My new hobby.

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by dyamond, Apr 7, 2012.

  1. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    No, I haven't given up on buying shoes. In fact, I'm going shopping in a bit and who knows what I will come back with. LOL

    But no, it's getting FREE STUFF! My sister told me about it and at first I mocked her but once I saw all the stuff she was getting, I wanted a piece of the action too and now, I'm soo addicted. :-D

    Everything below, I've gotten absolutely free. No strings attached, I haven't gotten one piece of junk and/or spam mail. I only deal with legitimate companies and if it looks suspicious then I'll decline. However, this is just a small fraction of some of the things and doesn't include any of the food items I've gotten either. I've started having to keep a list just to keep track of what coming. My mailman probably hates me now. :-D:-D

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG] [​IMG]




    I've also started couponing, not to the extreme, I only buy what I plan on using within a week, not a years supply worth :-D, but it's save me some serious $$. For example, I went to the supermarket a week or so ago and my total before coupons was $69, after coupons, $28! ;)
     
  2. TimW

    TimW MajorGeeks Administrator - Jedi Malware Expert Staff Member

    We may have to change your title to "Coupon Queen"!!! :-D:-D
     
  3. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Sounds like a workable plan, Tim.
     
  4. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    If I could just convince Intel and AMD to send me free samples of their latest CPUs... :-D
     
  5. Adrynalyne

    Adrynalyne Guest

  6. Spad

    Spad MajorGeek

    Very cool, Dy . . . I had no idea. :)


    Capital idea, sir . . . if you come up with a successful pitch, clue us in ;)
     
  7. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    How does one get free stuff?

    I tried coupons a long time ago and they just didn't work for me. I never kept up with them and then I couldn't find them when I needed. Plus, I hated looking through the papers for stuff I used and wound up cutting stuff out for things I didn't.

    I watch this show on tv call Two Broke Girls. The one girl discovers coupons and goes nuts over them. It was pretty hysterical.
     
  8. Spock96

    Spock96 Major Geek 'Spocky'

    I use Swagbucks.com to get some free things.
    It is not a scam, I've won things before. You can get Amazon cards, Saw and electric guitar on there once. You just need to earn SwagBucks and claim your prize from the store.
    If you want more info, let me know and I can send you a referral.
    Hope this doesn't constituent spam. :-o
     
  9. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Maybe not "spam". rolleyes
    Smells more like kickback. ;)


    Just kidding. :p:wave
     
  10. BoredOutOfMyMind

    BoredOutOfMyMind Picabo, ICU

    Coupon printing is one of two reasons I switched back to Windows. :-o
    Due to the popularity of "clearing shelves" the manufacturers now have lower value coupons than a few years back. Our local papers don't even have 2 or 3 coupons some weeks (I look before I buy the paper now). You can get "Free Stuff" by going to the company webpages and filling out a form. There are sites dedicated to only Freebies.
    Swagbucks...nah no thanks for a spyware adware toolbar.
     
  11. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Everything you see in those pictures, I've gotten off of facebook. All of those companies, Caress, Olay, etc a lot of the time have samples and giveaways for the new products they are coming out with and they want people to try them. Now, sometimes they are only giving away 100 or so and they have thousands of fans, so you have to be fast but that's where chrome autofill comes in. :-D

    With valspar (the paint) they were giving away 750 samples (8 oz samples, pretty nice size) a day for the entire month of march.So sometimes you get lucky but you really just need to know where to look.

    I hate the coupon shows because they make actual couponers look crazy. I've never cleared a shelf or bought dozens of bottles of ANYTHING because I don't need it but because of this, now manufacturers are now lowering the price of coupons. I guess to deter people from going crazy.

    As for Swagbucks, I joined and I didn't download the toolbar because I don’t do toolbars but there are plenty of other ways to earn bucks. Taking the poll, surveys (which I don’t do either), searching on their search engine, watching their videos (which are kind of interesting, I like watching the cooking ones) and others but it seems to take a long time to get swagbucks. I’ve been doing this since dec and I’ve only have about 300 and to get a $5 amazon GC you need like 500 swagbucks.. I know people that have gotten a lot of GC’s from swagbucks but it just really hasn’t been worth it to me but for those who have all day to watch videos and do searches, it might be for them.
     
  12. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Looks like you'll be very clean:cool Bet you squeak when you rub past things!
     
  13. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    Thanks Dy. I'll check it out. :)


    Just out of curiosity, can you get food coupons online? So if I knew what I wanted, I could print it out on my computer rather than looking through the paper?
     
  14. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I don't know about squeaking but I was told I smell real good... :cool

    I still go through the coupons sent to my house but there are few coupon (legit ones) sites where I print most of coupons out at:

    http://www.redplum.com/

    http://smartsource.com

    http://www.coupons.com/


    If you do any grocery shopping at either Target or Walmart, they have their own section for coupons on their sites.

    http://coupons.target.com/

    http://coupons.walmart.com

    Also, my supermarket has it’s own section on it’s website to print out in store coupons AND my store doubles coupons up to .99 cents! I once got a $3 bottle of iced tea for .50 cents! It was on sale for $1.99, I had a .75 cent off coupon which they doubled, so I only paid .50 cents. Coupons (when used the right way) are awesome and can save you a good bit of money. So depending on which supermarket you go to, they might have their own section too.

    Edit: I forgot my favorite website, they have samples & coupons for a lot of different things. It's the one place I think I visit the most.

    http://pgeverydaysolutions.com/
     
  15. BoredOutOfMyMind

    BoredOutOfMyMind Picabo, ICU

    Laura, I don't purchase papers and print almost all of my coupons. There are sites like couponmom.com where you can match coupons. (I can post more if you want). You can print twice on most coupons (allowed) by holding on the back arrow icon to go back to "Print your coupon" page. You cannot photocopy coupons. I flip the page and reuse the paper, or cut off the 1/3 page after 1 coupon only prints and reuse the small paper. The ink offsets and with matchups of Target, it is my grocery store of choice this year.

    :-D
     
  16. LauraR

    LauraR MajorGeeks Super-Duper Administrator Staff Member

    With the rising grocery prices, I think I'll check some of these sites out. Thanks!
     
  17. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    As long as they have two different barcodes. If the coupon has the same barcode and you use it twice the store will only get paid once from the manufacturer. If starts to happen more frequently then the store might stop taking them all together.
     
  18. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Then, sadly, you would have to find a new hobby.:cry:cry:cry
     
  19. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Oh that would be easy. I pick up hobbies like candy :-D


    My latest prize.

    [​IMG]
     
  20. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    Laura, although I'm sure you know this, I'm posting this warning for novices:

    Although there are several legitimate coupon sites, many grocery coupon toolbars and downloadable apps are crammed full of malware. I do about 40-50 PC exorcisms (er, virus/malware removals) at my shop each month. Somehow, these malware apps can (and have) bypassed AV programs including Norton, McAfee, Avast and AVG.

    It's a basic Internet rule: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
     
  21. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Dyamond I wonder if you could explain how couponing works,I've come across lots of coupons which knock money off and give you three for two but what I don't understand is how some of them get money back at the checkout:confused

    Most of the coupons I've seen say they've a monitary value of 0.01p, one hundredth of a penny.

    I've seen on that extreme couponing show they get a van full of goods for free and like a thousand dollars as well,is that part of the show or can that actually happen?
     
  22. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    The money back at the checkout is a result of a store offering double or triple value on manufacturers' coupons. As an example, I have a 50-cent coupon that is doubled ($1.00 off) a bottle of shampoo that's on sale for 79 cents - in theory, I end up with 21 cents back.

    The downside of stores that offer double/triple coupons is that they have to make up the cost somewhere - usually with higher everyday prices versus stores that only accept coupons at face value. As an example, prices at the local Kroger stores seemed to have dropped a bit since they got rid of double coupons a few months ago.

    Many grocery stores in the US are cracking down on extreme couponing. In addition to Kroger (America's largest grocery chain behind Walmart) getting rid of double coupons, other stores are limiting coupons to one of each item (not 10 of the same item with 10 different coupons) and programming their registers so a coupon's value (doubled or not) cannot exceed the selling price.

    Quoting Mr. T, I pity the fool who gets stuck in a checkout line behind an extreme couponer. I've heard horror stories from cashiers about spending 30 minutes verifying each coupon matched the items purchased.
     
  23. BoredOutOfMyMind

    BoredOutOfMyMind Picabo, ICU

    Been there and called the Home Office about that. The next trip I was prepared and now at that chain, it goes like clockwork. I never have purchased where the store owes me money, but I have received a lot for a little before. I printed $12.00 worth of coupons today, and with exception of Ortega, this is for items I will actually use. Since the Ortega is rare, I will purchase that brand if the savings at Target are worthwhile.

    Rikky, some of the Extreme Couponers use EIGHT machines to print from. Some of the shows were staged and some were prior to stores stopping the cleaning of shelves. The Store Manager would rather annoy one user with limits than get 80 during the week seeking product from cleared shelves. Horror stories of shoppers clearing shelves on Sunday Morning abound.
     
  24. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    All the ones I linked to are perfectly safe (and legit, there are many non-legit coupons/sites out there), you do have to download a coupon printy thingy but only once and I've printed out dozens of coupons with no problems, no malware. I think I'm at least that smart. :-D

    Those show are just like any other reality show. FAKE. They (some of the supermarkets) have even said they've bent the rules because it was for TV. Sure there are ways to pay almost nothing but no real couponer I know ever gets money back. Especially now with all these shows, they are really tightening the rules.
     
  25. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    Ahh thanks for the replies I see now,I've never seen a store in the UK give double or triple the purchase price.

    What I'm still left wondering though if as Gman said you bought one bottle of shampoo with a double coupon that was 21c over the value and that's all you bought would the supermarket put 21c in your hand along with the shampoo?

    That does happen or stores will allow that?
     
  26. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    I think some stores like Walmart used to do that or they would deduct the .21 cents from something else you were buying. Now, I think, most places make it so that if you buy something, let's say it's on sale, for .89 cents and you have a .50 cent off coupon which doubles, it will just even it out so you don't pay anything but don't get anything in return. I understand why they do it, it's because people would take advantage using dozens of the (same) coupon and getting dozens of that item for free. They think it's crafty but I think it's taking advantage, and I guess the manufacturers feel the same way because now if you read the coupons they usually say "Limit 1 coupon per item per transaction" (or something like that) so you can't go all crazy and use a billion coupons at once.
     
  27. gman863

    gman863 MajorGeek

    I only watched one episode of Extreme Couponing (which was one too many).

    In it, a couple was told by the manager there were limits in place on how many coupons could be doubled per family per day.

    In retaliation, the a--hole extreme couponers tied up the checkout line while calling friends on their cell phones and asking them to drop what they're doing and come to the store immediately so they (the friends) could go through the checkout with the additional items.

    If I had been either the store manager or a customer waiting to check out behind them, the words "Justifiable Homicide" would have come to mind. :-D

    For me, a call like that from a "friend" would result in a comment of "WTF" right before I hung up and blocked their number.
     
  28. Rikky

    Rikky Wile E. Coyote - One of a kind

    I don't think it's taking advantage,it's us Vs the supermarkets.

    I don't mean some kind of conspiracy hogwash,the supermarket use every trick in the book within the law to get you into the store,keep you there and make you spend as much as possible.

    They play the big we appreciate your custom and are your friend but they ain't,your a punter. I'll give a quick example if they were there to help you get in and out as efficiently as possible and not tryna burn you why does every supermarket move the products around every couple of days? It isn't to keep things new and fresh,it's to stop you finding what your looking for and the longer your there the more you spend.

    These aren't the actions on an honourable friend,so we have to use the same kind of tricks.

    The only thing stopping me searching for coupons and using every single one I could get my hands on is time,I don't want to waste my spare time looking for them in magazines and i spend enough time on the computer but I definitely see the attraction especially with doubling and tripling coupons,plus I hate shopping I'd rather have my leg amputated without anaesthetic :cool
     
  29. Triaxx2

    Triaxx2 MajorGeek

    If anyone is a big reader, or likes to buy software (No one here like that.) I suggest Harris Poll Online. They send you surveys worth points which are eventually worth Amazon gift cards. I use them to buy books and games.
     
  30. Major Attitude

    Major Attitude Co-Owner MajorGeeks.Com Staff Member

    My sister in law is doing this. Sadly most of the stuff she gets is all bad for you but it's funny to see. She is having frineds over tonight to drink wink and share ideas with friends. I have to admit, I am obssesive compulsive so I would LOVE to do this but I would have to throw it all out as well :(
     
  31. handygal

    handygal First Sergeant

    You would throw out 18 kinds of soap and not smell pretty? Dy has some really useful stuff in there.

    I imagine food is not going to be organic fresh vegetables. By the third Ho-Ho sampler, you do have to just throw it out.
     
  32. mmoreoften

    mmoreoften Private E-2

    $28 to get so many stuff? OMG, you are really a successful coupon queen.
    Anyway, saving some money is always a good thing. Nobody can not make hard easy without $$!
     
  33. dyamond

    dyamond Imelda Marcos of Majorgeeks

    Why Would you have to throw it out? I'm really rather choosy in what I get, I don't go after everything that's free. If I don't need it/won't use it, I let other people have it. Almost everything I've gotten I've used or will use.

    I wish some of the food was fresh vegetables LOL but it's not and I don't really go after a lot of food samples but I'm glad to try some of them to see if I like them, for example I ate a part of that cookie (pictured below) and it gave me a dreadful headache and I had to throw the rest away. I'm kind of glad I got to try because if I had decided to buy some without knowing the effect then I would have wasted my money.

    New spoils LOL

    [​IMG]
     
  34. BoredOutOfMyMind

    BoredOutOfMyMind Picabo, ICU

    mmoreoften, 10 posts= Welcome to MG!

    Buying what you DON'T need is easy when you start using coupons. I now am selective in what I purchase. I do stockpile at times - 2 12 packs TP, extra bottle of Mayo, Miracle Whip, Mustard..... not to the extreme where I clear a shelf or need a trailer to show on youtube of my haul. Donations to the needy is something I frequently do also.

    Free 4Pack of Sugar-Free Redbull is my last large haul.
     
  35. hrlow2

    hrlow2 MajorGeek

    Kudos for the donations,BOOM.
    If you can't use it, somebody else may be able to.
    Great way to use couponing to help your fellow man.
     

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