Being Thrifty

About a week and a half ago, I wrote a post about free business cards from MarketSplash by HP. I ordered the free cards and said I’d post if I received them.

Well, I received them and they are great! Very high quality, color cards. They are exactly as I ordered them. And they were completely free - no shipping or production fees.

When I ordered them, the website said it would take 7 days for shipping. I ordered them on March 19, in the evening. I received the order by FedEx ground (the free option), on March 24. So, the turn around time was not bad at all.

So, if you have a small business and you are looking to get some totally free business cards, be sure to check this out.

I said I’d have a magazine offer for you this week, and I have two. I also have some other guaranteed-to-get freebies (while supplies last) for you.

How about two free issues of Redbook Magazine . Get the April and May issues of this popular women’s magazine for free. This is an offer through ValueMags, and I’ve always received the magazines I’ve requested, with no unwanted junk or bills.

If Redbook is not your thing, you can receive two digital issues of Fitness magazine for free . This offer is also from ValueMags. I’ve never ordered a digital magazine from them, so I’m not sure how it works.

Another place that always sends out the freebies they offer is Walmart. Walmart has quite a few offers today. These offers tend to expire quickly, so be sure to sign up for any you are interested in soon.

Old Spice Game Day Body Wash

Roots of Nature Remedies Strengthening Oil Moisturizer for hair

Cottonelle Tissue and Wipes

Remember, samples and offers are only available in the United States unless otherwise noted. Limit one sample from each offer per person or household. Available while supplies last. These freebie and sample offers were available at the time of this posting. Author cannot guarantee receipt or quality of these freebies, although I think it’s a pretty safe bet that you’ll get any of these that you request.

Back on February 20, I listed a freebie offer for Family Circle Magazine. The offer was for free copies of the March and April issue. As I’ve mentioned before, I order a lot of the freebies I list here. I love free magazines. And I love Family Circle. So, free issues of Family Circle is a match made in heaven for me.

I received my March issue over the weekend. I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but at least I got it. This is the second magazine offer I’ve signed up for through Value Mags, and I’ve gotten both free offers and no bills or other unwanted junk, so I’ll be looking for more offers from them to bring to you, my readers.

The Family Circle offer is no longer available, but be sure to check back here tomorrow for another free magazine offer.

Here’s a great freebie if you are in the need of business cards.  For a limited time, you can get 100 free business cards from MarketSplash, a marketing division of Hewlett-Packard .  These are completely free.  There are no shipping or processing fees in this offer.

The cards are full-color, matte finish.  They do have a marketing message from HP on the back, but according to the template, it’s unobtrusive.  Besides, who looks at the back of business cards?  I don’t, unless someone writes a phone number or something there.

You have to choose one of their designs, but there are 74 templates to choose  from.  If you want your own design, they’ll do that for you, but it won’t be free.  Once you choose a design, a form opens up where you can add your name, business name, and other information.  None of the fields, such as address and phone number, are required, so you can put as little or as much information on the cards as you like.

There’s a limit of one free order per address or user.  Your order is shipped directly to your home or business, by FedEx Ground.  If you want to use some other shipping method, you will have to pay.  Since it’s FedEx shipping, they don’t ship to post office boxes. You do have to provide a credit card at check out, but your credit card is not charged.

I placed an order for free business cards for my freelance writing business.  I found a great design, and the template was easy to use.  The shipping estimate is 7 days, so I should be able to tell you all next week if I got my order and what it looks like.  When I checked out, the site said I’d saved $20.93…$13.98 for the item, and $6.95 for shipping.

I’m not sure how much longer they will offer the free business cards, but you might want to check them out!

If you have an IKEA store near you, they are offering a free breakfast from Friday, March 20 through Sunday,  March 22.

The free offer is for one small breakfast (valued at 99 cents) and one small coffee (valued at 99 cents).  Offer is good for one free breakfast per customer while supplies last.

The free breakfast offer is not valid at IKEA Charlotte, IKEA Hicksville, IKEA Houston, IKEA Pittsburg or IKEA Direct.  Check the IKEA website for breakfast hours at the store near you.

To celebrate the first day of Spring, Rita’s Italian Ice is giving away a free regular size Italian Ice treat .   The free Italian Ice is available on Friday, March 20 (the first day of Spring!) from noon to 10:00pm.

The free treat is available for every customer, at participating locations while supplies last.  2009  marks the 17th year of Rita’s giveaway to celebrate Spring. The Italian Ice is Rita’s signature product.  It combines ice with real fruit flavors.  Italian Ice is fat-free and cholesterol-free, and is available in a variety of fresh fruit flavors.  Rita’s even has sugar-free Italian Ice products.

Rita’s Italian Ice locations are primarily in the Eastern and Southeastern parts of the United States.  You’ll want to check their website to see if there is a location near you.

Enter the Cosmopolitan Magazine March Must Haves Sweepstakes for a chance to win a $500 American Express Gift Check gift card for a spring shopping spree.

Hurry though, this sweepstakes ends at 11:59pm Eastern on March 9, 2009.

The contest is open to all legal residents of the United States, the District of Columbia and Canada who are of legal age. Void in Puerto Rico, Quebec, and elsewhere where prohibited by law.

There is only one entry allowed per household during the entry period. You must have a valid email address.

See the official rules for complete details.

Disclaimer:

All statements concerning the Cosmopolitan March Must Haves Sweepstakes made on the Cosmopolitan website take precedence over any statements made on this site.

I miss Bob Evans Restaurants.  There aren’t any of these restaurants where I live currently in Arizona, but we loved to go there when we lived in the Midwest.  They have wonderful breakfasts.  My favorites were their biscuit breakfast (I’m not sure of the exact name) that was a biscuit with an egg cooked to order and covered with Bob Evans sausage gravy, and served with home fries.  I also loved their baked potato soup. Ok, now I’m hungry.

Anyway, if you have a Bob Evans Restaurant in your area, click here to get a coupon that you can print out.  The coupon is good for one free Caramel Mocha, valid at participating Bob Evans Restaurants.  The coupon is good until March 11, 2009.

While you’re there, have some biscuits and gravy for me!

I’m going to start posting freebies as I find them, rather than wait for Fridays.  So, here’s some freebies that I’ve come across today.

Get a free Ziploc Fresh Shield Freezer Bag sample from Costco.

Sign up for the Betty Crocker e-newsletter and get a free sample of Warm Delights Minis.

Get a certificate for a free trial pair of Acuvue contact lenses.

Join the Tough Team and get a free sample of Gorilla Glue.

As always, freebies and samples are available only in the United States unless otherwise noted.  Limit one request per freebie per household.  Author cannot guarantee receipt or quality of freebies and samples.  All offers were available at the time of this posting.  Offers available while supplies last.

HGTVPro.com, HGTV’s website for professionals and contractors, is hosting a Product of the Day sweepstakes .  A different tool or product will be featured every day from March 2 through March 8. You can enter daily, with a limit of one entry per person per day.

One weekly winner will be chosen by random drawing on Monday, March 9.  The weekly winner will then get their choice of daily prizes featured during the week on days that they entered.  For example, if you enter on Monday and Thursday and you are the weekly winner, you get your choice of either Monday’s or Thursday’s featured product.

This week’s contest is open starting at 12:00am Eastern Monday, March 2, 2009 through 11:59pm Eastern Sunday, March 8, 2009.  The sweepstakes is open to all legal residents of the United States and the District of Columbia, age 21 and older.  Void where prohibited by law and outside the United States.

See here for official rules.

Winner for the week of March 2 - 8, 2009 will be selected by random drawing on or about Monday, March 9, 2009.

Prizes for the week of March 2 - 8:

Monday: KitchenAid Mixer

Tuesday: Cuisinart Brick Oven

Wednesday: Gourmet Food Slicer

Thursday: Home Styles Kitchen Island

Friday: Hot Water Dispenser

Saturday: InSinkErator Disposal

Sunday: Kensington Towel Warmer