via Craig - thanks!]

Just a reminder that the exclusive swagcode for new members, HEYITSFREE, expires tonight at midnight. If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks already, you’re missing out! A few dozen Hiffers in the last post left comments saying how much they love earning free prizes through Swagbucks and thanks to this code, now’s a great time to sign up.

We’ve written about Swagbucks quick a few times already (tons of forums posts plus this extensive Swagbucks review I made back in January). After two months of using them as my primary search engine, I’d say I’m even more in love with them than I initially was. I’ve already earned enough points for two $5 Amazon giftcards and I’m fairly close to a third. How can you not love free money just for searching?!

If you’re still sitting on the fence about joining Swagbucks, maybe this will help nudge you in the right direction. Starting today, any new member who signs up can use the code HEYITSFREE to earn two free swagbucks, which will be added to the three swagbucks already offered to new members, thus giving you five swagbucks starting out! For reference, a $5 Amazon giftcard costs 45 swagbucks, so you’ll already be 11% of the way to getting your first prize. But that’s just one example, they have hundreds of prizes to choose from and dozens of different gift card options.

I usually average around 2-3 swagbucks a day though my normal search habits, which takes me about 15-20 days to earn a prize. Just think how many giftcards you’d have by now had you signed up when I first wrote about Swagbucks in January!

The code expires at midnight PST on Wednesday, so you’ve got almost two days to sign up and use the code. For people who are already members of Swagbucks, feel free to leave a comment with your opinions on the site. I’m interested in hearing what others think!

This free $10 FedEx Office Digital Photo Printing Gift Card offer has apparently been around for a few months and is said to only be available for the first 19,000 people, so I wasn’t too optimistic when signing up. But it accepted all of my info, said I’d get the gift card within a few weeks, and immediately sent me a confirmation e-mail. So in other words, while you’ve been reading this far and waiting for a semi-witty comment, 10 other people have signed up for this freebie and you’re in danger of not signing up in time. Seriously, what are you still doing here? Shoo, I tell you, shoo!

For those of you who aren’t sure what this is, it’s a gift card that can be used for digital photo printing at any FedEx Office, which I guess is technically any Kinkos.

[via Alfredo - thanks!]