2010 Freebies Review & $50 GC Contest

So, let's see. 2010 for HIF saw:

  • 1,242 Freebies Posted
  • 1,026 Freebies Received (including movie rental codes and online free points)
  • 268 Magazines Received
  • 1 $50 Gift Card being given away in this post

These stats don't count anything I got in January 2010 since I didn't start the Freebies Received series until February. It also doesn't count freebies that were posted in the past few weeks that I'll receive in the future, so I have to be ecstatic with those numbers.

One thing I noticed while going over the past year was the number of food items given away this year. Granola bars, oatmeal, cookies, tea, coffee, cereal, crackers, popcorn, candy, gum, deli meat, bacon, macaroni, Bisquick, chips, energy bars. I've always food is one of the three most common freebies, but geez, you don't realize how much we got until you add it all up.

But what about my absolute favorite freebies? I thought for a bit, looked around to see what freebies I still use to this day, and came up with the following.

Top 10 Favorite Freebies of 2010

  1. US Postal Office Sample Showcase – This box came with 12 freebies and it was glorious. Coffee, shampoo, steak seasonings, lotions, soap, and more – it was all put to good use!
  2. Uniball Super Ink pen – I haven't used a different pen since the day this baby arrived. I actually lost it a few weeks ago and bought a few packages of them at the store. Anybody who says freebies don't convert to paying customers should think again.
  3. Multi-tool pocket knife – No more opening packages with my teeth!
  4. Kraft Sample Pack – Ten food products (including three free full-sized ones) came in the box. I buy Wheat Thins now due to this freebie alone.
  5. Kraft Coupon Book – Kraft again? You better believe it. One tiny brochure brought six coupons for free full-sized Kraft products from deli meat to macaroni to a free pizza. I ate well that week.
  6. American Apparel thong – Only because I had a heck of a time explaining it to my friends who saw me open it.
  7. Tena Adult Underwear – These freebies helped me execute a longterm prank where I convinced my youngest brother that I wasn't potty trained. It ended when his teachers started sending home notes about the topic he brought up during “Share Time” in class.
  8. LED UFO light – Let me paint a picture for you: I'm alone in the mountains in the middle of a monsoon when my car breaks down. I had an idea what the problem was, but both the bulb in my hood and my cell phone were dead. Enter the UFO light, which I had inexplicably thrown into my glove box. Long story short I slept in my bed instead of my truck that night.
  9. Extra Dessert Delights gum – I selected the mint ice cream gum and it tasted so genuine that I bought both of the other flavors. I am now addicted to the Key Lime Pie and am begging my friends and family for an intervention.
  10. Playboy and Macworld magazine subscriptions – Both of these tie for the final spot as they're wonderful reads. Seriously. I read them for the articles!

Another realization I had while going through the archives was the number of full sized freebies that I received, be it through the mail, coupon, or rebate. For the list below, I didn't include anything that could (or should I say, should) be used or consumed in one sitting. Doing so would have more than tripled the list as there were plenty of drinks and travel sized toiletries handed out.

Full Size Freebies

  1. Bar of Dove soap
  2. Package of Double Stuf Oreos
  3. 7 bottles of Excedrin medicine – Did anyone else remember that in addition to the free coupons Excedrin has recently bombarded us with, they also gave away a few in January / February of 2010? I sure didn't.
  4. Bottle of Louisiana hot sauce
  5. Package of Heluva Good Dip
  6. Package of Borden cheese
  7. Bag of Reese's Pieces
  8. Pantene Nature Fusion shampoo
  9. 2 bags of Planters Trail Mix
  10. Pack of 5 React gum
  11. Pack of Stride gum
  12. Jar of Enfamil baby formula
  13. Bottle of Renu Multi-Purpose contact solution
  14. Package of Oscar Mayer turkey bacon
  15. Box of Kraft macaroni
  16. Package of Oscar Mayer deli meat
  17. Package of Uncle Ben’s rice
  18. Package of Kraft Cheesy macaroni
  19. Jug of Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice
  20. Box of Kool-Aid
  21. Box of Mac & Cheese
  22. One DiGiorno’s pizza
  23. Box of 100 calorie cheese bites
  24. Package of Oscar Mayer deli meat
  25. Box of Ritz Crackerfuls
  26. Package of Pilot pens
  27. Bottle of Suave Professionals shampoo
  28. DiGiorno deep dish pizza
  29. Bottle of Pure Scent~sation hair remover
  30. Bottle of V8 V-fusion green tea
  31. Glade candle
  32. EasyGlide Bic pen
  33. Mrs. Fields cookie tin
  34. 2-liter of refreshe soda
  35. Package of Cottonelle flushable moist wipes
  36. Two Proforce cleaning kits
  37. Bag of Natura Advantage dog food
  38. Pack of Extra Dessert Delights gum
  39. Can of Pringles Xtreme chips
  40. Box of Barilla pasta
  41. Bag of Food Should Taste Good chips
  42. Bottle of free Dream Water

Forty-two full sized freebies! How can anybody hate on that?!

So what was your favorite freebie of 2010? Share it with us in the comments below and you'll be entered to win one of the $50 prepaid American Express gift cards given to me by P&G last month!

If you're reading this via Facebook, email, or an RSS feed, then please click here to comment and enter. I'll use Random.org to pick a comment on Wednesday, January 5, at 8:00pm est and email the winner!


Free Girl Talk All Day Mashup Album Download

Free Girl Talk Album

My friends kept telling me that I should listen to Girl Talk. They kept telling me that because I like Kanye's sampling style, that I'll like Girl Talk. And with this free Girl Talk album download, well, maybe I'll finally listen to them…

Or maybe I'll just keep listening to my copy of Kanye's new album that comes out next week and pretend not to listen to them…

Just a heads up, while this album rocks, it also has some adult language.

My Painkillers Were Free!

Hey Hiffers. I had some major surgery yesterday and will be taking the next day or two off from posting, emails, and the sort. I might try getting a few posts up this afternoon if my laptop plays along (what a perfect time for my battery to die!), but I apologize in advance for any freebies we miss while I'm off in Never Never Land. Please do me a favor and play nice while I'm gone though. Taking the time to delete batches of inflammatory comments is even less fun than it sounds.


Free Celebrity Autographed Pictures

I think after all of the cold medicine that I've had this weekend that I'm finally beating the sickness. I mean, sure, it was a three-day weekend from my day job, but man, with as many freebies as I've found? I feel like I've been working doubletime.

And then to find this free celebrity autographed pictures link? Oh man, I've just completed my weekend by ordering an awesome photo of Michael Dorn. What? Don't judge! You know that Worf was your favorite Klingon too!


Free Cancer Research Mailing Return Labels

Free Cancer Research Mailing Address Labels

I have so many different mailing address labels from one freebie or another that I could fill out my Christmas cards this year and never have to worry about return addressing any envelope. That being said, I still requested these free cancer research mailing address labels. Sure, I've got a ton of ones with birds and flowers on them, but another pack with some more variety? Well, variety is just the spice of life…

Besides, 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 now that I've found these free mailing labels, all is well in the life of Goob. I can now save a precious 15 seconds each time I mail my annual letter.


Free Trash Bag & Laundry Detergent

Once a staple in the freebie world due to their extremely low cost to ship, free trash bags haven't shown up much beyond 2016. One small tidbit is Sam's Club used to be the trash bag freebie king! No idea why, especially since Walmart and Target were the main freebie sources back then. And yet it was almost always Sam's Club partnering with Glad and other trash bag manufacturers to offer free samples.

While we wait for more to return, here are some of the classic trash bag jokes!


Here are some free Glad ForceFlex OdorShield with Febreeze trash bags for people needing somewhere to put their garbage. Good luck holding it for the next 5-7 weeks.


Interested in a free Glad Odorshield with Febreze trash bag offer. I'm just thankful it's not one of their usual ForceFlex bag offers. The previous time one of those bad boys arrived, it teased me mercilessly until I finally flexed. My friends still laugh at how minuscule my biceps are.


These free Glad ForceFlex trash bags are fantastic at not breaking while you stuff them full of all the dirty dishes your roommate left in the sink. The bags even mask the smell long enough for you to carry them into his room and scatter said dishes all over the floor!

Or I guess you could just put trash in them. Whatever floats your boat.


The selling point of this free ECOgrade photodegradable trash bag, other than being free, is supposed to be that it's biodegradable. I foresee two major problems here. First, what happens to the garbage after the bag degrades? Does it start blowing out of landfills? Call me crazy, but we need our trash to morph into flowers over time as well.

Also what if I want to throw away a pile dirt right now? Will it speed up the degrading process and cause the dirt to get all over my kitchen? No, stop asking why I have mounds of dirt in my house. You're focusing on the wrong aspect of this scenario.


Free CDC Publications

I like to think that my taxes go to something cool like paying for space shuttle missions or repaving roads (What? I think that asphalt layers are awesome!). In all likeliness, I realize that the reality of the world is that my taxes probably go to something more along the lines of these free CDC publications and material. Why would I need these when wikipedia can tell me that my problems are because the stork dropped me on my head when he dropped me off on my mommy's doorstep?


Free Shout Color Catcher

Free Shout Color Catcher

As you can see, these free Shout Color Catchers had a burst of popular sampling events. They mainly ran from 2010-2012, but I'll continue being on the lookout for the next freebie opportunity.


I once tried to emulate these free Shout Color Catchers by eating a box of crayons. They didn't quite color what I was hoping for.


The old free Shout color catcher offer is back. Or maybe it never went away to begin with. I'm not the most attentive person in the world as my current outfit attests. I have no idea how this skirt got into my wardrobe or how I came to wear it.


This free Shout color catcher looks like a new form. Plus it accepted my info without saying I'd already requested a sample, so that's good enough for me to publish this. I have a pretty low bar when it comes to quality control. I'm the Creed Bratton of freebies.


Free Moo.com Business Cards

10 Free Moo.com Business Cards

Moo continues to offer one of the freebie classics of 10 free business cards. I first posted this freebie in 2010 and a decade late it's still kicking!

If it's anything like before, then the free business cards will arrive in your mailbox within days. Unfortunately I don't have anybody to give these out to. I don't think I've ever had a single person ask me for my card, but that might be because I never leave my home and only converse with imaginary friends.


Free Human Rights Information Kit

I think the first human right is that we should all have the right to have pancakes for dinner and steak for breakfast. As you can tell from the multiple food posts in a row, its time for me to eat so I don't get much loopier than this. So while I'm waiting for this free human rights information kit to come, I might have to create my own list of human rights and see if I can get people to follow them… I think my first right should be something about cake…

(Thanks again, Audrey!)


Free McDonalds Smoothie Coupon

Hiffers, mark your calendars because over 14,000 locations will be giving out free McDonalds smoothies from 7am-7pm on July 22-24. What does this mean for me? Well, for starters, I'll have to actually put on pants in the morning. I still don't understand society's hatred of guys wearing only boxers and fuzzy bunny slippers.

Also, if you still have USA Weekend or Parade magazine from Sunday, look inside it for a free McDonald's 12oz. Smoothie or Frappe coupon.

Also also, if you decide you want to buy a full-sized smoothie later on, here's a $1/1 coupon from McDonald's site.

Update: So McDonald's chickened out and canceled the freebie event on July 22-24. Wimps.


Send Your Face Into Space

Two years ago NASA offered to send your name to the moon. Now they're willing to blast your face into space! Sure, it's not a traditional freebie that comes in the mail, but I can't resist having my face float amongst aliens.

I fear it's the closest I'll ever come to traveling off our planet on account of my fear of heights. Plus, there's the fact that I'm vastly under qualified nor am I a rich Russian oligarch who can buy my way up there. But I'm sticking with the whole heights issue as my main obstacle.