Free is *almost* always a good thing...

I've been trying an experiment. A few months ago I checked out the book A Mom's Guide to Making and Saving Thousands on the Internet. I found some useful tips and felt the book was a good read. I was intrigued by the section on internet freebies. Could a person really spend a few minutes each day filling out forms and receive enough free merchandise, samples and coupons to make it worth while? I set out to find out. My two biggest concerns, time and the knowledge that my email address would probably be bombarded with spam were taken care of with self imposed time limits and a new address at Yahoo used exclusively for freebies. I began by choosing freebies listed at the author's site Momdotcom.blogspot.com. I decided that I would only sign up for around 4 or 5 a day. This prevented my obsessive self from getting carried away with hours of surfing looking at one after another. I learned a few very important things: Stay away from what is called a 2 step offer. Basically a "Visit our sponsors site and choose blah blah blah...and we will send you XYZ." Do not fall for that one unless you are interested in signing up for new credit cards etc. My goal is to spend less not more. I am not interested in point rewards or any such program. Maybe there are benefits for certain consumers but not for my family. That is something each person would have to research for themselves. I am only interested in sampling a product so those are the offers I look for. Second, until and when you figure out what you are doing you will definately need that second email address. I signed up for quite a few items that continue to send email to my box everyday. In fact, I have already deleted that email address and opened a new one. For the period of one month I decided keep all items I received in a basket and take stock of whether my 5-10 minutes a day were worth it. Judge for yourself...

Advantages were I got to try products that I otherwise might not have. I received samples that were useful, some that were useless and some really cool things, like a Sponge Bob Square Pants battery toothbrush, useful posters for homeschooling, and even an entire info packet from Nato with a dvd and computer game. I continue to get coupons on items from various companies. Most of the coupons are for $1 off or more.

All in all I give the experience and the book a grade of B. I would recommend it but caution you to look closely at each site you visit and only sign up for those directly connected to the product that you are requesting a sample of OR through a reputable company such as Wal Mart or Target. Free should be just that,free, without a catch of any sort. If you try this, drop me a line with your results.