Skip to Content

Win a Samsung 22-inch LCD monitor from Joystiq!
 

Posts with tag Free

McDonald's Southern-styled sandwich can't be given away?

Filed under: Food, Fantastic Freebies

Is McDonald's having trouble moving its "so simple, so juicy, so perfectly seasoned" Southern-style chicken and biscuit breakfast sandwich? Or its regular-menu Southern-style chicken sandwich? Perhaps. But if you're in the Washington, D.C. area, you can find out if its worth your money (and the considerable amount of simple carbs you'll consume) tomorrow, Thursday, July 24 with the purchase of a medium- or large-sized beverage.

The biscuit sandwich offer will be good 7 a.m. through 10:30 a.m. (McDonald's typical breakfast ending time) and then the chicken sandwich will be available for free with purchase through 7 p.m. This is a repeat of a nationwide offer from May; McDonald's has been repeating the offer in local markets in a (desperate?) attempt to shore up sales for the new menu item, even offering the sandwich free for pajama-clad customers in one Florida market.

If you hit the breakfast sandwich, you can check out the premium coffee at the same time. Sales for the pricey caffeine have been slower than expected so you may not have this chance for long!

Have you tried the sandwich? What did you think? If you're in the D.C. area, will you wait in line for it tomorrow?

Fantastic Freebies: Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer

Filed under: Health, Fantastic Freebies

Every day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

Freebies aren't normally this fun! Schick is currently taking votes on how Ryan Nyquist should shave his beard for the upcoming X Games this summer. By voting you are entered for a VIP trip to the Winter X games, but more importantly you can get a free Schick Quattro Titanium Trimmer.

Entering is easy, head over to shaveryannyquist.com and click on vote, after that be sure to choose "yes" to get a free trimmer shipped right to your door. I chose the "Freestyle" beard design but I was also a little partial to the "Icepick"!

The Schick Quattro Trimmer costs would cost you between $10 and $15 at the store so this is an excellent deal and looks like just the tool to keep your beard or sideburns in check.

Once I combine this with the numerous freebies Zac Bissonnette has been posting my travel toiletry kit will be fully stocked for free!

Free credit monitoring for pretty much anyone!

Filed under: College, Cards, Debt

handoutIf you have had a loan, credit card or any other type of credit line in the past 21 years, TransUnion is offering up to 9 months of credit monitoring services as part of a class action lawsuit settlement. You can opt for the basic service which includes 6 months of credit monitoring as well as unlimited access to your credit report and TransUnion credit score. This option allows you to still receive some form of cash from the settlement. If you don't care about the cash portion you can opt for the enhanced service which nets you 9 months of monitoring and a mortgage simulator to help you see what your mortgage rate would be as well as access to your insurance scores.

The credit monitoring service offered by TransUnion provides 24 hour monitoring and email notification of major changes. A credit expert notes that all consumers can benefit from a free credit monitoring service and that TransUnion's credit monitoring is top notch. Experts are less impressed by the mortgage simulator and the offer of a TransUnion score because the number isn't your real FICO score and less than 5%of banks use the TransUnion number. While it isn't the same number the TransUnion score is usually within 40-50 points of your FICO score and may at least alert you if your score is drastically lower than it should be.

While I think this is a good deal for a free service that may prove useful, it's sad that it is only coming about due to a lost lawsuit based on TransUnion's greed. You see back before 2001, TransUnion was selling customer information to marketing lists and others. That's right this credit monitoring is just a way of saying sorry, even though we didn't do anything wrong, for all of that junk mail you used to receive!

You can visit www.listclassaction.com to sign up for your benefits, which you can activate after the court accepts the settlement.

Free protective gloves and industrial safety video game

Filed under: Shopping, Fantastic Freebies

Ansell, the world's biggest protective clothing maker, is giving out free protective gloves -- at least to those involved in some industry that uses protective gloves. These Vantage Series gloves are made with Kevlar (the same stuff that's in bulletproof vests), so they are designed to be cut resistant.

Since I'm blogging here you probably guessed that my work doesn't involve any heavy machinery. But I am a wildlife rehabilitator, so I did order several pairs of Kevlar gloves off eBay for bite protection. I deal with squirrels. The gloves have definitely prevented scratches, but I don't know yet about bites. (The one time a squirrel tried to bite my hand I wasn't wearing the gloves). I found out about them from this site.

You get a choice of three glove weights: the baby bear weight is for comfort and the ability to feel what you're handling. The momma bear weight is for "heavy, oily sharp pieces." The papa bear weight is for heavy, sharp metal that intermittently gets up to 400 degrees. You can also play their elaborate industrial safety video game, where you load pieces in a stamper trying not to get cut. (When you do, your character moans in pain, gets scolded by the boss, and drips blood from his hands.)

Fantastic Freebies: Meijer now offering free prenatal vitamins

Filed under: Bargains, Health, Fantastic Freebies

pregnantEvery day, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more!

Meijer, a grocery store mainly located in the Midwest, has begun offering select prenatal vitamins for free in the pharmacy! My local ad doesn't specify which vitamins are included, but the press release identifies several name brands; "NatalCare Plus, Ultra Natal Care, Natal Care Glosstabs, Advanced NatalCare, and NataTab Rx."

You can get up to a 30-day supply on one visit and you can only take advantage of this in-store.

If this proves to be anything like the move most retailers made last year to offering free or $4 antibiotics then I would expect Target and Walmart to join in the offer pretty soon. This deal is of course, designed to get you into the store and capture your weekly grocery bill. Savvy shoppers may be able to talk Walmart or other local store into price matching the offer to cut down on multiple trips if you regularly visit another store.

Best hotels for internet connectivity

Filed under: Simplification, Technology, Travel

hotel internetIf your career or your travel lifestyle takes you into hotels regularly, then I'm sure more often than not you end up disappointed in your hotel room. I'm not lamenting your strike-out in the hotel bar, but more importantly the lack of reliable and affordable Internet connectivity at hotels.

In my experience I have noticed a correlation between the rack rate of the room and the quality and price of the Internet connection. The more your room costs the more Internet costs and often the more painful using it is.

Here are WalletPop's recommendations for the best hotels to get online at.
  1. Residence Inn
  2. Hampton Inn
  3. Days Inn
  4. La Quinta
  5. Best Western
These hotel chains have provided free reliable high speed Internet connections at most, if not all of their locations which rate them high up on the list of chains to frequent.

Free trees and plants, You only pay shipping. Freetreesandplants.com

Filed under: Bargains, Home, Shopping, Daily Deal, Charity

treeThe Daily Deal for Sunday June 1, 2008

In consideration of the fact that I have transplanted about two dozen trees already this season, I thought it would be nice if I could find people a deal on trees. As luck would have it, I didn't have to look too far before I found, FreeTreesandPlants.com. This free tree operation says that for just the cost of shipping, they shall send you nursery quality trees, shrubs and perennial plants which have gone unsold during the current planting season. The work is handled by "shelter workshops" which provide work for individuals who might otherwise have difficulty finding meaningful employment.

I checked out the offer for myself, because I'd like to plant a couple red maple trees this season and I'm having a hard time finding them locally at a decent price. FreeTreesandPlants.com will send me two, bare root, red maple trees, 15 to 18 inches tall, for just $7.95. I think I'll give it a shot, and reserve a couple!

For anyone who might be interested in this organization, you'll find the project description here. For the organization's FAQ page, click here. This organization states that it does not solicit or accept donations.

Free phone call from Ashton Kutcher!

Filed under: Daily Deal

To promote his new movie, What Happens in Vegas, former Punk'd star Ashton and all-around heartthrob Ashton Kutcher will be answering your love questions by phone -- for free!

I gave it a shot and it's pretty cheesy - it's a recording that say "Hey, this is Ashton Kutcher" followed by a one-liner that I couldn't quite hear.

If you click here, you can type in your phone number and Ashton will call you within about 5 seconds. There's another widget called the "Night Recreator" where you can have Ashton or Cameron call your friend to remind them of what happened last night when they were drunk.

If you're immature and into prank calls, these might be worth a try. To hear the best prank call ever, click here.

Free Gucci watch and handbag, ProductTestPanel.com

Filed under: Bargains, Ripoffs and Scams, Shopping, Daily Deal

The Daily Deal for Sunday, April 20, 2008

Yes, the offer sounds too good to be true. Therefore it probably is. But it's splashed in true living color on the Internet and they say it's available to people like you and me. You may get a FREE Gucci hand bag and watch. Be warned though, I'm advised that the site has already been put under watch by McAfee as a source of possible excessive email spamming. That's the problem with these once in a lifetime internet offers. They're designed mainly to harvest email addresses, among other things.

To become eligible for the Gucci gifts, the offer is subject to the following conditions. First, you must take membership in a promotional purchasing program. You must register, provide a valid email address and provide a shipping address also. Then, you must complete what I interpret to be three surveys and six product promotions from sponsors of the offer. It sounds like a giant phishing scam to me, but hey, who am I to judge?

You must be 18 to apply and you'll be filling out a credit application (of course you will). The site page warns that failure to submit accurate registration will cause forfeit of your eligibility. By then however, they'll have enough information to purchase a house using your name. The site also disclaims any endorsement by the manufacturers of the products it offers. As if we might suspect that Gucci would have a hand in something like this.

One last note: This offer is not valid in Ohio. Do you think they might know something the rest of us don't?

Get free products doing word of mouth advertising

Filed under: Bargains

Today in the mail I received a shirt, etched glass and rebate for a bottle of Canadian Club Whiskey. I'll let that settle in, free alcohol! This is just the latest in a long line of freebies I have received over the years in exchange for providing word of mouth marketing. For my time and so I can accurately talk about their products I have received; Big Red gum, 5 gum, a subscription to TV Guide, a bottle of Hornitos Tequila, Listerine Whitening Strips and more. In exchange for these items all I have to do is provide honest buzz for the product and to report my word of mouth activities.

All of these different products were provided to me as a BzzAgent by Central Hive, which is what we call headquarters. Being a BzzAgent is both fun and rewarding, not only do you get free and discounted products, but often times you get them before the general public. After you join a campaign to spread buzz, a package is shipped out to you which usually includes a sample, background, suggested opportunities for buzzing and coupons to share.

I received no compensation for writing this post and I will not blog about anything I am paid to promote. That's how we roll here at WalletPop!

Free legal documents for your life and business

Filed under: Bargains, Entrepreneurship

paper workAfter having recently seen the fallout from dealings bonded only by a handshake, you may feel the need to get documentation the next time you or your small business enters an agreement. A few years ago you would have made your way to a pricey lawyer to ask them to draw up an agreement for you. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet and user generated content you can now find loads of legal documents online which will not only save you money but prevent frustration in the event your next deal goes sour.

A new service called Docstoc provides loads of legal documents which are useful for a plethora of situations all for free! The service includes user prepared wills, NDA agreements, real estate paperwork, lease/rental agreements and many others. Docstoc also provides excel documents which provide a great starting point for tracking your small business or hobby expenditures. If you can't find the document you are looking for, there is also a request feature letting you harness the Internet hive mind to meet your needs. The layout and design is really flashy and lets you preview all of the documents before signing up or downloading.

As with anything you find online you should use your best judgment to find a document which meets all of your needs. If you aren't an expert, you may be best served by finding the document at Docstoc, customizing it for your situation and then having a lawyer give it a once over. This could provide savings over what you would have originally paid if Dewey Cheatem & Howe prepared the whole agreement for you.

Via My Two Dollars

Fantastic Freebies! Hypoallergenic pillowcase

Filed under: Health, Fantastic Freebies

Everyday, WalletPop will be bringing you information about a fantastic freebie. Like what you see? Check back tomorrow for more for more!

You have to love the big pharmaceutical companies.

OK, maybe you don't. But you can still fill out a quick survey for Xyzal and get a free hypoallergenic pillowcase mailed to you. If you want, they'll also email you information about their product from time to time -- I would recommend checking the box saying that you don't want any more mass-emails than you already have.

Either way, the pillowcase is yours to keep. A free product that might help you sleep better? That's pretty sweet!

FREE! Uniden 2.4GHz Cordless Phone

Filed under: Daily Deal

I've never heard of Uniden but then again, what do you expect in a free cordless phone? Regularly priced at $24.95, Circuit City is offering the phone for $14.99. And it's free after the mail-in rebate. And if you need anything else from from the site, orders over $24 ship free.

The features on this phone are pretty basic but do you really need lots of gadgets on your home phone? This has caller ID, 10 memory dial locations, and it's headset compatible, in case you're so cool/busy that you can't even hold a phone while you talk.

For lots of great bargains updated frequently, check out Ben's Bargains.

Free samples from Wal-Mart!

Filed under: Shopping, Daily Deal

In this economy -- and in any economy -- the best daily deal is a free deal.

Ladies and gentlemen, I bring you Wal-Mart's frequently updated free sample page. All you have to is click "Get your sample", type in your address, and they mail it to you. No shipping charges, no nothing.

Among the products currently available are Vaseline moisturizer, Glad trash bags, and Dexatrim Max20.

If you want more free stuff, visit www.startsampling.com, and start clicking away. I ordered me some Brut aftershave balm moisturizer.

Check out this frequently updated blog for the latest news on free samples.

GrandCentral- Google's least-known, free, valuable service

Filed under: Bargains, Technology

As a writer, I need to be able to talk to people at their convenience, and sometimes record our conversations so I can report accurately. Of course, I want these capabilities as cheaply as possible.

Therefore, I'm glad a friend recommended the free Internet service GrandCentral. Shortly after I began to use it, the company was bought by Google, but the service hasn't missed a beat in the transition.

GrandCentral gave me a new phone number, in my local area, free. I give out this number, which I chose to have automatically forwarded to both my cell and land lines so I can pick up either to take the call.

Since the call goes through GrandCentral's server, it can record the call for me simply by my pressing 4 on my keypad. After the call is complete, GrandCentral sends me an email with a link to the conversation, which I can replay at my leisure, a godsend for someone like me who can't take legible notes.

GC also includes an answering service to take a message when I'm not available, one I can access online from wherever I am, including by phone. Another cool feature I haven't used yet is the ability to customize different greetings for different callers.

The price is right; free, and the service is a great aid for anyone on the go all the time. Check it out.