Why pay for things you can get for free?

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

What can be better than getting something for free? Everyone wants things for free, but finding them can be difficult. Here are a few ways to score your own freebies.

WalletPop.com is one of the many sites telling you about free items that you can score. I checked out their Fantastic Freebies section and found ways to get free makeup, free light bulbs and a restaurant coupon for a free waffle. I also like Shop4Freebies.com. You can search around for freebies on your own, but it helps if a sites like these has already done it for you.

I have to admit that I have not joined the Twitter craze. It seems a bit confusing but I’ve read that it is a great place to find deals. There are some names to follow that will send you tweets of their finds. Freebies4mom and Dealseekingmom are two to sign up for. (I don’t know why it’s always Mom who has to find the deal.)

If you’re willing to try something new, you can get free samples by mail from many different manufacturers. You can wait until you see an offer on a deal site, or you can head to a site like Walmart.com for a place to try a bunch at once.

Watch your ads for sales and stack them with coupons. With some store coupons and discounts, you can actually get the price of the item you want down to zero. I have a coupon right now for $1 off two Taco Bell products. If I buy two seasoning packets for 50 cents each, it’s free.

The Freecycle Network is a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by local volunteers and membership is free. Search for your local freecycle and sign up. They will e-mail you lists of the items that people are looking for and offering.

Make sure that you let the company know if you are dissatisfied with their product. Look on the package for their address, phone number or website and tell them about it. A lot of times they will not only replace the product but send you coupons for your next purchase. They want to keep you as a customer, and they want to hear if there is a problem. You can also ask for free samples from a company to try their product. It never hurts to ask.