Tuesday, June 21, 2011

How to Get FREE Stuff!

Monday nights mean #MoneyChat and this week we welcomed blogger Jackie Harper (@freeismylife) www.freeismylife.com - to help us save $$ by getting FREE stuff! 

#MoneyChat: Why do businesses have freebies?  How do they make money when they are giving things away?

Jackie: FREE is a form of advertisement.  Businesses take a portion of their marketing budget and they give products and services away to build trust, support, and name recognition in the community.  When someone loves a product or service, they will tell their friends and family about it. 
#MoneyChat: Is it easy to find freebies?

 It used to be you had to be "in the know" to find out about freebies, but now with the Internet, FREE is as close as your computer screen.  Besides my blog, (www.freeismylife.com), there are many other local and national blogs and websites that list free events and giveaways. Local libraries and malls have great free events and lots of local businesses have free events that include giveaways and free food.

#MoneyChat: How do I know if a freebie is legitimate?

Jackie: I like to personally check out as many of the things that I post on my blog as possible so that I can truthfully say that I tried it and it worked for me. I also do product reviews so that I can share my personal experiences. Some bloggers don't do that and they end up posting bogus coupons and deals. When you start to follow a freebie website, read the comments left by others to see if the information is accurate. If something is not right, people will start leaving bad comments immediately.

#MoneyChat: Can someone live a totally free lifestyle?

Jackie: No one can live totally free, but going to free events, utlizing giveaways, winning prizes, and using coupons, can bring more enjoyment to your life, without wasting money and blowing your budget. 

#MoneyChat: Is there a freebie that you use regularly?

Jackie: Yes, my son and I go to FREE advance screenings of movies at least twice a month by using a website called Gofobo (www.gofobo.com).  I use Twitter to find the gofobo movie codes so that we can see the movies for FREE before they are released to the general public. 

#MoneyChat: Are you into "Extreme Couponing"?

Jackie: Even though I love freebies, I am not a couponer by nature.  I am not into all the work that goes into grocery shopping with coupons.  But I do love to watch the TLC cable show "Extreme Couponing". One of the tips from the show that anyone can do is to write to the manufactures of your favorite items and ask for coupons.  I did this for my son's favorite frozen dinners and the manufacture kindly sent me some coupons to use. 
 
#MoneyChat: What websites can you recommend to get someone started in finding legimate freebies?

Jackie: There are literally thousands of sites, but here is a list of some of favorite  freebies websites:
 
1.   http://melissasbargains.com/ National mom blog for deals and  extreme couponing
2.   http://www.monroeonabudget.com Frugal living and couponing
3.   http://www.slickdeals.net National deals/freebies are posted by the readers.
4.    Here's the FREE on Your Birthday List 
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So what was the GIVEAWAY? 
@freeismylife and @moneychatlive gave away 2 $5 giftcards to Starbucks.... our winners were....

 .... because she has a serious Starbucks habit and
 ........for this #moneychat TWEET of the evening:

 Soul4L1 
@ 

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Thanks again to Jackie Harper (who is the creator of the blog FREE IS MY LIFE www.freeismylife.com, a Detroit based lifestyle and product review blog. She has been blogging for 4 years and helps her audience spend their money wisely by telling them about freebies, deals and discounts and also reviewing special events, restaurants, technology, resorts, spas, beauty and fashion.  Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
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Follow me (@DorethiaConner), @BenitaTyler & of course @MoneyChatLive on Twitter for more financial tips and Monday night chats! 
 

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