Coping & the Freebie Way

Hello Char! who is that cute-as-a-button baby?  Darling, as babies are...

Yes, I sort of enjoy the freebie stuff - but it's almost like a little p/t JOB for me - as I mentioned below in my reply to a post.  I have always collected stuff - used to go to conventions and pick up swag there - cups, and post-its and pens and posters and even a nice straw hat once which I still have! (That's when you could still park for free down by the L.A. Convention Center & we got free tix to the convention, so...We made it an outing.)

Of course, any excess that one has should be SHARED.  I don't ask for feminine hygiene stuff, becaz I don't need it anymore...(But they do need it in women's shelters and similar places)...But you would be surprised that folks don't know it's all OUT there for the asking.  So much advertising swag!

For ex., I just send off for 2 little blankets - and if you know a traveler - well, they don't GIVE you them on planes anymore, and wouldn't they like a little one of their own to bring along?  Put that together with some samples of shampoo, and soap and deodorant and toothpaste and you have created a nice little travel kit! I had an aunt who was always jetting around, and I made a point of giving her collections of samples for her trips. (The same toothpaste samples COST $1 at the drug store - but I have mentioned that already, I think...)  So I always had SOMETHING to give to my extended family on Xmas - one year I was demonstrating Swiffer mops & everyone got one of those! (I just used one for the demo & saved the others from the subsequent demo kits...)

And for years I have used the little motel soaps in an old ashtray by the kitchen sink to wash up my hands.  Just the right size.  And the little ones are also good - again - for traveling and camping - and for emergencies when you have just run OUT.

I use as many free cups as possible - and recycle the big drink cups from the fast food places (& their tops & straws) until they give out - which is a while...That way I can tote my own ice tea and water and not pay $1 for it!  My hubby is now buying coffee cups with lids at the office supply stores (which again, can be used a couple of times) to take his morning coffee in as he drives to work. I have also refilled water bottles with fancy tops - but I have to check on that plastic & how often/how you can re-use it...

I save the plastic containers the ice cream comes in - one is now in the kitchen sink with dirty knives & forks, etc. - waiting for the dishwasher, and another holds the clean ones.  And the BIG knives are in a tall plastic container that some food gift came in. 

I have made wastepaper baskets out of old cardboard ice cream containers from the ice cream store - and covered the 99 cent ones with contact paper to make them prettier...

My husband thinks I am a bit of a pack rat, as I HATE to throw stuff away that could have some USE.  I just rescued a lovely silver box from the wine bar where we sang last week, folded the flaps in and and made a sort of shelf for the bathroom....And I save all the padded bags that the freebies come in to re-use, as when I worked in the library years ago, we recycled those bags over and over until they just fell apart. (And they cost $1 or MORE for the larger ones!)

I have always collected rubber bands and elastic cord.  Never have paid for THOSE - and recycled file folders and even paper clips!

Oh gee, I am going to sound like a complete eccentric - but I have never had any money, not really - so thrift was a necessity if I was to live at ALL nicely!  So if something was free - why not? That just meant that I could spend my $ on something ELSE and stretched the overall budget. 

As I said in my reply, I am not really working much - so I feel that the little samples and swag is a contribution - and I am making a concerted effort to get little Xmas gifts from them...another savings...

Add that to the little bits I rack up with Mypoints/being a bzzagent/mturk/even winster.com - which usually translate into gift cards - and I have a bit of pin money.  My hubby scoffs but he did like the $25 Kohl's card and the two $10 Shell gas cards.  Almost qualified for another one! And I have a few dollars on my paypal mastercard/debit card to spend on the net - and some Amazon points. (I have gotten music and vitamins in the past - and paid for shipping for bigger samples,etc.)

I even got a $25 check for completing a gift survey!

Sure, it's work.  I am at the computer every day.  But I would be anyway, so why not fill up the extra time in something sortta useful? 

Huh?  Use up/give away those freebies!

2 Comments | Post Feedback

Go & Get Those Freebies & Pass it on!

Freebies can be another way of sharing!

The baby in the picture is one of my great grand babies. I crocheted the hat she's wearing there-- to match a pair of booties, and sweater. That ultra fluffy yarn is heck to work with-- but results are so cute!
Am going to start trying to send for the free stuff that you are talking about. Have never tried that before. Never thought of giving them for gifts.
Thanks for the idea--Char

Your stories sound good and sometimes fun, but remember "Christmas" not xmas

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