How To Get Free Stuff - A Beginners Guide!

Want to learn how to get free stuff? You’ve found the right spot! If you’re trying to find free stuff, or want to learn the secret to finding free stuff, here’s a simple beginners guide to help you get started! Pretty soon you’ll become an expert free stuff finder!

What kind of free stuff can you get and how do you find them? Here at Simple Coupon Deals, we feature 5 types of freebies: Free Samples, Free Stuff After Coupon, Free Trials, Free Stuff After Rewards and Free Digital Items:

1. Free Samples

Free Samples offer very little to no catch and are just that: 100% free of charge. Companies that offer free samples are hoping you’ll try it and buy it eventually. Recently, I found a bucket labeled: Free Samples at my local Walgreen’s cosmetic counter that was full of freebies like Neutrogena Sunscreen, keychains and shampoo! When I find free samples of personal care items like shampoo or toothpaste, I like to stock up and take them with me on vacation trips because they’re more convenient than carrying full-size products.

One of the easiest ways to get 100% free samples is to go to any makeup counter in-store or big-box store like Sam’s Club. Even your local grocery store might have a counter in their food or produce aisle that offers free samples of food and snacks.

If you’re a new parent, you can get free, full-size samples of baby infant formula from big brand names like Enfamil and Similac. They also come with high value checks that you can cash in at the store!

Online, there are hundreds of big and small companies that offer free samples of their products throughout the year or when a new product launches. Samples can vary from trial-size (smaller versions of a full-size product) to full boxes of samples of a variety of products. You can also get free samples from giveaways or free products in exchange for giving your information such as email, mailing address and/or feedback.

If you want to get started, sign up for free with these companies: National Consumer Panel and Pinecone Research.

2. Free Stuff After Coupon

Many people don’t realize this, but you can actually get free stuff using just a coupon. It may seem like a lot of work to clip coupons, but it isn’t if you integrate it into your daily or weekly planning schedule. The rewards often offset the time spent clipping and organizing coupons.

To get started, just buy the weekly Sunday paper each week where you’ll find two major booklets of coupons or invest in a discount printer like these Wireless HP Printers. HP is a nice option because you can actually get a generous supply of free Genuine HP Ink by signing up here. Once you receive your printer, print any coupons you find of interest for free from our exclusive Coupons.com Widget.

These accordion style envelopes expand to hold your coupons in different sections and only cost a few dollars.

To organize your coupons, use a plastic expanding accordion file envelope and label your coupons by department categories like “Food” “Cleaning” “Dental” to make it easier to find your coupons while at the store. Now, the waiting game begins. Wait for a sale on the item and buy it when the price drops!

Sometimes you can also just take the coupon that you just printed to the store and score an item that’s regular price for free with high value coupons worth $2 or $3 or $4 off. Some coupons have no size restrictions and will often net you completely FREE stuff, like the one shown below.

This coupon that I printed from Coupons.com a few months ago was worth $4 off any Bic Razor pack. This pack just happens to be regular price, $3.19 at Target and Walmart stores, making it completely free.

3. Free Trials

There are so many Free Trials that will score you free stuff. There is a small catch. Some of these free trials are for monthly subscriptions where the company hopes you’ll try their product, then continue buying it after the trial period. I love this type of freebie because it allows me to test a product before I actually invest or commit to buying it. Free Trials often come with a small shipping cost.

A few free trials that you can try out right now are: 2 Free Highlights Magazines (and get a free reusable tote), Everyday Family Bundle of Diapers & Wipes, Free Summer Julep Beauty Box (this one comes with full-size products that often retail for $13.99 each at Sephora!) and 4-piece Box of Snack by Graze.

4. Free Stuff After Rewards

You can get even more free stuff when you factor in store rewards, mail-in-rebates, cash app rebates and gift cards. This is my favorite type of freebie, though it may seem like the most complicated one for beginners. In fact, I think this free stuff after rewards section should have a category all on its own because there are so many different ways to earn rewards to net you free stuff.

You might be more familiar with mail-in-rebates: It’s where you purchase an item, fill out a form that’s provided by the manufacturer and mail in the receipt along with the UPC code from the box or package of the product. You will receive a check for purchasing the item, making it free after rebate.

A quicker way to get cash rebates is thru cash back apps like Ibotta and Checkout51. With these apps, you can purchase an item in-store, use a coupon if available, then submit your receipt by taking a picture and uploading it to the app. These apps pay via PayPal, Cash and Gift Cards. Also, you can’t just buy anything to get cash back from these apps. Each week the product offerings change. An easy tip for you is to check the app before you make a trip to the store to see if something that you plan on buying will net you cash back.

In this coupon shopping trip at Walgreens, I got a pack of Poise Liners for free. It was on sale for $5.99 and I had a $2 off coupon that I printed from Coupons.com. Also, there was a $2 off store coupon that I used. I paid $1.99 cash out of pocket and then I submitted my receipt to Ibotta and got back $3 in cash. Basically, I got the item for free after cashback rebate AND they paid me some!

5. Free Digital Items

Not all stuff you can get for free is tangible. You can get thousands of free digital products like Ebooks, music, audio books, software and even your own separate phone number to receive free text messages!

The quickest way to score free digital Audible Books is to sign up for a free 30-day trial of Audible at Amazon. You don’t have to pay anything to get credit and your files are yours to keep even after the trial. Amazon also offers Free eBooks you can download onto any device and read on-the-go!

To get your own phone number and free text messaging? Click here to enter your zip code to see if you qualify for FreedomPop’s 100% Free Mobile Phone & Internet Service. There are no contracts or commitments. You just need a compatible phone.

The Take Away

It’s important to note that some free stuff requires a small investment of your time, money and sometimes giving up your personal information. We recommend creating a separate easy to remember email address like “yourname_free@email.com” to signup for free samples, surveys or trials. This will help you keep track of your freebies and if you happen to get store or brand newsletters, promotions, advertisements or even spam, it won’t clutter your personal or work email inbox.

Now that you’ve learned about the four types of free stuff and how easy it is to find them. What’s you favorite one? Let me know in the comments below!