free

How to get stuff for free…

Abby H.1 Comment

bright boxesEveryone loves free stuff, right?

There are all kinds of sites on the web that tout tons of free samples and full size products, but once you read the fine print, you discover that you have to sign up for monthly subscription services, pay a crazy shipping/handling free, or some other crazy thing.

Here are some sites that I like that have hooked me up with free samples and free full sized stuff in the past that I recommend.

Sample Sized Products

Pinchme– They put samples out about once a month. Answer a bunch of demographic questions and they’ll email you when they have samples available. In exchange, they ask you questions about how you liked the samples.

MySavings Free Samples– MySavings has a great database of free sample offers that changes daily. I check it at least once a week!

Full Size Products

Tomoson– Tomoson helps brands get their products out into he hands of social media influencers. If you have a large social media following, check out Tomoson! If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen some of the amazing stuff I’ve gotten!

Discounts and sometimes free full size stuff– These next website I am signed up with, but I have yet to find anything I am excited about signing up for. They offer deep discounts and sometimes free stuff in exchange for Amazon reviews.

Amazon Review Club

This website has a great list of review sites and how they suss out.

Talk Back: I’d love to hear about how you get free stuff in the mail! Leave me your top tips and favorite freebie websites!

Free lunches for ALL KIDS in San Diego County!

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That looks like a pretty good lunch, right? It was free! And what you don’t see is two little boxes of raisins that Lil’ Man basically chugged (they really are nature’s candy!). Pizza, nectarine, applesauce, Apple juice, and a bag of carrots.

There were other side choices as well, including a mixed green salad, brocolli, mandarin oranges, celery, and ranch for dipping and fresh salsa too.

Here’s the deal.. It’s not a deal. The USDA sponsors the Summer Food Service Program, open to all kids aged 2-18 years. No proof of need is required, and you don’t need to sign up in advance. Just find a location near you (here– this is for San Diego County only, for all other areas, click here), show up, the kids pick their lunches, and enjoy!

Most locations offer lunch Monday-Friday at a specific time, and some locations even offer breakfast too!

This is a great way to stretch your budget over the summer (and get the kids out of the house!). Locations differ, but include schools, rec centers, and parks.

Celebrate World Blood Donor Day with Free, Limited-Edition Nexcare Bandages

Abby H.

I love a good freebie, and as a mom, you can never have too many bandages! This freebie is great to add to your car first aid kit!

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In honor of World Blood Donor Day – Tuesday, June 14th – Nexcare Bandages announces the official launch of the eighth annual Nexcare Give Campaign in partnership with the American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers, to raise awareness about the increased need for blood donation.

How to receive free bandages:

  • Visit NexcareGive.com and pledge to support blood donation and receive free, limited-edition bandages, share your personal blood donation stories, and locate a blood center nearby.
  • Share your pledge to support blood donation on social media using the hashtag #GiveInspires
  • Participating American Red Cross and America’s Blood Centers nationwide will also be joining this celebration by handing out free Give Bandages to donors throughout the week leading up to World Blood Donor Day.

About Free Bandage Designs:

  • This year’s theme for the Nexcare Give Program is “Feel the Beat, Give Blood,” celebrating all those who “give” around the world. The 2016 limited-edition collection of bandages features five vibrant dance-inspired designs reflecting different styles andcultures from around the globe

 

How do you get so much free stuff?

Abby H.2 Comments

Screen Shot 2016-04-24 at 11.31.34 PMIf you’ve been around for a while, you may notice I post photos on Social media- a lot of it is stuff I’ve gotten for free.

If you’d like to fill your mail box with goodies, here are a few companies that have great, FREE programs where you can earn free stuff!

L’oreal USA: The makeup Giant wants women from across the United States 18+ to join and take surveys on products, daily skin care regimens, and test new products . When you take 5 surveys, you are eligible to receive a full sized L’oreal product (Of their choice)! They also do consumer product testing. They send you a product, you test it and complete a survey.

Vocal Point is a multi-faceted website. One of its greater aspects is that it’s connected to Proctor and Gamble (P&G), and they often times have new or improved products to test and share with consumers. The members of Vocal Point can opt in to receive these items, and them share their opinions with other members of the Vocal Point community.

The Good Housekeeping Beauty Lab: The Beauty Lab needs female testers age 35 and up to help in our evaluations of beauty products. Some evaluations may require testers to visit the Good Housekeeping Research Institute at 300 West 57th Street in Manhattan, but for other evaluations, products can be sent by mail. There is no cost and very little time involved, and participants may keep beauty product samples.” If you’re interested in participating, please contact ghribeauty@hearst.com or 212-649-2408.  I do 1-2

Bzzagent A WOM (word of mouth) website that helps spread the word on tons of great products. Sign up for campaigns when there are products that interest you, use them, and share your opinions (as well as coupons and samples!) with others in person or via the Internet. This sharing is called “buzz”, and the more you buzz and report your buzz, you earn Mypoints points, and chances for early invitations for more campaigns. I’ve been a Bzzagent for about four year, and I receive about eight campaigns per year.

Smiley360  is much like BzzAgent, in that it is also a WOM (Word of Mouth) website. Sign up for campaigns and you will receive samples to use, and coupons to share with friends. Report your sharing and earn points!
From their website, “Do you love to try new things? Haven’t you ever tried a new product and thought, “This would be so much better if…” Well, as a smiley360.com member, you can provide that kind of feedback directly to the source. Your opinion matters. And as a fringe benefit, you’ll earn status in the smiley360.com community, which has its own perks, rewards, and opportunities. It’s a win-win situation, really.”

Moms Meet- Read my post here.

Ralph’s Free Friday Download– Learn more here (one of their prior offerings that has info on the post about the program).

There are websites like MySavings that have a free sample section that is updated several times a day.

PinchMe offers free sample boxes once a Month- some months there are tons of samples, some months not so much, it just depends on your demographic and what they have.

Proctor and Gamble (P&G) offers samples once per quarter. Sign up here.

Free Snackies at 7-11!!

Abby H.

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SQUEEE!!! Free noms! Celebrate 7RewardsSM Week April 11–17. Come in for a FREE 7-Select® product (under $2) when you buy any 7-Eleven® cup and scan the app.

Oh yeah, the 7/11 app is rad! Buy 6 cups (hot or cold beverage- Any size!), and any 7th cup is FREE when you download and scan the app at checkout.

How to make money: 6 tips that really work (because I do them!)

Abby H.

money-coins
So last week I wrote about ways to save money without coupons, today we are talking about ways you can actually make money.

These are all things that I do. None of them are iffy, weird, or involve you selling your blood.

  1. Surveys online. Here are two fer shure, legit companies that I use. Pinecone Research (they are always looking for 12-24 or Hispanic demographics) pays $3.00 paypal per survey! My other favorite is PaidViewPoint– They only send you surveys that you qualify for, so there is no wasted time. Payout is only $15.00, so I make payout about every other month. It’s not tons of work, and every little bit helps!
  2. I use cashback apps. My full list of favs can be found here. No lie, I cash out about $50.00 a month between all of the apps downloaded onto my iPhone!
  3. Recycle... Return your bottles and cans for their deposit money. You aren’t really making money so much as you are getting your deposit back. Depending on how much soda/bottled water you consume.
  4. Secret shopping. There are tons of apps and websites that will help you find secret shopping gigs. I recommend checking out Volition.com for a listing of secret shopping companies (and reviews). A few of my friends recommend jobslinger.com as a great resource. I earn about $25.00/week doing secret shopping and that’s for less than 1 hours work! Oh, and I can take Bitty Bird along with me!
  5. Clean out your Closets! About once a month, it seems the kids have grown out of something. Whether it be clothes, toys, or gear. I clean it up and take it to the resale shop. I can either get store credit or cash. There are resale shops for adult clothing, sporting supplies, even furniture!
  6. Turn your Junk Mail into Cash! I’ve been doing this for YEARS, and I love it. You can learn all about Small Business Knowledge Center here.  I just got another $20 Visa GC in the mail yesterday! My second this year!

There are other ways to make money: Have a garage sale, Drive for Uber or Lyft (our friend Brittany does it. She loves it driving for Lyft- she makes her own hours, and gets to meet all kinds of people).

 

How do you make extra money?

Better than free shampoo at Target!

Abby H.

IMG_4385WOOOHOOO!!

Just as my stockpile starts to dwindle, my fav shampoo and conditioner comes up free! Through Saturday night (remember, Target sales start anew on Sunday morning), when you buy 4 13 oz Garnier Fructis Shampoo and conditioners at $2.97 each, you’ll get a $5.00 Target GC. It’s all of the 13 oz varieties, I just took a photo of this one shelf tag.

Deal:

Buy 4 13 oz Garnier Fructis Shampoo and conditioners at $2.97 each= $11.88

Use 4 $2.00/1Garnier Frucits Shampoo, Conditioner or Treatment (excludes trial) – from the 3/6/16 Red Plum

Pay $3.88, get back a $5.00 Target Gift card for your next purchase. Now that’s a deal!

I bought 4 (the coupon limit on the coupon is 4 like coupons per day), but I may buy 4 more tomorrow when I go back to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription! It’s deals like this that help me re-stock my dwindling stockpile.

50% off at Schoola!

Abby H.

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SQUEE! It’s back! 50% off at Schoola!  Just use Coupon Code  SPRINGBRK at checkout. And in addition, if you are new to Schoola, they are offering $20 free and free shipping when you sign up here.

In addition to offering awesome gently worn kids clothes, Schoola also gives a percentage (40%) of each sale to a school. So you can feel good twice: Once while your saving $$, and again because you are helping support a school in need.

To get started, click here. And I can’t wait to see what you have scored!

Score a free box of Quest Bars from VitaCost!

Abby H.

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We eat a lot of protein bars, especially when when we are on the go on the weekends and on busy school mornings. I love a cup of black coffee with a protein bar in the morning!

Right now you can score a free box of pumpkin pie Quest bars from Vitacost.com when you use code FREEPUMPKIN at checkout with any $25+ purchase.

I love Vitacost- They have great deals on vitamins, supplements, and natural skin and body care.  They usually have great promotions and freebies too! Just type in Free Sample into the search bar here.

Oh and it gets better! Free Quest bars, Free Samples, and $10 off!!  Sign up through my link here (I get a $10 discount off my next order of $30 or more too) and you’ll get $10 off your order of $30 or more.

Not sure what to buy? I get PB2 from Vitacost!

Family Fun this weekend at the San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering 2016!

Abby H.

SDFSE-EXPO-Day-IMG_9641-Photo by Melissa JacobsHenry informed me the other day that he wants to be a farmer scientist. We’ve started our garden of tomatoes, strawberries, bell peppers, lavender (to encourage bees to visit our garden), wild flowers, and a succulent. Henry really wanted to have a cactus garden, but I worried about Birdie being around pokey plants once she’s a little bigger and able to play outside on the patio.

I am super excited to take him and Bitty Bird to the San Diego Festival of Science & Engineering 2016 down at Petco Park on Saturday, March 5th.

The event runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., we’ll be there at 10 on the dot. Henry is excited to get hands on with all kinds of experiments and fun! There are scheduled to be more than 130 local businesses, corporations and organizations providing interactive, hands-on science, technology, engineering and math exhibits and activities to budding K-12 science lovers.

New EXPO Day Features for 2016:
  • The Recycle Challenge: Are you familiar with the phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle? Are you into technology, creativity and want to help keep our planet green? Well, the blue bin isn’t the only place for your recyclables. With a little imagination and craftiness you can turn your “trash” into awesome works of art! In this Star Wars-themed challenge, students in grades 5 to 12, will convene in teams of four to design, build and present a wearable garment or innovative device out of recycled materials to wear in the Star Wars Universe! Student inventors will then present their creation and explain how they built it and/or where in the Star Wars universe it will be utilized.
  • K-Zone: Looking for a place where your youngest scientist can unleash their natural creative ability in a setting where they are free to touch, explore, and participate in whatever their developing minds can come up with? The K-Zone is a place where budding tinkerers can come and explore numerous activities guaranteed to nurture and engage their active minds. Go ahead and let them run free, they just might change the world. (this is where we’ll be for most of the day, I’m sure!)
  • TedXKids@ElCajon Take The Stage: In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. This local version will showcase the passion and potential of our children! Organized by the Cajon Valley Union School District, these students offer a unique platform to share their ideas. Connect with our future leaders, and leave inspired. Come see samplings of their talks throughout the day on the Dugout Stage!
  • Student Designed Merchandise: Come check out the winners of our STEM Design completion. This year we’ve got sizes for the whole family and newly featured women’s racerback tank tops! Pay tribute to our local student artists. The Festival continues to work hard to keep all items very family affordable with nothing over $10! The merchandise tent is located inside Park at the Park – check it out and get your awesome Festival gear to wear all year long!
  • Star Wars – Steampunk Universe: The two fastest expanding creative universes, Star Wars and Steampunk, will converge at the Star Wars – Steampunk Universe booth, just inside the Gaslamp Gate entrance. Learn how to salvage your everyday watch and bicycle gears, vintage brass plumbing parts, industrial revolution steam era antiques, old leather and lace into personal visual expressions of your love of the Star Wars saga. Come by and take photos with the Star Wars – Steampunk Universe crew. Kids will also be able to participate in a fun coloring activity. Booth attendees will also learn how Star Wars – Steampunk Universe turns “Cosplay into Cause-play,” combining their love of dressing up and participating in charity and community events.
  • Bright Idea Society Alley – Powered By ViaSat: No need to scour the map, our Bright Idea Society winners this year will all be gathered together in their own row inside park at the park! The three winning schools include Olive Elementary, Feaster Engineering Charter, and Dragons 5229 Boys & Girls Clubs. Come be fascinated by these young minds and let them teach you!

If you are looking for a fun, free event to take your kids to this weekend, check out the Festival! I hope to see you there!