Freebies and free stuff

While I wait for all of these calendars that I’ve recently requested, I’d like to have something on backstock just in case… So if I could actually catch a greyhound, I’d use this free Greyhound calendar. Yup, just download and print, easy as can be. No waiting for anything in the mail. But yet, something tells me that I’m just too slow for it…

(That, or I’d really better rest and lay off of the cold meds for a while…)

Here’s one of those freebies to sign up for just in case you want it in the future. Zappos.com typically offers free priority mail shipping on all orders, however for the next 24 hours you can upgrade your account to VIP status giving you free overnight shipping on all orders. They ran this offer last December and since then I’ve ordered two or three things, all of which were on my doorstep the next morning.

Fine, I admit, I only signed up so that I can say I’m a VIP somewhere. It gives me an excuse to wear my spray-painted gold suit.

Wait, I’m posting about Fridays on a Monday? I must already want my week over…

Even still, Barnes & Noble is giving away selected eBooks for free every Friday. While I don’t recognize every single title, there are quite a few on there. The only real catch? You still need a credit card to access them, even if it isn’t charged, and it takes 60 minutes from when you “purchase” them for the books to “ship” and be available to read.

So combine this with iBooks from the app store and you’re set! Until next Friday rolls around and the store updates with more… See? I’ve given you a week to get ahead!

Any college student out there should sign up for Amazon Student. It’ll give you a free year subscription of Amazon Prime, a $79 value. It’s a service that ships any purchase to your doorstep in only two days and laughing at the oversized boxes they send things in is a nice bonus to boot!

[thanks to everybody who sent this in!]

Wow, has it really been this many months since I’ve actually logged in and posted a freebie? Its like I’m the Rip Van Winkle of the site: waking up 20 years later.

So if you need help sleeping off the way I have, I’d try out these free downloadable white noise CDs. At the very least, the rainstorm isn’t half that bad…

Being that today is Friday, it’s Mega Swagbucks Day. Basically, on Fridays, they ramp up the number of prizes awarded throughout the day. However, as a bonus to people who haven’t already registered, you can also enter code SWAGNATION5 while signing up and get an additional batch of 50 free points. The code expires today at 3:00 EST, so don’t procrastinate like I would!

Never heard of Swagbucks? Check out this review we did on the site. Long story shorts, it’s Google + prizes. Every time you search for something on Swagbucks, you have the opportunity to win points. Those points can then be saved and cashed out for prizes like Amazon giftcards or money via Paypal.

Today marks the 2nd birthday of Swagbucks, a site I’ve written about extensively on HIF. The way I’ve always explained it is that it’s like Google + Prizes. You search on Swagbucks as you normally would on Google or Bing, but the added benefit is that you’ll randomly win Swagbucks, which can be exchanged for prizes.

To celebrate their 2nd anniversary, all new members can use code FREESWAGCODE1 to earn 60 free Swagbucks. If that sounds like a whole heck of a lot to all the old users, that’s because starting today, Swagbucks is multiplying all of their codes and prizes by ten. So instead of winning 1 or 2 Swagbucks per search, you’ll now win 10 or 20.

Furthermore, their giving away a ton of prizes today as well. If you read Swagbucks’ blog, Facebook, or Twitter, you’ll be able to follow along as they drop hints where you can find more codes.¹ I can wink wink, nudge nudge where an additional free 20 SB code is found. While on their main page, look at the very top gray toolbar and you’ll see five drop down tabs. Click on the right-most one and you’ll see seven options. One of those happens to be a free swagcode. I can’t say which, but you’ll know when you score the points! You’ll need to remove the space and make it one word.²

So what has everybody won through Swagbucks so far? I’ve scored a few Amazon giftcards and am almost ready to cash out on another.

1. there are a ton of people posting tips and clues on their Facebook page [↩]
2. for instance, if the seventh line said “Cool Stuff,” then the code would be CoolStuff [↩]

I routinely get e-mails asking why I don’t post weekly sales for this or that store. My response is always that (A) I don’t shop that often, which means I can’t personally check out each deal and (B) there are plenty of other sites that already do a better job than I ever could. The problem was, I could never say exactly what blog was covering what region, because I had no idea.

In comes Bargain Briana, who has just launched the Frugal Map. It’s an interactive map that allows you to click on a state and see a list of frugal bloggers that cover specific cities. That way, you can find a site that should be covering the deals for your local grocery stores.

To make it even better, the map is embeddable, which allows me to place it here on HIF. I’ve also linked to it on each of our coupons page, like Coupons.com and SmartSource. This is a pretty cool resource, especially for people who are just getting into couponing.

Here’s a neat little trick to pick up a free Swagbucks code. After logging into your account, click “Ways to Earn” followed by “Special Offers.” Then click the blue box that says “No Obligation Offers.” You’ll then want to skip through the offers shown to you (I had to skip through five, it took about 20 seconds) and finally you’ll be given a free code!

If you’ve got no idea what I’m talking about when I saw Swagbucks, check out this review I wrote of them a while back. Long story short, it’s like Google, but with prizes. Every search you make has the potential to earn points, which can be redeemed for stuff like gift cards.

If you think of Amazon.com, you probably don’t think of their movie streaming section where you can rent movies to watch immediately on your computer. But they’re hoping to change that with a holiday gift in the form of a free $4 Amazon video on demand credit.

In order to get it, simply go to that page and enter the code AVODGIFT. You’ll then be able to pick up to $4 worth of movies to stream on your computer for free. For references, there are just under 100 new-release movies priced at only $2.99 along with some cheaper movies for as low at $0.99.

The credit expires on January 3, 2010, but I’m thinking it might make for a nice break if you get a little overwhelmed during the holidays. After last night’s festivities, I have a feeling my liver will launch a counterattack any day now.

[via For The Mommas - thanks!]