Freebie Friday - March 15

After a quiet week last week, the flood gates broke and I got all kinds of free stuff this week.

First to arrive was a package full of all occasion cards, some stickers, a notepad and a pen, all from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. They hope for a donation, of course, but I've done that already recently, so I count this stuff as freebies.

Next came a sample of Cream of Wheat.  Since I tend to keep a box of the regular stuff around for one of my pancake recipes, I chose to sample a new one called Cinnamon Swirl. I'm not sure why I picked that. Cinnamon seems to be giving me a bit of a problem these days so I have not tried it yet. The sample came with a 75 cent off coupon for a variety pack. I guess that's to encourage us to try other new flavours too, but I wish they would take a cue from some other companies, like Kashi, that sometimes offer $2 off.

Then I got a free copy of Kraft's What's Cooking and a catalogue from Herrschners. I've never heard of them before, so this catalogue is new to me.  It has a lot of different crafts in it, and while there is something I've been meaning go purchase, adding the shipping costs on top of that will just make me look harder for it in the shops.  If all else fails, I now know where to get it.

And lastly, my latest Yves Rocher order arrived, and, as usual, there were plenty of gifts to make up for the shipping costs of that.  Not only did they send 3 little samples, but also a full sized lipstick. I even got to pick the colour when I placed the order.  The gift for ordering within 10 days was a cute little clock.  It not only tells the time, but the temperature too. It has an alarm, and a "snooze" function, which will cycle the white part of the clock though a series of colours, lit from within. And while it does that, it plays your pick of several nature sounds.  Very cute.  I just wish the face also had some light as it's impossible to see the time in the dark.

It's been a very good week for freebies, if nothing else.  See my previous post for more on that.

Freebie Friday - February 15

I have a wide variety of free things to report this week.
 
First I used a coupon to bring home a package of Kellogg's Special K Cracker Chips absolutely free.  Maybe I should have scanned the coupon so you would believe me, but I now have another one for Turkey Bacon, so I'll show you that, when I use it.











Later in the week I received samples of both Advil Nighttime and L'Oreal Miracle Blur.  Now these are two products that I truly hope work, and more will be purchased if they do.  Both of these samples also came with coupons worth $4 off a future purchase.




Finally, I got something I was no longer expecting. I had done a survey for Penguin Books last fall, and was thrilled to be presented with a list of books to choose from, as a reward for completing the survey.  I picked a book and waited for it to arrive. I had won a book from them shortly before this and it arrived quite quickly. But this reward book never came. I assumed it was lost, and for some reason I dropped Penguin a line a couple of weeks ago to say that I never got the book I chose. Well, it arrive this week, so I'm very happy about that. I don't know if it was my inquiry that triggered the shipment or if it was just a coincidence that it finally showed up here now.  I'll be starting to read it in a day or two, when I'm finished the book I currently have my nose in.

Freebie Friday - Jan 25

While it was never my intention to let this Freebie Friday thing take over my blog, I am at least glad I committed to it as otherwise you would likely not have heard from me in the past month.  The only other thing I have wanted to tell you about can't be put on here yet. It's a surprise. 

I got involved in a Pay It Forward project.  Someone on Facebook offered to send something they had made to the first five people who responded, on condition that they post the same offer on their page. I jumped in with both feet, not really knowing just what it was I would create.  I just knew I wanted to do it.

I got four takers on my offer, and somehow, luckily, I got in on their offers too, so, in reality, I'm exchanging things with these four talented people.  I have now finished two of those four projects (I think) and I'm itching to show them to you. If I did that now it that would ruin the surprise, not only for those who they are intended for, but perhaps also for those whose projects I have not started yet.....even though I expect those will be somewhat different.  In the meantime, I found out I could do something I didn't know I could do...but like I said, I can't tell you yet.
So I'm here, once again, to tell you what landed in my mail box this week.  I got five free things, all of which came from the same company, in the same box.  I had put in a little order to Yves Rocher, just for a lipstick and a new bottle of liquid hand soap. They always send samples and free stuff, and I do try to wait until I like what they are offering before putting in my order, just so I feel like I'm getting something for my postage charges.  This time I think I did very well. 

I got three small samples. One was a perfume, and the others were new face products, designed to keep me young looking.  I'm looking forward to testing those out.  The company wanted to start my year out right by giving me what they referred to as my "favorite product".  I'm not sure about that, but they did pick the most expensive thing I've ordered in the past year, so I'm very happy to have a new full sized bottle of the foundation makeup I use.  And finally there was a lovely light weight fold up nylon shopping bag for my purse that they referred to as my bonus gift.  All these freebies more than covered the shipping cost. 

Now if the new creams actually make me look younger, I'll be thrilled.

Free Stuff is No Bother

Some days, going to the post office is really worth the walk.  Today I got three pieces of mail with free things in them.  One was a box from Proctor & Gamble.  They send out boxes full of samples at least a couple of times a year. A lady at the post office noticed my parcel and said, "Oh, P&G" and I immediately asked if she get this too.  Her answer was, "I can't be bothered with that." 

That box had samples of Pantene shampoo and conditioner, Bounty paper towels, Tide Pods, Dawn Ultra Concentrated dish detergent and what looks to me like a full size Febreze room freshener.  It's good for 30 days anyway, and came in a lovely Mediterranean Lavender scent.

There were other things available too, but Proctor and Gamble lets you choose the things that would be useful to you. It would be no good, for instance, if I were sent something for a dishwasher, since I don't have one.

The Garnier Intensive 7 Days Body lotion was sent as a consolation as everyone who had entered a contest on Facebook was sent an e-mail to tell us we had won a full bottle, 2 full weeks before the contest was even over.  I still have a chance of winning that, as they sent the samples and a coupon for a dollar off as soon as they realized the here had been an error. 

And yes, you do see a $50 Bon Appetit gift card.   I won $25 worth of credit at Card Swap through a blog I read, and the rest of the money spent to buy this card arrived in my Pay Pal account from having done some surveys.  Card Swap has all kinds of cards available and I picked this one as my hubby is often trying to feed me, so I figured it was my turn and he won't object if it's done card I didn't actually spend my own money on.  Bon Appetit is good for all our favorites....Montana's, Swiss Chalet, Kelsey's, Harvey's, and somewhere else I'm not acquainted with. 

The very notion of someone not wanting to be bothered, when it comes to free stuff, just boggles my mind!

Sept 22 
Correction:  Apparently that little Garnier sample was something I sent for myself, on Sept. 5, not what they are sending because of the contest error. For that I will get a coupon for a free full sized bottle of Intensive 7 Days Body Lotion. I tried my sample this morning and I already know I will enjoy the full sized bottle.