Is Anything Ever Really Free?

[whirlcool]

Karen signed up on a website called freesamples.com. To sign up you are just registering your name and e-mail address over and over again with companies that don't seem to offer much. Except to load up your computer with spyware and to start filling up your e-mail inbox with tons of junk mail.

Karen registered with WalMart and in the coupons section only found 1.00 off coupons for only two things we actually use. IMHO, I think coupons actually get you to spend even more money for stuff you don't really need. A lot of the times people will try a new item that they normally wouldn't buy just because they have a coupon.

Has anyone else encountered this problem. Are there any coupon sites/free sample sites that don't do this?

 

[toggleswitch2]

Nothing is free but love.
You can give that freely to everyone and still have it. Like an STD, actually.

Went to buy a suit for a Christening. It was BOGO "Buy one get one FREE!"

Mahmoud (Mohammed is another verison of this name) showed me somthing tagged $799.99. Mind you, I was "a slob" in sneakers a t-shirt and jeans. Very nicely I said "This is not in my budget. I can do about $200 to $275 for ONE suit". WHAT? You don't want to get a free one? "NO"

He showed me another tagged $399.99. He must have understood from my look I was in no mood to be played with. He says to the manager. Oh this one is not supposed to be BOGO, is it?

Rang it up for $199.99. Buy one get one free... my @$$. They just marked-up the tickets to the sky.

 

[toggleswitch2]

Alimony:
The f-ing you get for the f-ing you got.

Oh honey you pay for it one way or the other.

 

[whirlcool]

Toggles, I just love your sense of humor. It is usually spot on!

Nothing is free but love.
You can give that freely to everyone and still have it. Like an STD, actually.

I almost fell out of my chair laughing at that one!

The f-ing you get for the f-ing you got.

And that is so true for whatever your taste in love is!

 

[j2400]

Well...I got a free mug in my local thrift shop. Does that count? Of course, I had to buy something first. And the mug was one from a supply that they hadn't been able to sell.

The coupon observations sounds about right. The thing I find is that coupons are usually a waste of time. They seem to discount an expensive product, but not to a level that it's cheaper than the store product (what I usually buy).

Here's a link to an article about getting a free computer through some Internet promotion. It describes the trials, and has some useful tips for those who want to try for something "free."

http://lowendmac.com/menagh/05/1215.html

 

[perc-o-prince]

I gnerally clip coupons for goods that I already use. For example, $1.50 off a 16oz Kraft dressing. That size goes on sale here for $1.99, so I got it for $0.50! $1.50 off 2 boxes of Hot Pockets? I buy Lean Pockets when they're 2 boxes for $4, so I'll get the 4 sandwiches for $2.50. And so on.

Sometimes I'll use coupons to try something new, but it's rare, and generally only if the price is in line.

Chuck

 

[qsd-dan]

Sometimes coupons come in hand, but when gas went over 1.50 a gallon, it seems a waste to spend $6.00 worth of gas to run all over town only to save .50. This has yet to sink into my grandmother brain......

 

[toggleswitch2]

I am amazed that in central Connecticut there is often a "free" bin at tag-sales.

I was told it is ok to just pull goods out of that even if one has not spent any cash.

Don't laugh- I got a (classic) Electrolux vacuum cleaner that way.

 

[sudsmaster]

"You saved $XXX !!!"

What I like is the all-too-common ploy on "sale" items, telling how much you've "saved" by purchasing it.

Let's look at this soberly. You haven't saved a cent. You've SPENT whatever the thing cost. If you could turn around and sell it for the higher price, and then put the profit in your bank account, then you'd have saved. Good luck with that.