Well hello my freebie friends! I know it’s late but Merry Christmas! And if you didn’t celebrate Christmas, Happy Kwanza. Feliz Navidad. Froehliche Weihnachten. Buone Feste Natalizie. You get the picture! I hope your Christmas or whatever it is you celebrated was amazing. You know what else is amazing? Freebies. This past year has been good to us, offering some of the best freebies ever available!
This is my year end freebie review for you, where I am going to go through some of the best things we have gotten this year…with a little help from some of the hiffers. Since most, if not all, of these freebies have long since died, I will let you know where you can get them and at what price. (Goob: I've linked to each freebie's website. If I make a notation that's it's still available, then obviously head on over and snag a freebie you might have missed!) Also I will list the website for you too! Make sure you always check on HIF for the freebies, I have a feeling 2009 is going to be big!
Let’s get started!
Some of the best freebies this year were the ones you could drink. Fannie Farkle was the first to say how much she enjoyed the Seattle’s Best Henry’s Blend coffee. As she put it, “Henry's Blend is a bold, strong-bodied coffee. It could pass for coffee shop, frou-frou coffee. (I can't stand coffee-flavored hot water, like you sometimes get with home-brewed coffee.) This is the kind of coffee that you might pay a couple of dollars for a cup out somewhere. I'm picky about my coffee. Henry's Blend has become the coffee I buy at the store, even without a coupon!” In competition with Seattle’s Best was the free Dunkin Donuts coffee (ed: still available!), a coffee I'm a huge fan of. Kendra and Omegafemale also agree that Dunkin was the choice of drink. She says “Dunkin's Dark Roast boasts a bold yet satisfying flavor. It's just good coffee. And yes, I think it's better than Starbuck's” I must agree I think it’s better then Starbucks too!
Both are sold at most grocery stores and will set you back 5 to 7 dollars.
Food wise this year there were lots of YUMMY snacks to choose from. Kashi kept us supplied with the never ending bars and cookies, while Orville Redenbacher's kept us popping with pop corn and popcorn cakes. Kashi’s best freebie snack was by far the Chocolate Chunk Cookie, while The Lime and Salt popcorn blew away our microwaves. Omeagafemale’s comments on the popcorn were simple “it’s to die for, light on the salt and mellow lime flavor”. She compared it with margarita shooters and I can’t say I blame her that is what it reminds me of too. The Orville’s popcorn also came in flavors such as Cracked Black Pepper and Salt and Buttery Garlic. You can find both products on their sites or in stores. The Kashi cookies run about 3 dollars a box and the popcorn is around 2 or 3 dollars.
Pet food was big this year also. We had cat and dog food coupons galore! I know I was getting a cat food coupon for a free bag every other month. Friskies, Pedigree, and Purina (ed: still available) were a few big names that gave out some freebies this year, but there were also smaller companies like Blue Diamond. (ed: still available?) I can’t say my kitty liked it much though; however Fannie Farkle’s and RLWL’s cats loved it. The free sample came with a few coupons as well! This one is a hard find as some people have pointed out, but I found it at Pet Supplies Plus and Tractor Supply. The price was approximately 14 dollars per bag. (Goob: This free White's Premium pet food offer seems to still be running as well!)
Late in the freebie year RLWL posted that she had received Muir Glen reserve tomatoes and that they were amazing. 3 cans of tomatoes in a crate with recipe cards! Now that is what I call a sample! I had not even seen the site until she'd posted about receiving her freebie. The link is still up to join the club so go and get your free tomatoes! (ed: looks like all they have left are coupons.)
As much as we love our food freebies, there were plenty of other non-edible freebies that were amazing this year as well!
Dentek (ed: still available?) gave away a 20 dollar gift pack. Fanniefarkle says she will never go back to regular dental floss again! Cara is loving her new Heineken beer froth remover, but she's also discovered a new use for it – how about a tool for icing a cake? Cougar2 was totally into the Best In Brow Pencil set from Anastasia Beverly Hills. Froggie and I both love the Jar Opener from Shared Solutions and agree that it come in very handy. Froggie priced it at around $5 at Wal-Mart. Kendra got a spa kit from Mirena that she said was really nice and Divil even received a pair of pearl earrings!
Almost everyone said one of the best freebies they received this year was the Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer. (ed: Yeah, that was a pretty sweet freebie.) Froggie, Kendra and Divil all agreed this freebie deserved some props while RLWL liked it so much, she put it in her husband's stocking! The trimmers and razors retail at Wal-Mart from 8 to 12 dollars, but once you try it out, you won’t mind paying for it at all. The razors are the same way; all you need to buy are refills.
T-shirts were a favorite freebie this year as well. Kendra liked the Alphageek Nation shirt (ed: I so don't remember this, but I just signed up for it now!) , Cougar2 and I both loved our Swedish Fish Tee (ed: I'm glad I wasn't the only person to get that!), and Divil wears her Obama and Molson tees all the time.
Our popular free magazine section gave freebies to all who browsed it while RewardsGold handed out dozens of fantastic free subscriptions as well! RLWL got a free subscription to Plenty, while Goob found his choices in the pages of Maxim, TV Guide, US News & World Report, and Inc. I also have TV Guide to thank for some entertaining reads over the year.
Out of all the freebies I signed up for this year, I received about 100. I have signed up for more but that’s not a bad number at all. I enjoyed all the freebies this year, so here's to a 2009 filled with even more freebies! Have a safe and wonderful freebie filled New Year!
