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

If you purchase any five products from the brands listed below and then send in the UPCs, you’ll get five free $1 off coupons from Pinnacle Foods Group, the company that owns all of these brands. It doesn’t say precisely what the coupons will be for other than they’ll be $1 off, but they apparently ran this promotion back in the spring and it was popular enough to bring it back again this fall.

The brands in question are:

• Hungry-Man
• Mrs. Paul’s
• Van de Kamp’s
• Duncan Hines Oven Ready
• Aunt Jemima
• Lender’s Bagels

So if you already are buying these types of frozen foods, might as well stock up on some free coupons and get them even cheaper the next time around! Purchases have to be made between 10/11/09 and 11/9/09 and coupon requests must be postmarked by 12/9/09 and received by 12/31/09.

[via Zachary - thanks!]

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!

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.

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…

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.

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.

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.

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!]

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!]

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!

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!]

Officer Roseland had a pretty cool idea with their latest album, Stimulus Package. And with that, you can head to a website they set up just for that and download it for free and get a buck for doing so. You can donate that buck to the Mr. Hollands Opus foundation or take that buck right to your PayPal.

One way or another, head to their myspace and check them out. I’d say even without the buck? You’re getting 11 tracks of aural stimulus.

[via the forums and Zachary]

Get your Entertainment 2009 Coupon Book here.

For those too lazy to watch the video above or maybe who can’t because they’re at work, read below for a quick recap:

So Budget Busters is going to be a new series where I explain ways to save money while spending money: coupon, lowering your utility bills, trading items instead of buying them new, stuff like that. This first one covered the new Entertainment 2009 Coupon Book that basically has the following pros & cons:

Pros

• Comes with $20,000+ in coupons.
• You can look at the coupons in your area’s book before you get it! This is a huge bonus and that I think some people overlook. You essentially know exactly what you’re getting upfront.
• Many of the coupons can only be found in this booklet and are worth more than most circular coupons. (free entree instead of only an appetizer, etc)
• Each book is area specific (mine is for the D.C. region only), so around half of the coupons are for locally owned and small stores.
• Coupons expire on Nov 1, 2009 at the earliest, so you have almost a year to use them.

Cons

• Costs between $16-20, but comes with free shipping.
• Some of the coupons for on-line retailers can be found by Googling.
• Most restaurant coupons are BOGO, so it’s not that great for a single person.

I gave an example in the video of how I ate at my favorite Mexican hole in the wall recently for my birthday and used a BOGO coupon for a free $10 entree. That’s already half of the cost it took to purchase the coupon booklet and after I use the second BOGO coupon in a few months, I’ll have recouped the price of purchase. After that, every time I use one of the other hundreds of coupons, it’s like free money.

So at the very least, check out your region’s Entertainment 2009 Coupon Book and see if the coupons in your area interest you! If so, order a book while it’s still on sale for 30% off WITH free shipping!

I also announced the winner of the $50 Target gift card, which was Deem2. Thank you to everyone who participated and if you’re now following me on Twitter, send me a message and I’ll gladly reply!

There’s also one last hidden clue in the video about something else coming up, but I can’t say anything more about that

So I’ve got a $50 Target gift card just sitting here and not being spent, so how about we remedy that? In order to win, all you have to do is follow Hey, It’s Free on Twitter and tweet the following message below:

Goob is giving away a free $50 Target giftcard! You can win by following @heyitsfree and retweeting. http://bit.ly/14tRIa

The contest will end this Sunday night at 11:59pm and the winner will be randomly selected from the people who are following Hey, It’s Free on Twitter. Fingers crossed Random.org doesn’t somehow try and force me to win my own contest again

I decided to film myself picking the winner for the free Walmart $50 giftcard this morning. The results are below. If you can’t get the video to play, a synopsis and links mentioned in the video are available after the jump.

• If you’re not a member of the forums, please register here.
• Not a member of Twitter? No problem, just register here. This will enable you to participate in an upcoming contest. Once you’re registered, why not follow my personal account and HIF’s account as your friends? *hint hint*
• If you suddenly stopped receiving the daily newsletter around last week, do the following: 1) Check your spam folder. If it’s there, mark as “not spam” and you should be good. If not… 2) Contact me and we’ll go from there. For the record, I’m curious as to how widespread the problem is and I didn’t cause it to happen!
• The first comment number I drew was 30, which was me. Highly amused and not wanting to win my own contest, I redrew numbers….
• …and got 92, which was Camille! Massive congrats to her and thanks to everybody for participating!

Use the code BeMine to earn a free Swagbuck. For those of you with short term memory loss, I wrote a Swagbucks review yesterday and a bunch of people in the comments section mentioned how much they enjoy the site as well. I have no idea how much longer this code will be active for, but it’s my experience that they die quite fast. So what are you waiting for?!

[via My Good Cents]