I am a Sampleoholic

June 7, 2007 in Freebies, Frugality

 I am addicted to free samples. 

It started out innocently enough — I’d see a link here or there on personal finance and debt reduction websites, click, and a few weeks later a sample of some new product would arrive in my mailbox. Score!

Now, I refresh the Absurdly Cool Freebie Finder at least 5 times a day to see what’s been added.  The Freebie Finder does all the hard work for me — it filters out most scams and referral pyramids and aggregates freebie offers from the top freebie sites. I don’t think a day has gone by in the last month that I haven’t found a sample that I want to try.  

My faves are laundry products, personal grooming (shampoo, toothpaste, skin care, etc.) and cat food, actually.  I only request samples for things I will actually use. Toiletries go in a bin in the bathroom that I raid for travel or my gym bag — no need to buy new travel sized items! And running a load or two of laundry with “free” detergent can’t be beat.

While the savings to my household budget may not be huge — the pennies add up.

But honestly, I get a big kick out of coming home to sample boxes in my mail. Buying a lot of products (books, movies, gadgets, etc.) used to fulfill that same need — but now I get it met with freebies!