Friday, January 28, 2011

Get LOADS of free stuff. :)

While I was pregnant with my son, I was online all the time. I had found how to enter giveaways, and get free things online and I was ALL over it. :) So here is my list of ways to get things FOR FREE. 

Free Samples:
There are plenty of ways to get free samples.


Through social networking sites. If you have a product you enjoy, find them on facebook or twitter. Companies usually have something to give you when you like their page, be it a coupon or a sample of their product. If they don't have this when you like their page, they can have a giveaway for the first people to comment and things like that. Keep your eyes peeled for opportunities like this. They arise often, but they go away very fast.


Another way to get free samples is from a retailer's website. One example of this is Walmart. They usually always have free samples from an assortment of companies. Sam's and Costco are two other store websites that have been known to have samples in the past. 


All You (magazine) has a website and every day they post FREE samples. If you subscribe to them by e-mail, every day you will be greeted with "Todays' All You Free Sample!" 


P&G Brand Sampler is a great program to sign up for. You can get a new sample package (I think) every 4-6 weeks?


A reason that it's good to request these free samples, is because you usually get can coupons to buy the product with. So when that product goes on sale, you can use your coupon and get the product that you LOVE at a fraction of the price!
If you don't have the time to keep up with the websites and the social networking sites, a good way to stay up on the samples is through blogs that keep track of these things FOR you. :) Here are a few that I follow that I HIGHLY recommend. 

These blogs are updated constantly. (Several times a day) I follow them through Google Reader, and my reader is constantly filled with free samples. They usually have how many are left, when the sample is shutting down, or if it is already out. They save you a LOT of time and get you right to the sample! They also follow the social networking sites, and let you know when there will be a giveaway. Follow them! They are the best! :D

If you have babies/young children:
Planning Family is a great website to get free stuff! When you sign up they have you go through a list of things you can sign up for. Now you can go to each individual website and sign up for any deals you don't sign up for through Planning Family. BUT the great thing about Planning Family is the e-mails! There are companies that will offer products to you FOR FREE (well, you usually pay shipping but that's like $3-$4 bucks for a $30-$45 product.) I have gotten codes for several sites just because i'm a Planning Family member! I bought 20 nursing pads from Udder Covers for 10 dollars! I got 35 dollars off!! They also have several sweepstakes you can enter, and if you're pregnant you can get a day bag for free! 

Baby Center and The Bump are also great websites to join. You not only get great e-mails with informational articles you also can get discounts from their partners! These e-mails are great while your pregnant, or with your little one because they send you weekly e-mails about your babies progression! They have great articles and helpful tips! These websites also offer sweepstakes, and free things to get from their partners! 

Free Formula/Baby Food/Diapers:
The best way to get free formula and baby food is to sign up with the brand you like!

Sign up for Enfamil's Family Beginning program gets you $250 in FREE stuff! You get samples of formula, a bag and a ice pack for storing bottles in your diaper bag! 

Sign up for Similac Strong Mom's program and you get $329 this also comes with a bag, and their formula!




When you sign up for both of these programs, they will send you $5.00 vouchers in the mail monthly to use as a coupon to buy formula! Great ways to save money on a product you'll be spending a lot of money on! 

When you sign up for Beech Nut's newsletter, they will send you a newsletter customized to your babies age. Filled with coupons and articles relating to how your baby is getting older! 

When you sign up for Gerber (Top right hand corner of the screen), you can get up to $145 in savings. They will send you coupons. :) Also you can always enter your baby in their contest, and get your family and friends to vote for them! 



Publix Baby Club is an extremely helpful club to be apart of, if there is a Publix near you! Membership is free and it's easy to sign up! They send you a huge book Caring For Your Baby and Young Child (really it's huge. It covers up to Age FIVE. What mother doesn't need more books? I love it! :P) and every month you get a newsletter along with COUPONS to use are your local Publix! When you pair these STORE coupons with MANUFACTURER'S coupons you can get these items for a GREAT price! I highly recommend signing up for this program. It's extremely helpful!

Pampers and Huggies don't giveaway things for free, but (since you'll be buying so many of both/either brand) they have codes inside of every package of diapers/wipes you buy. When you get these codes and enter them online, they accumulate and you can use them for things on their website! You can enter sweepstakes, instant win, gift cards, memberships, and to win diapers for a year!! You can also get coupons from these websites! 

Another way to get samples of baby products is from you gynecologist/doctor (that you're seeing throughout your pregnancy) and when you make baby registry's! I signed up at Target and got this cute bag with samples of diapers, butt cream, wipes, lotion and coupons to use at Target! I also got a free bag of goodies from my gynecologist which included free samples of diapers, formula and prenatal vitamins. (which are great because you still need to take them while you're breastfeeding!) 

Giveaways:
This is a tough, but great way to win things for free! The only way to win these are through chance, but the more that you enter, the MORE likely you are to win! I have won books, nursing covers, and a nursing pump (I think thats it.. It's all I can think of right now) from blogs! The more you enter one contest, the more likely you are to win. Of course it's all chance, so you could enter 100 times and not win. BUT you could enter 100 times AND win. I would highly recommend having a twitter, Facebook, and good reads (for books) account before you enter giveaways. The more ways that you can spread the word, the more chances you have to win! There are SEVERAL mommy blogs, and companies are constantly giving them products to review and giveaway! Top Mommy Blogs has a list of almost all of the mommy blogs by rank! These are just for you to start following! If you're looking for blogs with content (like actual blogs with advice and stuff) as well as giveaways, here are a few for you to check out (in no particular order).
Those are all the tips I could thing of on how to get things for free, do you guys have any tips/ways to get things for free? I'm always looking for new ways! :) I'd love to hear from you!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome Blog.

Hilary said...

Thank you very much Anonymous. :D

Liz @ Cleverly Inked said...

Thats kinda funny, I did the same thing when pregnant with my son.

Except I actually emailed the companies and asked for coupons for free products.. Yep they send me them :)

Hilary said...

I didn't know you could do that! I need to get on that! Haha!

Anonymous said...

I love the site free stuff online! New freebies posted daily, I get a ton of free samples from there.

The Book Club Network - TBCN said...

Great Post! Yes, I can verify Hilary is the sample and coupon queen! Learning more very day! I'm proud of you!

Blessings

Nora :D