21 things you can get for free
Here are only聽two ways to become richer 鈥� make more or spend less.
There are a few ways to make more, from聽getting a raise聽to finding聽weird ways to make extra money. And there are tons of ways to spend less. One of the best? Stop paying for things you could get free.
1. Free cars
Many people want their cars moved from place to place, but don鈥檛 want to do the driving. Sometimes these cars are delivered by truck, but often they鈥檙e driven 鈥� by people like you. If you have a clean driving record, a car delivery company like聽AutoDriveaway聽might聽hook you up.
I did car delivery a few times when I was in college 鈥� it鈥檚 a great way to get where you鈥檙e going.聽It鈥檚 best if you鈥檙e聽flexible about when you leave,聽return, and perhaps even where you go. You still have to pay for gas, and the trip home聽can be problematic. I聽used to hitchhike,聽but smarter choices today would be聽bus, plane, or waiting at the other end for another drive-away car.
For more, see聽How to Drive Across the Country聽Free.
2. Free lodging
Why stay in a hotel when the nonprofit聽Couchsurfing.org聽offers tourists a chance to stay at homes for free? Make friends with sponsoring families throughout the United States and countries ranging from Croatia to France. You have to set up a profile on the CouchSurfing website, which provides tips on how to find families willing to open their homes to you. Obviously, the digs won鈥檛 be fancy, but they鈥檒l be free.
Another way to get free lodging is to home-swap. Check out聽.
3. Free audio books
Now you can find out for free the fate of Pip in Charles Dickens鈥� 鈥淕reat Expectations鈥� or Elizabeth in 鈥淧ride and Prejudice鈥� as you drive or jog. Download free audio books from the nonprofit聽LibriVox.org, which has volunteers recording classics in the public domain 鈥� including many Shakespeare plays. You can also volunteer to help by reading. LibriVox will even provide you with free recording software.
4. Free food
There鈥檚 at least one day every year when you shouldn鈥檛聽think of paying for a meal.聽Frugal Living has a聽 of hundreds of businesses that offer birthday freebies, most of which are food.聽For a free libation at your favorite pub, do what I do: Loudly proclaim it鈥檚 your birthday and demand that everyone within earshot pick up the next round.
5. Free food for kids
Don鈥檛 go to another restaurant that doesn鈥檛 feed your kids for free.聽MyKidsEatFree.com聽offers a roadmap of where you can save on kids鈥� meals 鈥� just type in a state and city. You鈥檒l pay but your kids won鈥檛 at more than 5,000 restaurants across the country.
6. Free samples
Before you go to the drugstore聽and shell out silly sums for travel sizes of your favorite toiletries, go to聽Volition.com聽or one of many other websites that offer free samples. In addition to soap, shampoo, etc., you might find all manner of interesting things. For example, we鈥檝e spotted circus tickets, a free diet analysis, and free advance movie screenings. Other free mega-sites include聽TheFreeSite.com聽and聽freechannel.net.
7. Free TV
Despite that more than 100 million Americans shell out an聽average of $75聽every month for satellite or cable TV, local channels are still聽free. And聽thanks to digital signals, reception is better than聽ever. Need more programming without the big cable bill? No problem. Check out聽You Don鈥檛 Have to Pay for Cable TV.
8. Free software
You can get free software for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and other uses by going to聽OpenOffice.org. And that鈥檚 the tip of the iceberg. No matter what kind of software you want, you can probably find it free.聽Check out聽.
9. Free anti-virus
This one could go under 鈥渇ree software,鈥� but it鈥檚 important enough to warrant its own spot on the list. Check out聽Antivirus Software is a Waste of Money聽for more.
10. Free speech
Make your voice heard around the world with your own blog. Many companies will help you set up your own site at no charge, such as聽WordPress聽or聽Blogger. They鈥檒l even give you free, easy instructions and a choice of blog templates.
11. Free foreign language lessons
The BBC聽is on the other side of the pond, but it offers a聽free 12-week class聽to learn French, Spanish, Italian, or German, gratis. You鈥檒l even get a certificate at the completion of the course. BBC also offers other audio and video courses in the four languages 鈥� as well as help in learning more exotic languages such as Chinese, Russian, and Greek.
12. Free checking
According to聽The Wall Street Journal,聽the average minimum checking account balance required to聽avoid a monthly fee at U.S. banks is聽$723 鈥� and the average monthly fee is $5.48.
But banks aren鈥檛 the only game in town. While not all offer free checking, the prospect of lower fees is one of聽reasons You Should Join a Credit Union.
Another option is online-only banks. Without the overhead of brick-and-mortar branches, the terms are often much better.聽
Too much hassle to leave your bank? Threaten to and see if you can have fees reduced or eliminated.
13. Free credit reports and scores
Don鈥檛 ever pay for a copy of your credit report. Instead,聽go to聽AnnualCreditReport.com聽for a free look at your credit history once a year.
When it comes to free credit scores, you can turn to sites like聽Credit Karma聽or聽Credit Sesame, although they won鈥檛 give you the most widely used score, the FICO score. For that, you could try enrolling in a FICO聽product that聽comes with a free score, then cancelling within the cancellation period.聽
14. Free cash
Tired of paying聽a $2.50 鈥渃onvenience fee鈥� for using an ATM that鈥檚 not in your bank鈥檚聽network?聽Use an app like聽聽to find a branch ATM. If you can鈥檛 find an ATM near you for a free cash withdrawal, no worries: Plenty of stores will give you cash back with no fee when you make a purchase.
15. Free information
Use the search feature on your smartphone, or聽text a business name to G-O-O-G-L-E, and you鈥檒l get the number texted back. You can also dial聽free 411聽(1-800-Free411). The results are sponsored by companies (you鈥檒l have to listen to a 10-second ad), but it鈥檚 free.
16. Free scholarship search
Plenty of websites offer free searches for scholarships, such as聽Fastweb. There鈥檚 even a company called聽Free Scholarship Searches聽that offers links to 40 websites that offer free scholarship searches.
17. Free baggage
My wife and I went to Europe for 10 days with just one carry-on each. If we can do it, so can you. But if you insist on checking a bag, try to fly with the only two airlines that allow聽one free checked bag:聽Southwest and聽JetBlue. And avoid the two that slap consumers in the face by聽charging for聽carry-ons:聽Spirit and Allegiant.
Need to check and need to fly an airline that charges? Delta, United, and American all offer聽credit cards聽that include checked-bag fee waivers for cardholders and, in some cases, their companions.
18. Free entertainment
As we point out in聽19 Tips to Save on Entertainment, your local library,聽parks, and universities聽offer lots of free fun, from books to plays to concerts. Join email lists to see what鈥檚 up. And of course, there鈥檚 the Internet, offering free games as well as articles. Just go to the website of your favorite news source.
Volunteering doesn鈥檛 cost a dime and can pay off for both you and your community. Local animal shelters, home-building groups, shelters, and food banks are always looking for volunteers. And check out volunteer opportunities at local festivals and events. By volunteering, you get to go to the event free.
19. Free water
While technically not free, tap water is about as close as you can get. If you鈥檙e concerned about water quality, buy a filter. But don鈥檛 ever pay for water at a convenience store.
20. Free telephone calls
Always calling a loved one long-distance? If you both get something like聽Skype, you can talk all you want without paying a dime.聽And with a service like Google Voice, you can get all of your cell phone calls free too.
21. Free everything else
You have something you don鈥檛 want, but it鈥檚 too valuable to throw away. You might donate it to charity, but you also might give it away at sites like聽Craigslist聽or聽Freecycle, a nonprofit set up to help you find free stuff and keep it out of landfills. From used furniture to sport equipment, you鈥檒l be amazed at what people give away.
Bottom line? While the best things in life are always free, so is lots of other stuff.聽If you want to find some extra money in your budget, stop paying for things you could have for nothing.
Stacy Johnson is the founder and CEO of聽, a consumer/personal finance TV news feature that airs in about 80 cities as well as around the Web. This column first appeared in Money Talks News.
