WEB FREEBIE WEDNESDAY: Pandora Radio

Welcome to Web Freebie Wednesday, the mid-week event featuring some of the best freebies of the web. Today's freebie is Pandora Radio. Pandora is already a very popular site, but just in case you haven't heard of it, the site offers free internet radio and allows you to create your own music stations. All you do is register and type what you like to listen to. Pandora will then create your personalized stations based on what you typed and correlated with similar artists and sounds in their music genome. Enjoy free music streamed directly from Pandora.

FREE MOVIE MONDAY: Groundhog Day

Welcome to Free Movie Monday, Jan 30, 2012. Today's movie is Groundhog Day in anticipation of the actual holiday this coming Thursday (Feb 2). A news reporter (Bill Murray) finds himself stuck in the same day every day. Groundhog day just keeps repeating. After a bout of depression he realizes that he can use the extra time to his benefit and perhaps even gain the affection of his love interest.

From Crackle: Groundhog Day

For better viewing click the "full screen" button.

Family Friendly Warning: Mild profanity and innuendos. A man and a woman kiss passionately next to a fire. A man is seen committing suicide multiple times. A non-married couple falls asleep in the same bed with their clothes on and sleeps together overnight on two occasions.

FREEBIE FRIDAY, Jan 27, 2012

Welcome to Freebie Friday. Here are today's freebies:

Free Windex Electronics Wipes: offer is limited to the first 3000 that respond.

Free Kleenex Share Package: Sign up for a Kimberly-Clark account and indicate who you would like to send the free Kleenex to. They'll send a package to you and your friend.

Free First Aid Kit, Emergency Medical Sign, and Signs of Stroke fridge magnet for registering with Florida Hospital. As far as I can tell, you don't have to live in Florida, but that may change.

Free Copy of the book Dropshipping for Dummies from Doba. This is a great resource if you want to start an online/eBay business. Go ahead and get the book, but keep in mind that user reviews of Doba's dropshipping service portray a lot of unsatisfaction. They're a middle man with markups so high it's hard to make a profit on eBay. You can get free access to a dropship and wholesale directory.

Free After Rebate from Fry's Eletronics:

• Antec Mini Notebook Cooler for laptops up to 17"
• Slip Jewel Cases for CDs, pack of 20
• Inland Cleaning Wipes
• McAfee Antivirus 2012 - 3 users
• Panda Global Protection 2012 - 3 users

Free After Rebate from Newegg.com

• Sage Peachtree First Accounting 2012
• Kaspersky Lab Antivirus 2012 - 1 user
• McAfee Antivirus 2012 - 3 users
• Trend Micro Titanium Maxium Security - 3 PCs
• Trend Micro Internet Security - 3 PCs
• AVG antivirus 2012 - 3 PCs

Free After Rebate from Staples (starting Monday, Jan 30)

• Trend Micro Security titles
• McAfee Security titles

Note: You can get free anti-virus software without having to deal with rebates, and they're usually just as good as the paid versions.

Office Depot is advertising that starting Monday, Jan 30, there will be 24 software titles for free after "instant, mail-in, and user upgrade rebates." If the title is free after instant and mail-in rebate, then it is actually free if you don't include the sales tax and cost of mailing the rebate. A user upgrade rebate is not actually free since it requires ownership or proof of purchase of a previous version. This is only free if you have a previous version and didn't get it for free after rebate (which likely required that you mail the proof of purchase, so now you wouldn't have it).

Office Max is advertising products that are 1 cent "after MaxPerks bonus rewards." These deals are not actually free. They are more like hybrids of rewards programs and by-one-get-one free sales. You have to spend money to get the deal and the bonus rewards can only be used at Office Max.

This upcoming week is the week before the Super Bowl, so you may find more free after rebate deals and free samples of products related to the Super Bowl (ie. soda, chips, etc.) if you keep your eye open.

WEB FREEBIE WEDNESDAY: Open Clip Art

Thanks for visiting the official blog of ActuallyFree.info and welcome to Web Freebie Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012. Today's web freebie is Open Clip Art. Open Clip Art is one of the cleanest and most professional clip art galleries online. Their web pages aren't loaded with excessive ads or popups and their clip art is excellent. And the best part is all their clip art is free and dedicated to the public domain. You can use it in any way you wish, for any purpose, without asking permission from the authors and without paying royalties.

Free Movie Monday: Passengers

Welcome to Free Movie Monday, Jan 23, 2012. Today's movie is Passengers, staring Anne Hathaway. As a counselor is treating the crew members of a plane crash, she gradually puts the pieces together to find out a shocking secret about the crash. Enjoy.

From Crackle: Passengers

For better viewing click the "full screen" button

Family Friendly Warning: Rated PG-13 by the MPAA. There is mild profanity. A scene of intimacy reveals bare shoulders. The bare back, torso and legs of a man is seen on an examination table in the hospital.

Freebie Friday, Jan 20, 2012

Welcome to Freebie Friday! Here are today's freebies:

Free Scotch Brite Sponge with a $1 off coupon and a sale at Wal-Mart at 97 cents per sponge (although I can't guarantee that the sale is still active as of this post or that the sale exists at every Wal-Mart). Combining a coupon with a sale is the basis for Extreme Couponing. Within the last couple weeks my wife was also able to get a free Lady Speedstick Deodorant with a coupon out of the Proctor and Gamble circular and a sale at Wal-Mart.

Free Potty Training Success DVD from Pull Ups.

6 Free Wings at Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar, Exp 1/25

Free Sample of Shout Color Catcher from Johnson & Johnson.

Free After Rebate from Fry's Electronics:

• Asus Notebook Earbuds
• Inland 4 Port USB Hub
• DesignCAD 3D Max Software

Free After Rebate at NewEgg.com:

• McAfee Internet Security Software for 3 users
• AVG AntiVirus 2012 for 3 PCs (I've tried this, the CD-Rom just links you to their site online so you might as well download the free version)
• Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security for 3 users
• Sage Peachtree First Accounting 2012 Software for Small Businesses

Free After Rebate at Office Depot (Starting Monday 1/22/12):

• AVG Internet Security for 3 PCs
• Free PC in-store tune up

Free After Rebate at Staples (Starting Monday 1/22/12):

• Scotch pop-up desk grip tape dispenser
• Staples photo plus 4" x 6" paper, gloss, 60/pack
• Command medium picture hanging strips, black
• McAfee Total Protection 2012 Software for 1 PC
• Trend Titanium Internet Security 2012 Software for 3 users

Be sure to read the Free After Rebate page for certain tips and warnings about rebates.

Web Freebie Wednesday, Jan 18, 2012, PDF Escape

Welcome to Web Freebie Wednesday, the event of the week displaying one of the best freebies of the web! Today's freebie is PDF Escape. PDF Escape is a free PDF editor online. It runs completely through your internet browser so no downloads are required. PDF Escape allows you to add text, images, and hyperlinks to PDF documents. You can also add form fields, and shapes such as arrows, circles, check marks, and lines. There is even a white out function.

I spent a long time looking for a free PDF editor and was very satisfied when I discovered PDF Escape. A paid PDF editor can cost anywhere between $50 - $600. The name brand PDF Editor is Adobe Acrobat, which is $599.00 online. PDF Escape is completely free with no watermarks. The option to purchase a paid upgrade with no ads and more features is available.

Free Movie Monday, Jan 16, 2012, Martin Luther King, Jr. Biography

Welcome to Free Movie Monday, Jan 16, 2012. Today's movie is short, but fitting since today is MLK day. Many know Martin Luther King, Jr. by his famous "I have a dream" speech, but he did accomplish more than that.

When I think of Martin Luther King, Jr., I think of the words he preached. I believe that if he truly meant what he said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" he meant it without a double standard. His four little children should have the rights of an American, in the United States of America, whether they are black or white or any other race, as long as they are citizens of the USA.

Often when civil rights history is presented, it is presented in the context of how poorly African Americans have been treated, for which there is no excuse. However, as we continue to progress, I see Martin Luther King, Jr.'s words becoming the standard for the philosophy of equality for all. Racism, which includes any philosophy of racial supremacy, should not exist, whether it's whites being racist against blacks or blacks being racists against whites or Asians being racist against any other race or Hispanics or anyone else. We are all children of God, and we should see each other the way God sees us.

Therefore, it shouldn't matter whether Obama is the first black president. What should matter is whether he is a good president. It shouldn't matter how many students in a class are black, white, Asian, Hispanic or any other race. What should matter is that each student is American, and that each student does his or her best to learn the skills they need. It shouldn't matter if an illegal alien is Hispanic, or any other race, and their race should not indicate how they are treated. What should matter is that they are in the USA illegally. When we've reached true equality, race won't even be an issue. The only race we'll see is the American race, and on a grander scale, the human race. We are, after all, riding this planet around the sun together. The issue will be whether we conduct ourselves properly, treat each other with respect and dignity, work hard, and make correct choices. Then will we be judged by the content of our character.

Freebie Friday, Jan 13, 2012

Welcome to Freebie Friday, Jan 13, 2012. Here are today's freebies:

Free After Rebate from Fry's Electronics:

• iolo Drive Scrubber Software
• susteen Datapilot Universal Pro Kit with Software and cable kit

Fry's Electronics is also advertising a device similar to Magic Jack, which allows you get phone calls through your internet service, by Phone Power. The device is Free After Rebate and the service is $200 a year. A Magic Jack device is $30-$70 and cost $20 a year for the service. They're both more economic than paying $25 a month to Cox Cable or any other phone company, but if this is something you want to do, the Magic Jack may still be a better deal overall even if this Phone Power device is free after rebate.

Fry's Electronics and other retailers below are also advertising many other software titles for free after rebate that are not actually free. These titles either require a tax software purchase or a proof of purchase of an older edition of the software they are advertising. The later is called a users upgrade rebate.

Free After Rebate from Newegg.com:

• Kaspersky Lab Pure Total Security 3 users Software
• AVG Internet Security 2012 3 users software

Free After Rebate from Office Depot (Starting Monday, Jan 15, 2012, see their ad):

• McAfee Internet Security 2012

Free After Rebate from Staples (Starting Monday, Jan 15, 2012, see their ad):

• Easy Peel Address Labels, 25 sheets
• McAffee AntiVirus Plus 2012 1 user Software
• Titanium Internet Security 2012
• Kaspersky Internet Security 2012

Free After Rebate from MacMall:

• USB Power Adapter for iPod/iPhone (and probably any other USB device)

Be sure to read the Free After Rebate page for details on how rebates can actually get you to spend money. Also be sure to read the details of all the rebates before purchasing these items.

Office Max is having a 1 cent sale according to their ad starting on Monday. However, these deals are 1 cent after Max Perks Rewards. Rewards programs in my opinion are not actually free. Just like a buy-one-get-one-free sale is not actually free. But they can be good deals for anyone who already shops at the store frequently.

There are a lot of software titles here, probably because software is cheap to mass produce and they are already competing with Free Software. The most common software that is free after rebate is AntiVirus software, and you can get that for free without having to even deal with a rebate.

More Freebies:

• Buffalo Wild Wings Free 6 Wings Coupon (the link shows an ad you might see in an email, I'd suggest going their website and signing up for the email club if you want to be sure you'll get this freebie).
• Free Breakfast Entrees at Chick-fil-A for customers at select locations who make a reservation online. Chick-fil-A seems to be having lots of freebie promotions. Just two days ago my wife and I went to Chick-fil-A to use coupons for free breakfast entrees and when we were served there was another coupon for free chicken noodle soup on our tray. A freebie for getting freebies. I like it.

Web Freebie Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012, Sumo Paint

Welcome to the first Web Freebie Wednesday! One of the unique things about ActuallyFree.info is that there is a clear distinction between tangible freebies and electronic freebies. Other free sites may have a free sample here and there and then be loaded free ebooks, other downloads or even scams.

Freebie Friday is an event that we've already started doing, and that will only involve tangible freebies and select services (which are admittedly not tangible but can still help individuals live within a budget). However, a freebie doesn't absolutely have to be tangible to be valuable or useful. That's why Web Freebie Wednesday is also an event we'll start doing often on this blog. Web Freebie Wednesday will mention freebies that are downloadable, digital or electronic. In other words, this event will mention freebies that you can get through the world wide web.

Today's freebie is Sumo Paint. You could potentially spend up to $500 or more on a graphics editing program such as Adobe Photoshop. Maybe if you're a professional graphics artist you'll have to invest in the name brand software if it is the standard for your industry. But the rest of us should never have to pay that kind of money for any software.

Sumo Paint is a paint and graphics program that is run entirely through the internet browser, so you don't even have to download it. It has many of the features that any paid program has and its completely free. You can use it as long as you want, whenever you want, and where ever you want as long as you have internet access. There is a paid upgrade if you are an advanced artist. Have fun.

Free Movie Monday, Jan 9, 2012, Super Size Me

Welcome to Free Movie Monday. Today's movie is Super Size Me, a 2004 documentary about a guy who only ate food from McDonald's for a full month.

(For better viewing, click the "full screen" button)

Family Friendly Warning: Not rated by the MPAA. KidsInMind rates it as a 4, 4, 5 for sexual content, violence and profanity respectively. A woman talks about her partner's sexual ability (or lack thereof), there is one F-word and lots of medical references and medical exams. Read the Kids In Mind page for the full report.

Freebie Friday! Jan 6, 2012

Welcome to the very first Freebie Friday; an event we hope to have more often on the ActuallyFree.info blog.

Free After Rebate at Fry's Electronics:

• Cooler Master Slim Notebook Cooler (up to 17")
• 12-in-1 Memory Card Reder with USB
• Panda Global Protection 2012 Software
• Instant Architect Software

Fry's Electronics is advertising other software items as free after rebate, but they're not actually free since they are upgrade rebates, meaning you have to own the previous version of the software, or they require the purchase of tax software.

Free After Rebate at NewEgg.com

• AVG Antivirus Software- 3 users

Free After Rebate Woolite Deep Carpet Stain & Odor Remover. The rebate is good for $5.99 and the product retails for $4.72, find a retailer.

Be sure to read the Free After Rebate page for tips on how to claim rebates and to read information you should know about rebates.

Free Movie Monday, Jan 2, 2012

Welcome to the first Free Movie Monday on the official blog of ActuallyFree.info. This week's movie is The Natural, a baseball drama staring Robert Redford, Kim Basinger, and the diabetes guy (Wilford Brimley). Enjoy!

From Crackle: The Natural

(For better viewing, click the "full screen" button)

Family Friendliness: Rated PG by the MPAA. The movie has some swearing, name calling, adults drinking, displays of affection and one scene of implied sexuality where the man is seen shirtless and the woman's bare back is seen from behind.

New Year Resolutions 2012

Happy New Year! One of the new year resolutions for ActuallyFree.info is to post on the blog more often. So visit again tomorrow for the first Free Movie Monday!

Happy New Year's Eve!

I usually like to post a Jib Jab video for specific holidays and every year they make a year in review video. However, when I watched this year's video I hesitated for a few reasons. One, it's not as funny as videos made in previous years, two, it's mostly about bad stuff that happened, whereas previous years have had bad and good stuff that happened, so it's not as upbeat, three, I'm always trying to watch the crude humor since I like to keep the site as family friendly as possible. Then, I watched Google's year in review video which seemed to give a much more positive outlook for the year to come. After seeing both, I decided to post both, and let you decide how you will welcome the new year. Are you grateful to get 2011 behind you, or are you ever hopeful for the future?

Family Friendly Warning: Both videos mention controversial issues, they do not necessarily reflect the opinion or philosophy of ActuallyFree.info or the site's staff. They are posted simply as an exercise. The JibJab video has a lot of crude humor, multiple references to sexuality, and one religious exclamation.

(I'd suggest clicking the "full screen" button for the Google video so that you can read some of the descriptions and news headlines if you don't know what some parts are referring to.)

So there you have two different perspectives. Here's wishing you a Happy New Year's Eve (the best night of the year for free kisses)! Despite it being a tough year, may we always learn and grow and keep moving forward into 2012.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! Christmas has a way getting people busy and stressed. Now that it's Christmas day I hope we can put off the thoughts of shopping, getting presents and even freebies and remember the greatest Christmas gift of all . . . our Savior, Jesus Christ. The following video is included to help us do just that. These are leaders of the LDS church, but their message is non-denominational.



May your Christmas be full of happy memories and good times with family and friends. And may we all remember the true meaning of Christmas.

My Christmas Gift to You: Actually Free Videos

Last year at Christmas, ActuallyFree.info presented a new directory of free software. This year, AF's Christmas gift to you is the Actually Free Videos library.

This is the best collection of freebie-related videos online that I know of. It has videos from YouTube, Howcast, eHow and other resources that all deal with the same topics and strategies for getting freebies as the rest of the site. Now, instead of just reading how to get freebies, you can also see how to get freebies by demonstration. The directory is still new. Currently some of the topics only have one video. However, more and more videos will be added as they are submitted or discovered.

Merry Christmas, from ActuallyFree.info!

Actually Free Videos

 

Merry Christmas Eve!

Merry Christmas Eve from ActuallyFree.info, JibJab, Obama and the GOP. Enjoy the video.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!



Last year's video is still active if you want to see that too.

How I got over $300 worth of Christmas gifts for FREE!

Its been a fun holiday season filled with freebies, including clothes, toys, the hit Disney/Pixar new release, Cars 2, computer software and accessories! Here's how I got over $300 worth of Christmas gifts for free (well, sort of, keep reading):

Everything in this picture was free (and there is one item that is not pictured.)

The first set of items I received for free were from Cafe Press:

• Cars 2 Adventure Hut $20
• Cars Deluxe 10 Car Figurine Play Set $20
• Rocky Balboa Movie $1
• 2 USB Wall Chargers $10 ($5 each)
• USB Car Charger $5

Cafe Press, a leading T-shirt retailer online, didn't exactly give me these gifts directly. I had to do a little work, but not much. Cafe Press has a program for T-shirt designers where the designer creates and uploads a T-shirt design to their site and every time that design sells, the designer gets a commission. There are no costs to the designer. I have uploaded about 20 designs to Cafe Press and received my first commission transfer to PayPal previous to Thanksgiving. I considered this free money because receiving commissions from Cafe Press is a form of passive income. Once the designs are uploaded, they are available in the Cafe Press marketplace for anyone to purchase at any time. I do nothing to sell them. Cafe Press does all the work of selling, printing the shirt, packing it, and shipping it to the customer. I also used completely free resources to create the designs that I submitted, including free graphics that did not violate copyrights or trademarks. It just took a little time to create the designs and upload them to Cafe Press (certainly less than an hour per design), and they now continue to make money for me. I've even seen an increase in sales between Black Friday and the time this article was posted. For more information on making money by creating T-shirt designs, read the Design and Sell T-Shirts page. You'll also find a directory of resources to help you create your designs.

All the items above sell at retail for higher prices than those listed. They were all on sale for Black Friday. The Cars 2 adventure hut was purchased at Wal-Mart. The 10 piece Cars 2 deluxe figurine set was purchased at the Disney Store Online with free shipping. The USB wall chargers and car charger were purchased from Newegg.com, and the $1 Rocky Balboa movie (not in the second picture) was purchased at Best Buy online. I probably would not have purchased the movie if it had cost any more than $1, but I figured I would have rented it from RedBox for $1.20 so I might as well own it for less. All items ordered online had free shipping.

The next set of items were all Free After Rebate (FAR) from Fry's Electronics and Newegg.com. I also got the Cars 2 DVD/Blue Ray combo pack for free after rebate from newspaper coupon inserts (I don't recall if it was Red Plum or SmartSource, but the rebates were also available online).

• AVG Anti-Virus (the paid version, not the Free Version) $40
• Digital TV for PC 2 $25
• Corel PDF Fusion $40
• WordPerfect Office X5 $50
• Electronic Cleaning Wipes pack of 2 $5
• USB 4 port Hub $4
• Samsung Bluetooth headset $20
• HDMI Cables $1.50
• Ergonomic Wireless Optical Mouse $10
• Laptop Cooling Fan $10
• Cars 2 DVD/Blue Ray combo $10

Fry's Electronics and Newegg.com have become my favorite retailers this season. Week after week and often on the weekends they have had sale after sale which have included free after rebate deals. All of these items were purchased on Black Friday, but I could have purchased many, many more for FAR. The items purchased from Newegg.com could only be purchased online since Newegg is an online-only store; but they all came with free shipping. Fry's Electronics also only has limited locations in select states. I just happen to live by one. I am still waiting for the rebates in the mail since they take 6-8 weeks to arrive, though I've received many notifications by email that they are being processed.

These items were all free after rebate, but I actually ended up paying between $10-$15 when combining sales tax, envelopes and postage (Items purchased at Newegg didn't have sales tax, since I don't reside in the same state where Newegg operates). Also some of the rebates will come in the form of a Visa gift card which has some restrictions and even fees if not used within the first 6 months. I'm hoping/guessing, that I can use them for gas or groceries. One of the points I make with any promotion is to be sure the promotion isn't tricking the customer into spending more money. These were all items I needed or wanted before the FAR promotion and the Visa gift card(s) will be used on items I plan to pay for in my regular monthly budget. For more tips on benefiting from FAR deals and avoiding unwanted costs, read the Free After Rebate page.

If you couldn't tell already, my son loves Pixar Cars. The Cars 2 DVD/Blue Ray combo (not seen in the first picture) also wasn't actually free after rebate. I bought it for $10 at Wal-Mart by price matching with a Sam's Club Black Friday ad. That alone was a steal since a Disney/Pixar new release DVD/Blue Ray combo pack usually sells for $25-$30. There were/are at least three rebate offers available with this item.

The rebate my wife and I used was good for $10 when the movie combo pack and $20-worth of Kimberly-Clark products were purchased. We happened to have already purchased $19 worth of diapers, so all we had to do was purchase a Kleenex box at the dollar store to make up the difference. I considered the movie to be free since I got it for $10 and the rebate was worth $10; and the other products I had to purchase were purchased anyway. It was at least a freebie for my Christmas budget, even though it wasn't completely free for my grocery budget. Again, this promotion did not trick me into spending more money. Even the Kleenex box for $1 was a good deal and something we needed.

As a bonus, I could still possibly take advantage of the other two rebates because the Cars 2 combo pack has 3 proofs of purchase including the bar code. Rebate forms require that the proof of purchase be included and products usually only have 1 proof of purchase. Since the movie has another two proofs of purchase and I know of at least two other rebate offers, I can still possibly get some more freebies. If I'm able to find a sale of Rayovac 10 pack batteries for $5 or less, and Johnson & Johnson products for $10, then I will consider those to be freebies for my grocery budget. For more grocery rebates and deals, read the Free With Coupons page.

On a side note: Blockbuster video is giving away a pack of 2 Rayovac batteries (either AA or AAA) on Christmas day. So if you want to interrupt your regular Christmas routine to get some free batteries, you can. Additional 2-packs are available for 99 cents each. However this may not help much for the rebate offer that I'm trying to complete. I'll have to review the terms of the rebate again.

The last set of freebies were received from Sears Outlet on Free Apparel Tuesdays.

• Dress shirt $10
• T-shirt $7
• Shorts $10

These three items of clothing were given to me by Sears Outlet free of charge; they didn't even charge sales tax. Sears Outlet is/was having a promotion where rewards members could pick one free article of clothing every Tuesday in December. It was free to join the rewards program. One point I make with rewards programs is to avoid getting multiple credit cards since that can affect your credit score. This is a simple rewards program without a credit card. For more tips on rewards programs read the Rewards Programs page.

The Free Apparel Tuesdays promotion was/is only available at Sears Clothing Outlets, not Sears, Sears Appliance Outlets, K-mart or other Sears-owned stores. Sears Clothing Outlets are limited in number and locations. I just happen to drive close enough to one in my daily commute to work. Unfortunately, it's too far away from where I live to make the trip worth it for my wife to go. Otherwise we would have received 6 articles of clothing. The Tuesday after Christmas we will both be close to a Sears Outlet when visiting family. So between the two of us we will get another 2 articles of clothing. The promotion doesn't include outerwear, coats or Levi jeans, but I still could have picked clothing that was worth more. This just happened to be what I needed. I was cautious not to buy any sweaters because one little defect in the knitting would mean a quick end to the sweater. Clothes outlets are usually filled with cast-off clothing, off season items, and clothes with defects in the sewing. I had to sift through a lot of these to find clothes that I liked, but every time I was able to find at least 6 articles of clothing that were acceptable. This promotion almost tricked me into spending money that I would not have spent otherwise, but I resisted.

(Update: It turns out that the Sears Outlet by our relative's home is a Sears Appliance Outlet, not a Sears Clothing Outlet, so my wife and I won't be getting any free clothing this Tuesday. I was thoroughly bummed to find this out)

When you add the prices of all items above they come out to $298.50. These were all sale prices so I think it's safe to assume that they are worth over $300. They may have been worth close to $500 in retail or more. There were a couple items that I tried to get but wasn't able to. Fry's Electronics had a 10 piece USB adapter set that sold out before I got there. Victoria Secret was also giving away a free pair of panties which sold out before my wife got there (not for me to wear but definitely for me to enjoy, if you know what I mean. I wouldn't go into any more details since this is a family friendly site. Part of me is actually glad we didn't get that freebie because I think Victoria Secret is contributing to the moral decay of our society with excessive, open, inappropriate advertising in public places and on TV time slots that are seen too often by kids, teens, and men who should keep their eyes on the prize of their own wives. Wow, way off the topic of freebies).

If I had decided to be really ambitious, I could have received over $1,000 or more in products this Christmas season. There were many other free samples, free services, and free products after rebate that were available. I didn't take advantage of them because I didn't need them. But if I had made the effort to get them, I could have sold them online for a significant profit. The most notable deals were for free after rebate software and computer accessories at Fry's Electronics and Newegg.com. Those who are interested in software and computer accessories should continue to pay attention to these stores (as well as Office Depot and Staples) well into January, since I understand computers and electronics have better sales after Christmas. I expect that rebate offers will continue to be made available.

Christmas Countdown Videos and More Freebies

Only 5 days until Christmas. This post has some funny videos below to help add to the anticipation. But first, here are some more freebies:

Newegg.com has a few items that are free after rebate. Since Newegg.com is an online only store, these items probably wouldn't arrive before Christmas (but they're still free). Be sure to read the fine print on the rebate form before making the purchase.

• Samsung Bluetooth Headseat Free After Rebate
• Corel Paintshop Pro X4 Software Free After Rebate
• McAfee Total Protection 2012 Software for 3 users Free After Rebate
• Norton Antivirus 2012 for 3 users Free After Rebate
• Webroot Security Anywhere Essentials Software Free After Rebate
• Also multiple Xigmatek case fans Free After Rebate

Fry's Electronics has a sale every week and every sale they've had since the week of Black Friday they've had at least one item (not including software) that was free after rebate. Check the ads on the top right corner of their home page (frys.com). Fry's Electronics has locations in Georgia, Arizona, California, Indiana, Nevada, Texas, Washington, Illinois and Oregon. They also ship for purchases online but shipping is not usually free for sale items. Here are this week's freebies:

• iPod/iPhone/iPad Charger USB cable FAR
• Titanium Antivirus 2012 Software 1 user FAR
• Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing Software FAR
  Turbo Floorplan 3D Home & Landscape Deluxe V15 Software FAR

Fry's Electronics is also advertising may other software titles as "free" after rebate but they are only free upgrades (meaning you must have a proof of purchase for the previous version of the software) or they are only free if you purchase advertised tax software.

Remember free after rebate sales may still include some charges, like sales tax. Read the Free After Rebate page for more details. Most of the links on this page are time-sensitive and will probably change or expire by this Friday.

Bass Pro Shops is still having free photos with Santa and free activities and games for kids until Dec 24.

Sears Outlet is having Free Apparel Days on every Tuesday of December (including today and the Tuesday after Christmas) All you have to do is join their Rewards Program, which has free membership, then visit a Sears Outlet and pick one item of clothing (except outerwear and Levis), with no strings attached, no sales tax, absolutely no charge. The rewards program is good for all Sears locations, K-mart and other Sears-owned stores, however the free apparel Tuesdays are only available at Sears Outlet.

Hopefully these freebies will make your Christmas more merry! Here are the Christmas countdown videos:





Visit this blog again within the next 5 days for more funny Christmas videos from Jib Jab and a special post on Christmas.