Freebie Roundup: Amazon MP3, Starbucks, Chick-fil-A

My recent freebies--scroll down to bottom of this post for complete list

Who likes freebies? I do (raises hand)! Checking the mailbox is more fun when you’re always anticipating what freebie will show up this week. Here are some new ones:

Free Bausch + Lomb Biotrue Multi-Purpose Contact Lens Solution sample

http://www.biotruechallenge.com/tryit#sample

Select no to get the sample form. If it comes up with a coupon instead of sample, try again later (took me two tries).

Woolite Extra Dark Care Detergent - Target

www.samples.target.com

Two Eucerin moisturizer samples

Request two free samples of Eucerin moisturizers with sunscreen, one for body and one for the face. Go to their Facebook page, watch a short video and fill out a form. Your samples will be mailed to you. It doesn’t appear you have to “like” the page to sign up for the samples.

https://www.facebook.com/EucerinUS/app_150701131641056 or there is also a sample form for the non-Facebookers here: http://m.eucerinus.com/pledge/index

More free music from Amazon

$2 Amazon MP3 Credit

Go here and enter HEARTMP3. Credit must be redeemed by 11:59 p.m. PST on July 23, 2012.
Hopefully, you got the free $3 credit from Amazon Local that I previously posted, which expires on Thursday, July 12. The HEARTMP3 claim code cannot be combined with any MP3 credit promotions offered by Amazon Local, so you'll have to use them separately.

Free Starbucks

Starbucks is giving away free Tall (12 fl. oz.) handcrafted Starbucks Refreshers beverages (Cool Lime or Very Berry Hibiscus) at participating stores from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday, July 13. No purchase necessary. Limit 1 per person.

Previously posted, but happening this week

Free Slurpee

7-Eleven is celebrating its birthday on 7-Eleven Day, tomorrow, July 11, participating stores in the U.S. and Canada will give away free 7.11-oz. Slurpee drinks between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., local time.

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day

On Friday, July 13, Chick-fil-A will award a free meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who comes to one of their 1,600+ restaurants fully dressed as a cow. Those in partial costumes will receive a free entrée.

*I did this last year (printed off the cow starter kit from the website and paper clipped the pieces to my clothes on my lunch hour) and the cashier gave me a free meal!

My recent freebies

• $5 in Jolly Time Popcorn coupons--from mailer on back of box
• Stayfree Ultra Thin sample
• Ruffies Scented Trash Bags sample
• Target Beauty Bag filled with travel size goodies--Watch Target Style's Facebook page for quarterly giveaways 
• Invisible Glass Wipes (75 samples per day limit)
• Lysol Dual Action Wipes (not a free sample, but free after rebate, must have purchased by 7/8)

What freebies have you received lately?

*Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here

 

Is credit card churning going mainstream?

Last week, I came across this article on MSN: http://money.msn.com/credit-cards/a-little-known-way-to-fly-for-free-usnews.aspx

At first I thought, oh no, my new "hobby" is going mainstream since MSN is reporting on it. Luckily, most of the comments (aside from the spam) are from Negative Nancys who are either anti-credit card or doubt that you can redeem miles for free flights. Hopefully, the banks will keep the deals coming, knowing that only a small percentage of people maximize the benefits.

I'll be posting more about soon about how I am redeeming the miles and points I have accumulated. Stay tuned!

The check is in the mail

I love checking my email and seeing a “the check is in the mail” message from Staples.

If you’re looking for a way to meet your minimum spend for a lucrative credit card sign-on bonus, then take a good look at Staples.

In thisblog post, I discussed how I used free after rebate items to help me spend $3,000 in three months. Well, Staples just happens to be my favorite store for this task. Why? Because of their Easy Rebates that require no postage or cutting of UPCs.

You simply go to their website, type in the information from your receipt and Staples does the rest. All of my easy rebates have arrived quickly with no hassle. The tiny drawback is the postcard-style check that can easily be overlooked and accidentally thrown out with junk mail. Still, Staples has always sent me a “the check is in the mail” email, so I know it’s on the way.

And if you pair the free after rebate items with a coupon (sign up for Staples emails), you can actually make money! Way cool, right?!

Staples also has a Rewards program. From the website: Staples Rewards are issued monthly when the value of the Reward is at least $10. Monthly balances of less than $10 will roll over each month until the minimum is met for that calendar quarter. If the $10 minimum for the quarter has not been met, the balance will expire at the end of the quarter.

The Rewards program seems pretty good if you buy a lot of paper or ink or recycle ink cartridges. Also, they frequently offer items that are free after rewards, which is different from a rebate. I haven’t been maximizing the Rewards program, but I signed up for it, just in case a good opportunity arises.

Check out thisweek’s ad for lots of free and sub-$1 office and school supply deals (some are after rebate, some are not). Happy shopping!

Free Money Friday

I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to pass up offers for free money! As long it doesn’t require too much effort, I’m on it.

Here are some deals I plan to sign up for:

American Express prepaid card, load at least $50, get $10 bonus gift card

Fine print: (1) Offer expires on July 31, 2012. To receive a $10 American Express® Gift Card (“Gift Card”), you must load $50 or more at the time you order an American Express Prepaid Card (“Card”). Card orders must be received by 11:59 PM ET July 31, 2012. Limit of one $10 Gift Card per new Card User named on a Card. Offer valid for all new Card orders with a single $50 load, including additional/supplemental accounts associated with an existing Card purchaser’s account. Card must be active when offer is fulfilled. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Limit one (1) offer per Card. After qualifying for this offer, please allow 6 weeks for the $10 Gift Card to be mailed to the Card purchaser. American Express reserves the right to refuse or to delay the delivery of Gift Card if it has determined or suspects that fraud has been committed in connection with the Card or this offer. American Express reserves the right to terminate the offer at any time if it determines, in its sole discretion, that causes beyond its control have destroyed or severely undermined the integrity, administration, security, and/or feasibility of the offer. Gift Card terms and conditions apply.

Amex Serve digital prepaid account, load and spend $25, get $25 bonus. Fine print: Valid for new Serve account holders only through 8/31/12. Receive $25 back as a statement credit when you use your Serve card for a single purchase of $25 or more.  Neither load nor person-to-person send/receive money transactions qualify as spend transactions to receive a credit.  Statement credits may take up to seven days after the qualifying transaction to post to your account. Limit one statement credit per account. Please allow 7-10 business days after completion of account registration for your Serve card to arrive in the mail. Subaccount holders are not eligible to earn a credit and a subaccount transaction does not qualify towards earning a credit.  Offer subject to change or cancellation at any time. 

NationwideBank Visa Buxx prepaid card $25 load, get $50 bonus

Offer Code: 02010059

The $5 activation fee is waived, but there is a $2 fund load fee, so I will probably load $27 instead of $25. You load using a debit card or credit card. Select PARENT option, not a gift giver. Offer code comes up when you add a teen. Apparently, you can use the same profile info for both the parent and teen section (list yourself twice). Net bonus: $48

Total bonus potential: $83

These bonuses are perfect to put toward your vacation savings account or any other big ticket item you might be saving up for. I plan to put my bonuses toward my car replacement fund. I’ll give the prepaid cards a shot, if for some reason the bonuses are denied or don’t come through, it’s really no big deal. I’d be spending the money anyway, as I’ll use these cards for groceries or any purchases that I’d typically use a credit card on. Also, none of these cards require a credit check. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Before I go, I feel should mention that prepaid cards seem to be all the rage lately, with banks desperately trying to recoup the revenue lost when the government clamped down on processing fees last year. Banks tout the prepaid cards as good for the “unbanked” person who needs a Visa/MC/AMEX branded card but can’t or won’t get a checking account/debit card or credit card. Unfortunately, for consumers these cards often carry steep fees, so one should always read and understand the fine print. Here’s a recent news article on the subject: http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2012/07/02/prepaid-cards/

 Since I really have no need for a prepaid card, I will not be reloading them once they are spent. I will simply drain the initial funds and bonus as quickly as possible and then shred the card.

Free music download from Amazon

If you need some tunes to upload to your iPod or MP3 player for your next trip, Amazon is offering a $3 MP3 credit.

This from the Amazon Local page for my area, but it can be used anywhere or just use the drop-down box to find the offer for your local area. I’ve gotten about 10 free songs from Amazon over the last few months from free credits like this. You can redeem the credit for individual songs for 99 cents each or, even better, use it on one of the $2.99 soundtrack albums or the 25-cent Summer Jams songs. You should “purchase” the free voucher today, but you have until July 12 to use it.

Fine print: Voucher will expire if not used toward a purchase at Amazon MP3 by July 12, 2012

• Voucher is valid for a $3 credit to spend on any album(s) or song(s) in the Amazon MP3 Store; customer will be responsible for payment to Amazon.com for any purchase beyond $3, plus applicable taxes

• Credit may be used toward the purchase of multiple songs or albums; after July 12, 2012, any remaining balance will be forfeited

• Available only to U.S. customers

• Limit 1 voucher per customer

• Voucher is not redeemable for any other types of merchandise sold at Amazon.com

• You may need to have, or download from Amazon, MP3 software in order to purchase certain Amazon MP3 products

• Offer is not transferable, not exchangeable and has no cash value

• Amazon.com account with valid credit card required to get this voucher

• Voucher is available for use immediately after purchase

*Some of the links in this post are my referral links. Read my disclosure policy here

 

150,000 points in my Club Carlson account

My points from Club Carlson's Big Night Giveaway

The day after my stay at the Park Inn for Club Carlson’s Big Night Giveaway, I checked into the Country Inn and Suites near DFW airport.

Only this time, I didn’t stay the night. Still, the frugalista in me couldn’t stand to see the room go to complete waste, so I hung out for about an hour soaking up the A/C and watching the big flat screen TV. The mini-fridge and microwave are nice amenities.

Do you take "freebies" in the bathroom?

Extra pillow and blanket in the closet

My view of Airport Freeway from the window

  I had no issues with check-in or the room. I had a non-smoking room, but the hallway smelled of unpleasant cigarette smoke as I was leaving. Overall, this was a decent hotel that I’d probably consider staying at in the future should I need a room close to DFW airport. I would have liked to partake in the free breakfast, but was unable since I wasn’t staying the night.

Finally, I stayed at the Radisson. I expected this to be the nicest of the three, but I’d actually rate it the worst. The hotel looked dingy, but to its credit is undergoing renovations. The hallways were dark. The bathroom was quite small and the tub looked seriously worn. I could never connect to the free Wi-Fi. I’d definitely be hesitant to stay here again in the future, even after their renovations are complete.

Sleep Number bed was OK, but clearly old

Bathtub looked dingy

Small, awkward layout with toilet, tub (behind door)

Morning view of Central Expressway

 I spent a total of $228.51 or an average of $76.17 per night. Since I used my Chase Sapphire Preferred Card (2x points on travel), I should received 457 Ultimate Rewards points. I plan to use the Club Carlson points for a room that goes for $200-$300 per night in Europe.

All of my points posted within a few days of checking out (and I never checked out at the front desk, just left my keys on the nightstand). It’s so nice seeing those 150,000 points in my Club Carlson account. I can’t wait to redeem them!

Freebie Roundup

I love signing up for free samples. Checking the mailbox is more fun when you’re always anticipating what freebie will show up this week. This week, I've included some bank bonuses, in-store freebies and free airline miles along with some free samples.

In-store freebies

Free Slurpee

7-Eleven is celebrating its birthday on 7-Eleven Day, Wednesday, July 11, participating stores in the U.S. and Canada will give away free 7.11-oz. Slurpee drinks between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., local time.

Chick-fil-A Cow Appreciation Day

On Friday, July 13, Chick-fil-A will award a free meal (breakfast, lunch or dinner) to any customer who comes to one of their 1,600+ restaurants fully dressed as a cow. Those in partial costumes will receive a free entrée.

I did this last year (printed off the cow starter kit from the website and paper clipped the pieces to my clothes on my lunch hour) and the cashier gave me a free meal!

CVS coupons

“Like” CVS on Facebook to choose one of four in-store coupons from CVS/pharmacy in celebration of its one million Facebook fans. You'll need your Extra Care card number to enter at the link. Coupon will be emailed to you.
You’ll choose one coupon from the following options

• $3 off a purchase of $15 or more health items
• $3 off a purchase of $15 or more beauty items
• FREE 5×7 photo
• Save $2 on candy or beverages (my pick!)

 HOT bank bonuses

ING Direct is giving away lots of money!

Available bonuses include $152 Electric Orange Bonus, $76 Sharebuilder bonus, $17.76 Kids Savings account bonus, $276 Rollover 401K bonus, $76 Refer a friend bonus and $27.76 Teen Money account bonus. All bonuses are for new accounts only. Offer expires TODAY, Tuesday, July 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

*I’ve had an ING account for years and never had any problems or fees. Highly recommend them.

  

Local bank bonuses

Hustler Money Blog has a great list of local banks across the U.S. that are currently offering a sign-on bonus.

I recently opened a new personal checking account at Bank of Texas and received $100. The terms requires that you either activate direct deposit ($150 minimum) or make 10 debit card transactions ($10 minimum per transaction). Be sure to read and understand the terms and conditions of any new account before opening.

Free Miles

Free American Airlines miles

Visit and “Like” AAdvantage’s Facebook page for 100 free American Airlines miles. No it’s not much, but it will reset your miles expiration date, which is 18 months from most recent activity. Perfect if you’re in danger of some miles expiring.

 Free samples (by mail)

Target Sample Spot has the following new freebies this week (they often go fast!)

• Garnier Fructis Sleek & Shine shampoo and conditioner
• Starbucks K-Cup Packs