I Like Free Stuff

Every one likes free stuff, right? In case you were just skimming that first sentance, I said FREE! I've gathered a few resources for you to check out or everyday things you may not have taken advantage of in the past.

Take the back of this crickled up Burger King reciept:

It comes with every front of a Burger King receipt. If you go online within 48 hours of your last visit, answer a few easy questions, you get a free Whopper or Chicken sandwhich! Those are two of my favorite fast food sandwhiches! Yes, there is fine print... You have to buy any sized soft drink and fries to get the free burger. But no fear folks, I went a step extra and called a Rochester Burger King. (In my mind I was sounding like a teenager doing a project for a first hour class, not a 32 year old poor person planning how many cans she has to take to the recycling place in order to afford lunch.) You can get a small drink for $1.89 (which is the same size as McDonald's medium) and small fries for $1.19. So for the invstment of $3.08 you can have the full meal. I didn't want to take more of the guy's time, but I think you save about three bucks.

USE YOUR SMART PHONE!!!
Four places I shop where I never go to the checkout counter without a coupon are:

Harbor Frieght Tools (Shut up! I shop there.....)
Kohls
Michaels
Hobby Lobby

These four places usually have 20-50% off a regularly priced item. Yes, this is huge. I got a metal scroll work piece I had been eyeing from Hobby Lobby for $17 vs it's normal $35. I actually waited for it to go off its current 30% off Metal Accents sale so I could use my coupon. just do a store coupon search right from the browser of your phone and the cashier can scan your phone like they would a paper coupon. Not free, but this will save you money. And it's convenient!

You can get eBooks for Free! Both Barnes and Noble and Amazon offer free download books. They are typically new authors looking to get their name out or even big publishing companies offering the first of a series of books for free so you are enticed to buy the rest of the series. And of course, you do not need to go out and buy a Nook or Kindle to take advantage of these. There are free apps for your smart phone. My suggestion would be to do a Google search of "top free kindle books" vs searching amazon for the free ones. It can be hard to find them from the site itself.
You can also read full books on your computer, tablet or smartphone from romance giant Harlequin by clicking here. I actually just stumbled onto this resourse this morning!

The Free Section of Craigslist.
Checking this section out a few times a day can be worth it. My motto is spray paint can fix a lot. Let's face it, strong and sturdy furniture is expensive. Even though the build it yourself stuff from Target and Ikea are temping, if you can get solid time tested furniture for free, borrow a pickup and a strong friend, tape off the parts not to be painted, if any, and grab a couple three dollar cans of satin black spray paint. Make sure it's satin finish, not gloss or semi gloss and go to town with it. You can update a seventies brown hutch or early nineties natural oak chair in no time!

The Library- As long as you turn your stuff in on time, you've got a great resource for "renting" DVDs, TV series, CDs, and VHS tapes for no money at all. Seriously, when Twilight first came out, my library happened to get it in just as I walked through the door. A new release for free! If you are anticipating an upcoming media release, you can log into your local library's website and add yourself to the waiting list for the item and they'll hold it and call you when it's available.

Having mentioned CDs from the library, this is a FREE way to amp up your digital music library. CDs are easily uploaded to iTunes from your computer, so instead of buying albums or individual songs from iTunes or pirating music, hop on the Internet, reserve the CDs you want on the library's website and build your music library!

I know I've got many more resources, because I'm cheap like that, so stayed tuned. One of these days I'll post more of my "I Like Free Stuff" secrets.