Free Things

55

By Bendy's Ideas

Free Things

  1. InStoresNow.Walmart.com: Walmart’s easy-to-use site offers you everything from free samples (Better Than Ears dog treats, Huggies, etc.) to free trials to tips on special savings. Sign up for a trial by answering one or two easy questions and entering your address—no silly quizzes, redirects or scams about it.
  2. PGEverydaySolutions.com: Popular, well-known and trusted, Procter & Gamble offers a healthy selection of free samples, coupons and sweepstakes. Register for an account, submit your usage habits from a provided list of P&G products (Tide, Olay, etc.) and voila—you’re done. Note: A newsletter is part of the registration package.
  3. StartSampling.com: This site is entirely dedicated to sampling and calls for little-to-no obligation. For the free stuff, you create an account on the site and simply fill out a survey that indicates your sample preferences. Once you have an account on the site, you can access the coupons section and earn Frequent Tryer Miles—which earns you a free prize once you hit a certain amount.
  4. Learn a new skill. Find online videos or library books that teach you to knit, quilt, crochet, cook, give a message (you partner will thank you), or navigate a computer program like Photoshop or Excel. You can watch videos on www.youtube.com and www.knittinghelp.com. Learn some message moves by going to www.expertvillage.com and typing "message techniques" into the search bar. Or learn new stuff the old-fashioned way: Ask a talented friend or family member to teach you.
  5. Play Games: This is a fun little appliction that you download to your computer and you can play it anytime you want to. If your like me you have lots of times you get bored and don't know what to do. I usually play this in the mornings while drinking my morning coffee, during commercial breaks, or any other time I just feel like playing a game. You can also rack up some cash for yourself by playing these games. Check it out for yourself!http://www.kerclink.com/AffTrack.htm?MID=127098
  6. Treat yourself to a pantry spa. Invite a friend over and raid your pantry to create a day of pampering! Honey, oatmeal, avocados, lemon, even beer are all great ingredients. Go to www.life123.com, type "pantry spa" in the search box, and you'll have all the recipes and instructions you need to give yourself treatments like a facial or oatmeal scrub.
  7. Play games online. At www.addictinggames.comyou'll find thousands of games like action, sports, puzzle and board, and more. Test your dexterity with sketch or match, do a jigsaw puzzle with daily jigsaw or relieve you old tetris days with a similar version call phit. Find more at www.freearcade.com. You can even find a free MMO (massively multi-player online) game at www.maplestory.com that enables players to cooperate and compete over the Internet.
  8. Start a photo project. Everyone has a box of family pictures, time to dig through it and put together an album. Once you start, you'll be hooked. If your pictures are digital, upload the keepers to a photo website like www.photobucket.com or www.flickr.com. Both are truly free and so cool. You can crop, edit and organize photos to create albums, then share with friends and family.
  9. Take a nap. Not just any old nap. Make it special with all your favorite things, pillow, comfy blanket, soft music, open window or secluded spot outdoors. Or turn off the phone, grab a great book and just steal away for an entire afternoon.
  10. Go camping in your own backyard. Prepare for the best weekend you've ever had, roughing it out back, knowing full well that the comforts of home are only steps away. If you have a tent, get it out, dust it off and pitch it. For tried-and-true camp cuisine, including s'mores, go to www.camprecipes.com. And get games and songs at www.ultimatecampresource.com.
  11. Make a play list for someone special. Pick out some music and make someones day. If you don't already know how to make a play list, find a great tutorial at www.itunes.com or go to www.microsoft.comto make one using windows media player. When you're done, just burn a CD or load the play list onto the person's cell phone or iPod.
  12. Visit a museum. Most museums and galleries offer free admission on special days or weekends. Go to www.free-attractions.com. Also look into Bank of America's "Museums on Us" program. If you have a Bank of American credit or debit card, you can get free admission to more than 70 museums on the first weekend of every month.
  13. Go geocaching. Not exactly a sporting event, geocaching (pronounced GEE-o-cashing) is an outdoor treasure-hunting game in which the participants use a GPS to hide and seek containers (caches). A typical cache is a small waterproof container concealing a logbook or "treasure," usually toys or trinkets of little value. More than 750,000 geocaches are registered on various websites devoted to this pastime. If you have a handheld GPS or a GPS enabled cell phone, or you can borrow one, you're ready to go. Go to www.geocaching.com and read "Getting Started." You'll need to register, but it's free. Once you're ready, just type in your zip code and start exploring!
  14. Swap stuff. Go to www.swapstyle.com to join an online fashion swap party. Read the guidelines, browse through a wardrobe of clothes and accessories, then swap all day long for free. Swap books at www.paperbackswap.com and textbooks at www.bookswap.com. Got DVDs? Go to www.swapaDVD.com or www.titletrader.com
  15. Find your favorite student (or yourself) a scholarship. Have a few hours? Visit www.fastweb.com, a source for scholarships and grants available to college students. There's also lots of information and advice to help win more awards. You'll need to register your student to narrow the field of awards for which he or she qualifies. It's not a quick process, but you're very likely to find some scholarships and grants that fit your specific background.
  16. Attend a home-improvement clinic. Spruce up your space! The Home Depot offers in-store classes on subjects like how to tile a floor, hand drywall and paint. Go to www.homedepot.com, click on "Know-How," then "Clinics." For online tutorials go to www.lowes.com, click on "Services," then "How-To Projects."
  17. Take in a local event. Most cities have free summer concerts, picnics and festivals, so check your newspaper, and visit the websites of local colleges, churches and your chamber of commerce. Google the name of your city plus "tourist," and prepare to be surprised by events and attractions you'd either forgotten about or didn't know existed. Support your community and have a ball at the same time.
  18. Take a factory tour. Let me just say two things: Jelly Belly and Hershey's. It's fun to see how things are made, especially when the tour concludes with free samples. Go to www.jellybelly.comand click on "Visit Jelly Belly." Hershey's Chocolate World offers a free chocolate making tour with samples. Go to www.Hersheys.com. Go to www.factorytoursusa.comto pursue 528 different tours, many of them free.
  19. Treasure hunt. If you love a bargain, find Jacuzzis, pet snakes and everything in between at www.freecycle.org or go to www.craigslist.org and click on "free." You won't believe what you'll find!
  20. Set up a game tournament. Pull out your board games and round up the family for and evening of fun. Monopoly has taken on a whole new meaning in this economy! If you're tired of you old games, swap with friends and neighbors.
  21. Volunteer. You could spend a day at the library organizing periodicals, or doing other tasks that are continually left undone for lack of personnel. Visit a women's shelter or hospital (find out if the pediatric ward could use a storyteller). Call your church to discover projects just waiting for someone to help out.
  22. Continue your education. Attend free lectures at local colleges or at your Alma mater. (check websites for details.) Or learn in the comfort of your own home. Search for video lectures online. A good place to start is www.ocw.mit.edu
  23. Catch up with friends. Have a web cam on your computer? You'll love Skype. Just download the program at www.skype.comand you'll be able to have a video chat for free. No web cam? You can also make fee long distance Skype-to-Skype calls.
  24. Clean out a closet. OK, this sounds more like work than play, but hear me out. Just think about the wonderful feeling of satisfaction you'll get when you see that space totally reorganized. Who knows, maybe you can sell some castoffs on www.ebay.com or www.secondspin.com.
  25. Meet your neighbors. Make an effort to introduce yourself to your neighbors if you don’t know them well. Invite any interesting ones over for a cup of coffee and a chat, just to get to know each other better. Your neighbors can not only become friends, but can also be a valuable resource - a friendly pair of eyes on your property when you’re away or a helpful set of hands when you’re trying to complete a challenging task.
  26. Have a “cupboard potluck.” Go through your cupboards and find any items that might have slipped to the back over time. Invite some friends to do the same, then get together for a potluck dinner prepared from only these ingredients and whatever else you have on hand. It makes for a “free” meal and a lot of fun for everyone involved.
  27. Take some digital photographs.Take your digital camera out with you and take pictures of anything you find interesting. Take lots of them, then go home later and see if you’ve taken anything beautiful and compelling. Great images can make for the basics of homemade greeting cards (yep, keep going downwards for more on this), nice desktop wallpaper, screen savers, or many other interesting uses.
  28. Organize a potluck block party. Get permission from the city to do this before you try it - ask if you can block off a street for a block party on a certain date. Then throw yourself into organizing it. Go door to door, telling people about the block party, and inviting them to bring something. Ask if they have tables and/or chairs that can be used for it. Then, on the day of the party, set out the tables and chairs you borrowed and dig in.
  29. Cook some meals in advance. If you already have a bunch of basic food staples on hand, spend some time cooking some meals in advance to store in the freezer. It’s easy to prepare casseroles, soups, pasta meals, and many other items all at once, then store them in portion-sized containers in the freezer for eating later. Not only is this way cheaper than eating out or buying convenience foods, it’s also healthier and also far more social. Missing some ingredients but have an abundance of others? Team up with friends and make it a social event - share ingredients so that you can all take some casseroles or other dishes home for the freezer.
  30. Have a quilting bee. All you need is a bunch of spare cloth (old shirts will even work, as will old curtains, old sheets, and so forth), some needles (in a lot of closets), some thread, some scissors, and some friends. Just get together, cut out squares of interesting cloth, and start sewing. You can stuff the inside with soft excess cloth, like tee shirts and such, instead of buying batting, and you’ll create a warm and interesting quilt over time.
  31. Make a how-to video for YouTube. Share your knowledge! All you need is a digital camera that captures video and (optionally) some video editing software. Just create a video to demonstrate how to accomplish something interesting and useful. Start off by making a script to follow, then turn on the camera and follow it. When you’re done, upload it to YouTube and let others enjoy it. If it’s useful and entertaining, people will come.
  32. Seduce your partner. Really, is there any way to really have more fun than that for free? It’s fun, romantic, great exercise, and can really help heal any relationship problems you might be having. An afternoon in your partner’s arms will make both of you feel better, and it won’t cost a penny.
  33. Do a neighborhood cleanup. No need to organize a formal activity. Just walk through the shared spaces in your neighborhood (parks, sidewalks, etc.) with a trash bag and pick up the trash. Not only is it a pleasant way to get your blood rushing, it also beautifies the area around you, not just for your enjoyment, but for the enjoyment of everyone. If you want to really get into it, invite people that live near you to get involved as well and make it an event.
  34. Call a family member or a friend you haven’t spoken to in a while. Not only does it provide you a chance to catch up and firm up a relationship with another person who is important to you, it can also be a very entertaining and enjoyable way to spend an hour or two.
  35. Have a yard sale. A yard sale is a very lucrative way to spend a money-free weekend. Not only does it provide you an excuse for cleaning out unwanted stuff from your home, it can also bring in a nice little wad of money as well, plus give you a weekend’s worth of entertainment and activity. This is really a great way to spend a money-free weekend.
  36. Deep-clean the room in your house you spend the most time in. One great afternoon project that will provide aesthetic value for years is deep cleaning a single room in your house, ideally the room you’re in most often. Getting that room pristine will subtly add to your enjoyment of that room for quite a while. This means going the full nine yards - moving everything out, scrubbing the walls, thoroughly cleaning the floor, cleaning all of the items in it, and so forth. When you’re done, the room will feel fresh and new in a very subtle way.
  37. Get things done. Almost everyone has a long list of things to do “when they have time.” Use the fact that you’re intentionally spending a money-free weekend to in fact get some of those things done. Clean up the house. Dust the front room. Fix that old toaster. Go through the stuff on the garage loft. At the end of the weekend, you’ll have accomplished something useful, plus your wallet will be fully intact.
  38. Go “coupon scavenging.”If you get the Sunday paper, scavenge the coupons out of it, see if there are any for products you normally buy, and chuck the rest. If you find several coupons, then it might be worthwhile to scavenge. Stop by any friends or neighbors who also get the paper and ask if you can have their flyer's when they’re done with them, then clean out the coupons in those, too. For example, if you buy V8 Fusion as the default fruit juice for your kids (it’s far healthier than almost anything else like it you could give them) and you spy a $1 off coupon for a bottle, every coupon you scavenge is like finding a dollar bill, and it costs you nothing.
  39. Help out an elderly or disabled friend or neighbor. There’s always a person or two in your life that could use a helping hand, but often are too proud to ask. One great way to bridge this gap is to just stop in and visit and pay attention - if they need something, you’ll usually find out. Then just volunteer to do it and get started on the task. Quite often, you’ll find that it’s the simple things that really help - reaching something on a high shelf or managing a simple household task. And that little effort can make all the difference. Few things can make you feel more fulfilled than helping someone you care about in their moment of need.
  40. Start a book club - or find one to join. If you like reading and know other friends that enjoy it, too, consider starting a book club with them where you all read the same book for a week then meet to talk about it. It can transform reading from a solitary activity into a more socially oriented one, and with a library at your disposal, it can be a free activity as well.
  41. Have an “entertainment swap” with a friend.This one’s pretty easy. Just have a friend bring over a pile of their own DVDs, Cd's, books, video games, etc. that they own that they think you’d like. When they get there, have a big temporary swap - swap them an item for an item. This not only will refresh your media collection for a while, but can provide a great opportunity for you to talk about your interests with a friend.
  42. Donate some unwanted things to charity. If you’ve gone through your stuff but don’t want to have a yard sale, consider giving the stuff to charity. Not only will you have a clean house, you’ll have the good feeling of knowing your items are going to be used by someone who actually needs them, plus you’ll have a pile of receipts to use for tax deductions next April.
  43. Discover new music that you like. Download www.last.fm It’s a program that allows you to enter the name of your favorite musical artist and generates a radio station for you that plays songs similar to that artist. The songs are selected based on the enormous www.last.fm database, which collects information on what people listen to in iTunesand sorts it in different ways, finding songs by other artists that are popular among fans of a particular group. Give it a whirl - you’ll be surprised at the good music you’ll find for free.
  44. Spanish lessons. Want to learn the basics of practical spoken Spanish? Sign up (some classes are 12 weeks) and you'll get weekly e-mails from a teacher with lessons and learning tips. You can also learn French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Mandarin Chinese and more. Go to bbc.co.uk/languages
  45. Business classes. Learn everything from how to write a business plan to how to finance your venture through the Small Business Administration's website (sba.gov). Online courses are free and self-paced; they take about 30 minutes each to complete. Free in-person classes are also offered at SBA district offices and resource partners around the country.
  46. Time-management organizer. Create an up-to-the-minute to-do list complete with reminders via instant message or e-mail through RememberTheMilk.com. Upload Remember The Milk to your cell phone and you'll always have your grocery list with you. And when someone at home adds to the list while you're walking into the store, you'll be sent an update.
  47. Silver jewelry. This is going to have you scratching your head. The Silver Jewelry Club (silverjewelryclub.com) offers high-quality jewelry including silver rings, earrings, pendants and bracelets (most of them with genuine gemstones). It really is free, provided you pay the modest shipping charge of $5.99. We're not talking junk here. As a consumer, your humble columnist, who is allergic to nickel silver, can attest to the remarkable quality of these pieces.
  48. Online checking account. Hang on, this is huge. We're not talking savings account, but an online checking account that is completely free, with no monthly fee attached. Electric Orange, through ING Direct (ingdirect.com), is a paperless checking account (no checks or checkbook!) that pays you up to 3.4 percent interest on your balance (as of press time). You can do everything-deposit your paycheck, pay bills, send a paper or electronic check, transfer money-securely online. (Of course, you'll pay a fee if you send paper checks, drop your overdraft line of credit balance below zero or require a stop payment.)
  49. Cookbooks. The popular website Allrecipes.com, which features recipes from home cooks, now offers free downloadable cookbooks for many occasions (listed under “Tips & Advice”). The pictures are incredible and there are many to choose from. My favorite? Summer Picnics.
  50. Sheet music. Want arrangements of classical pieces for free download? MutopiaProject.org has 1,272 pieces available based on editions in the public domain, including works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Handel, Mozart and many others for piano, guitar, cello, voice and more.
  51. Radio service. Pandora.com is like your own personal radio service. You type in an artist, and the service plays songs by that artist and others with a similar style. You can't download music, but you can listen and manage your own “stations.”
  52. Gently used stuff. One person's castoff is another person's treasure at freecycle.org. By joining your local Freecycle chapter, you can get used furniture, household appliances and a variety of other items. Just know that those who take are also expected to give. However, no money is allowed to change hands.
  53. Photo organizer. Picasa (picasa.google.com) is a free software download from Google that helps you locate and organize all the photos on your computer. You can edit and add effects, share photos with others through e-mail, print them or upload them to the web. It's fast and easy.
  54. Spam filter. Say so long to all those annoying solicitations that clog your e-mail. Spamato, an add-on for Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird and Mozilla Mail, does what it can to kill the junk. PC World magazine recently named Spamato one of its 101 Fantastic Freebies. Get your download at spamato.net
  55. Directory assistance. If you're tired of paying a fee each time you dial 411, here's your alternative. Dial 800-FREE-411, then follow the prompts to get your desired number by phone or text message. Works for both residential and business listings throughout the U.S.
  56. Family calendar. Finally, all the information you need in one place. Famundo.com is an online calendar, address book and message board. The site merges each individual's schedule into one calendar, which you can access with a personal code from any computer. Very cool.
  57. Pandora.com: Pandora is one of the most popular online Radio sites. To sign up, just enter your email, password and birth year so you can begin creating stations based on your favorite artists or songs. Pandora then plays a station compiled especially for you, pulling music from artists similar to the ones you’ve selected.
  58. Grooveshark.com: A site that merges hit music with underground artists, register by creating a username and password, then you can immediately begin music surfing. Search the database by typing in the name of the song or artist and get a list of songs, plus suggestions of tunes you might like by similar artists. In addition, you can upload your own music, search for listeners that have your similar taste in music and save your favorites.
  59. Yahoo.com: Extremely user-friendly, Yahoo LaunchCast requires no sign up and has over 250 radio stations to choose from. Whether you want to hear current hits or popular songs from the 1980’s, Yahoo has a station for every kind of music fan. Just select the one you want and begin listening without delay

 

Comments

Lgali profile image

Lgali 3 years ago

very nice list good hub

trimar7 profile image

trimar7 Level 3 Commenter 6 months ago

You sure gave a lot of great ideas in your hub. If people are bored after reading this it is their own fault.

Submit a Comment
Members and Guests

Sign in or sign up and post using a hubpages account.



    • No HTML is allowed in comments, but URLs will be hyperlinked
    • Comments are not for promoting your Hubs or other sites

    working