Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Free Samples & why they're worth your time...

One of my favorite times of the day is when the mail arrives.  Seven out of ten times it contains a free sample!  You may think it's a waste of your time to fill out forms for free samples, but let me tell you why it's not.


First of all, it's free!  As I mentioned before, you do need to consider how much time it takes to get a good deal to see if it is truly a Frugalista Find.  Once you get few things in order, which I'll explain further, you can spend just 5-10 minutes filling out a few free sample offers that will fill your mailbox in 4-6 weeks!

Most of the samples I get fit into 1 of 2 categories, bath products and snacks.  If we get a snack in the mail (granola bar, cheese and crackers, fruit snack, etc.) that becomes the snack of the day for my little one or goes into the glove box of my car for a low blood sugar moment.

For the bath products, we have a great stash of body wash, shampoo, conditioner, and lotion.  I use the shampoo and conditioner samples frequently and it really stretches out the time between bath product purchases.  The lotion samples are great to put in your purse, beach bag, or -again- in the glove compartment of the car.

Occasionally you'll get a very out of the ordinary free item, like a Neti Pot of all things!  I heard about neti pots from a friend of mine who suffers from a lot of sinus problems.  It's an all natural way to get rid of allergens that collect in your nose, so I was really excited when there was a free offer for one.  Little gems like this free offer happen every once in a while, and they're definitely a Frugalista Find!  

I've told you the why, now let me explain the how.

1.  Set up a separate e-mail account to use for free sample offers.  I have a hotmail account set up just for this reason, because you will get newsletters and junk when you sign up for free offers.  Some of the samples you sign up for are a result of signing up for the newsletter, while sites like walmart.com let you opt out of signing up for the newsletter.

2.  To save time, download RoboForm which will fill out forms for you, turning minutes into seconds that you'll spend getting free samples.

3.  Sign up for Kraft's First Taste and check back often.  I've gotten free coupons for Mayo, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and several high dollar coupons from this site.  Not everyone gets the same coupons and freebies from this site, but the offers they post are always a Frugalista Find.

4.  Enjoy!  In 4-6 weeks, that is.  I've had a few offers that came much sooner than expected, but once you get started, you'll start to see a steady stream of free samples in about a month.

Check out the next post for some free samples!  Also, "like" TheFrugalistaFind.com on FB to get those great FB offers that often go fast: facebook.com/frugalistafind

*I forgot to mention deodorant samples!  I have a sample for my beach bag, a sample for my purse, and a sample for traveling.  Major Frugalista Find!

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