a tasty morsel

Just one more free post (I can stop at any time, I just choose not to right now).

It’s good for you or for a gift - don’t forget about Picaboo’s free photo book this month (enter FREEBK). Like I said, we got ours and it’s awesome. Plus, the groupon today in Oklahoma City is $100 at Picaboo for $25. It’s a great deal! And got my $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks.com after a week and a half of being a member. And no spam from them!

Fine, I’ll go to a support group… as long as it’s free.

I didn’t realize this today, but apparently Target has their own version of Woot. Check out Target’s Daily Deals. Includes free shipping!

I realize that I keep pointing out Swag Bucks, but it’s my newest obsession within an obsession. Since I fully anticipate earning my first $5 Amazon gift card in a couple of days (only a week and a half after joining - I know it works since lots of my friends do it), I thought I’d explain a little more how it works. Like I said, generally it’s just a search engine. And like a slot machine, it throws money your way every once in a while. I won these earlier searching for google (which I was using for an image search - which I would still recommend… but that doesn’t mean you can’t earn getting there!):

You can even download a tool bar and search from there:

And then there are daily polls worth one one swag buck - 4 options each

And then there are secret swag codes that they send out every once in a while that you can enter for even more swag bucks! Again - it’s the Easter egg hunt… but even more fun - and less sweating. You can find these codes in their blog, from their twitter account, from their facebook page… or you can put We Love Swag Bucks blog into your RSS feed or reader. They post any time a new code is out and where to find it. These codes only last for a matter of a few hours, so you have to jump while you can. Then you just enter them into your main page -

There are other ways to earn, but these seem to be the easiest to me. Again - no spamming! Just earning!  To give you an idea on what to expect to earn - I’ve earned everything from 25 (a day I barely did anything, and got none of the codes) - 96 in one day. With your swag bucks, you can buy all sorts of prizes - game consoles, collectibles, school supplies - on and on. My favorite are the gift cards - $5 to Cafe Press is 220, $5 to Amazon is 450 (I’m at 382 right now), $5 to Paypal is 770, $10 to Barnes and Noble is 1,250, $20 to Target is 2,350. There are more - just some I’d point out.

Again, if you sign up by the 15th, enter code BackToSchool to earn an extra 40 swag bucks (normal is 30). So sign up today, and start swagging!

Here is my birthday present to you for the next 50 years or so - the link to Hey It’s Free list of things you can get for your birthday for free. Because free is better than not free. Happy Birthday!

3 more days to earn an extra 40 Swag Bucks for signing up. Enter BackToSchool, and they’re yours! I’ve barely done a thing, and have already earned enough to get a $5 gift card to Cafe Press in one week.

If you want free, you generally are going to have to settle for a smaller version of the real thing (just like Little Legends celebrity impersonators in Vegas!). But sometimes you get a freebie that won’t fit in your pocket (unless you wear exceptionally large pants). My favorite so far is this free, customizable, classic photo book from Picaboo (20 pages or less). You can get one worth up to $39, and all you have to do is pay for the $8.99 shipping.

The program is easy to use and offers lots of choices of templates and covers. I ordered a black leather book with 20 pages (probably around 70 pics). It’s a quality product, and it arrived just one week after I ordered it.

Yes, that’s my hair. Nope, still not the original color.

This deal runs through the month of August. Just visit Picaboo and use the code FREEBK. Makes a great gift (for those of us that can’t get tickets to Little Legends).

Don’t forget, just 4 more days to get the extra 40 Swag Bucks for signing up by August 15th. Enter code BackToSchool, and you’ll have a jump start to earning gift cards and products. It can be as easy as using the Swag Bucks search engine. You’re going to search anyway. Until Google pays out, you might as well sign up.

Yesterday I admitted my new obsession with finding free things online (I tried to find free things in stores, but apparently the law frowns upon that), and I shared with you the fun of Swag Bucks. Today, I’ll share with you some sites that take you right to free things (or discounted things). They just throw money right to your browser. I don’t even have great hand-eye coordination, and I can catch it!

You have to watch out so that you don’t take every offer you see. Though if you do, let me know, and I’ll do a series on hoarders… starring guess who?… YOU! Truth be told, I didn’t even get the vaporizing salve or super sticky post-its I included in yesterday’s post. With three cats (one of the husky nature), I did get the cat food. I’ve also gotten free samples of hair products, lotion, dessert gum (Didn’t miss a comma there. I ordered key lime pie gum from Wrigley!) and other things I can actually use.

Free and discounts:

Wise Bread Best Deals of the Day updates their site once a day Mon-Fri with free things and discounts

Kansas City Mamas updates multiple times a day with freebies, coupons and combines all local ads (like from grocery stores) onto one site. The best part is that you don’t even have to reproduce to use it!

A Few Short Cuts is similar to Kansas City Mamas. I actually like KC Mamas better, and they often have the same information. But there are a few unique items you can find on this site. Plus, it’s got recipes.

Discounts:

Woot, Deals.woot, Wine.woot, Shirt.woot, and Kids.woot (should warn you, no actually children sold on this last one - sorry) post a different item at a ridiculous price every day. Once they’re out or the day is over, the deal is done (other than on deals.woot). So grab while you can!

Groupon has a new deal every day for local establishments. Pay less for more!

Come back tomorrow to see my favorite free item! Have fun, and be free!

I have a new obsession - finding sites that give you free stuff. Why pay for pet food? Or super-sticky post-it notes? Or vaporizing salve (exactly what I look for in a salve!)? It’s like an online Easter egg hunt, and every day is the day of our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… and his sidekick egg-hiding bunny.

Because obsessions feel less neurotic when you have others beside you, over the next few days I thought I’d share a few of of the things I’ve found so that you will not look upon me with any more shame than you did prior to reading this post (just remember before you cast the first stone, wouldn’t it be great if you could get that stone for free?!)

There are a lot of sites that will promise you free things for filling out stuff or playing games (if only the jewels on Bejeweled were real), most of these are a rabbit hole sans eggs. But there is a site that I’ve heard good things about from multiple people - Swag Bucks. You can get points (swag bucks) for doing things as easily as using their search engine (even if you used it to get to google) or completing a 1 second daily poll or if you’re really into it, they will post secret codes to enter to earn more swag bucks. And once you have enough of these bucks, you can get things like gift cards to Amazon or Cafe Press or game systems and the like. One of my friends saves hers up until Christmas for the Amazon cards, another gets a $5 Amazon card every month and hardly does a thing.

Another great thing - they don’t clog up your inbox! I may have gotten a confirmation email, but that’s it.

And through August 15, new members get 70 swag bucks (usually it’s 30) for signing up and using the secret code: BackToSchool.

So come with me to the land of the free (and the home of the brave), and jump on the Swag Bucks train. All aboard!