Books
-- First of all, get the Kindle App. Amazon has plenty of free books you can download Simply go to the books category, search for "ebooks" and then sort from low price to high (or just click here). Granted most of them are ridiculous romance books and predictable mystery thrillers, but they're enough to keep you distracted. And sometimes authors agree to let the first book in a series be free in the hopes you'll pay to read the rest of the series, like: The Covenant (Abram's Daughters Book #1) by Beverly Lewis and The Centurion's Wife (Acts of Faith Book #1) by Janette Oke, who are both authors I have enjoyed in the past. There are even children's books, Bibles, and cookbooks!
-- While we're on the topic of books and Amazon, you can get a free 30 days of Audible, which is Amazon's version of books on tape. This is a great way to pass the time while driving or flying somewhere.
Food
-- Watch the calendar: around Valentines Day lots of places offer buy-one-get-one-free deals and free desserts, you can get free pancakes on National Pancake Day from IHOP, May hosts Nurse Appreciation Week and Cinnabon gets in on the action by giving away free buns when you show your badge (if you're not a nurse, tell a friend who is and maybe they'll share with you to show their thanks for letting them in on this secret), Krispy Kreme, Dunkin' Donuts, and Tim Horton all offer a free donut on National Donut Day, in July you can score a free meal at Chick-fil-A by dressing up like a cow on Cow Appreciation Day etc.
-- Join restaurant clubs. You can get free fondue at The Melting Pot, BOGO burgers at Smashburger, cheesesticks from Pizza Hut, pancakes three times a year (on top of pancake day)from IHOP etc. Almost every restaurant has a birthday club anymore, and sometimes purchases can earn you free food like at Starbucks.
-- Hit up places on "dead" nights: Wednesdays Max & Erma's has free cookies and O'Charley's has free pie, on Mondays you can get free breakfast from IKEA.
Samples
-- Sometimes you can get free samples directly from the store or product website like Target, Kotex, and Advil. Sometimes websites have raffles or contests like Allure, which gives away beauty supplies at the beginning at the month every month.
-- Follow all your favorites on social media. Companies, retailers, and even beauty bloggers have giveaways and contests in exchange for promotions. Sometimes this is as easy as getting entered in a drawing for tagging them, and sometimes it's more involved but it's almost always fun and free.
-- Ask for them. Everyone knows Sephora will give you samples with purchases (and sometimes so will Ulta), but I've also received samples at the makeup counters in the mall without purchasing anything. You have to be genuine and probably have a little luck on your side for this one.
Other
-- Of course there are programs that will send you free stuff in exchange for your honest opinions, like BzzAgent and Influenster, which I've mentioned before ;)
