Watch Streaming TV Online for Free: Hulu
Hulu is not a big secret. For those of you that are new to it, it’s basically a website that features a variety of full length television shows and movies, plus other exclusive clips and content streaming for free. It’s all free because it’s advertisement based.
There’s not much more too it. Just go to the site, pick something to watch, and there you go. You are required to create an account to access age restricted material, but that’s about it.
Popular shows on Hulu right now include Lost, The Office, Arrested Development, & Family Guy. They’re all streaming and they’re all free.
The content is always changing, so just because an episode of a show or a movie is on there now doesn’t mean it will be there forever. Also new content is added frequently, so just because your favorite show isn’t available right now doesn’t mean it won’t be up eventually.
We don’t have cable, but we don’t miss out on our favorite shows. We still watch things like The Daily Show and The Colbert Report and we don’t have to spend a dime to see them. We even watch them on our own TV, thanks to the set up I’ll be blogging about later this week.
One of the things I love best about Hulu is it’s RSS feeds. It has a ton of them so you can stay up to date on shows or videos recently added to the site, or even just subscribe to a specific show so you know when the new episode is up (super helpful if you’re a little bit forgetful sometimes).
This is just one of the many websites I utilize for free TV, and I’ll be posting about another one tomorrow. Don’t forget to check back then or subscribe to my RSS Feed so you don’t miss out!
Free Samples from Freeflys
We all know I love free samples. I’m constantly looking for new ways to find out about them, whether they be blogs to follow or websites to check. I want to know about every freebie out there so I never miss a single one.
Recently I discovered the website Freeflys. Basically, they just round up all the available free samples so you can access them in one place. It is completely free, but you have to sign-up to access them. The sign up page is a little obnoxious because you have to go through a bunch of offers (they have to make their money somehow), but you don’t have to opt it to them if you’re not interested.
The website is nicely organized into categories, and each category has an RSS feed that you can subscribe to, so you don’t even have to visit the website everyday to check for new freebies, you’ll automatically be notified when I new one is posted.
Here are the samples I found on Freeflys today. Some of these are samples that I have listed before, but they’re still available so if you haven’t signed up for them yet, make sure you do it soon.
- Honey Nut Cheerios
- Total Blueberry Pomegranate Cereal
- Fiber One Honey Cluster Cereal & Fiber One Oats & Chocolate Bar
- Splenda No Calorie Sweetner
- SoftSheen Carson Hair Products
- SoftSheen Carson Strengthening Oil Moisturizer & Conditioner
- Carmex Chapstick (50 winners each week)
- Healthifeet Foot Cream
- Zunspot
- Lacoste Perfume
- Murad Acne Complex
- Emergenc (click “Free Samples”)
- Naturemade Triple Flex
- Flixsticks
- Playtex Sport
- Kotex Ulra Thin Overnight Pads
- Coromega
- Dentaburst
- Rachel Ray Nutrish Dog Food
- Dinovite for Pets
- Flush Doggy Biodegradable Flushable Poop Bags
Ditching Cable TV for Free Internet TV
Did you know that the boyfriend and I don’t have cable? We don’t have satellite either. We have never paid for TV. Never. It isn’t packaged in with our rent and we’re not illegally stealing cable either.
Everything we do is legal, free, and very thrifty. I’m going to share how we do it for you in my series “Cable TV for Free” starting next week. So stayed tune to learn how we do it, so then you can do it and saves tons of money every year.
Feel free to subscribe to my RSS feed so you don’t miss a single post.
Friday Freebies 9-28-09
The week is almost over, so let’s celebrate with some freebies.
Of course, it is Free Chocolate Friday, so don’t forget to go sign up for a coupon for free chocolate from Mars. This promotion is coming to an end in about a month, so make sure you take advantage of it. Get all the details here.
Walmart.com Samples:
- Connections from Hallmark Greeting Card
- Fancy Feast Appetizers for Cats
- NoDoz
- Emergen-C Multi-Vitamin
- Nicorette Gum
- Prilosec OTC
Other Freebies:
- Download 16 Harlequin Romance eBooks
- Free Digilake Computer Mouse
- Mary Kay Fragrance Sample
- Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix Bar and Granola Nut Clusters (newsletter sign-up)
- 4 Pack Love Condoms (more free condoms)
- Honey Nut Cheerios
Free Magazine Subscriptions (Thanks to Mashup Mom)
Don’t forget that you can still get the free $5 in Amazon MP3 credits here.
Save Money Dining Out: Restaurant.com
Let me tell you a secret: the boyfriend and I love to eat out. We like going out and enjoying different restaurants, different foods, different atmospheres. Where we live in Chicago there are tons of family owned restaurants and little holes in the wall with lots of charm and great food.
Eating out is expensive. When I was growing up my family hardly ever ate out (it was hard to do cheaply with two adults and four kids). I learned that eating out is a treat, not a necessity. It’s much cheaper to cook at home.
If I was asked to make a list of the easiest ways to save money, do not eat out at restaurants would be near the top of the list. The boyfriend and I do eat out, but only on occasion since it is so expensive. I’ve recently discovered something that’s going to make this whole dining out experience much cheaper.
Enter Restaurant.com. The main goal of this site is to save you money while dining out. How great is that? Basically they sell $25 gift cards to select restaurants for $10. That’s like getting $15 of food for free–over 50% off. Their Dinner of the Month
club can save you 60% or more AND earn you free gift certificates.
I searched for participating restaurants and there’s almost 100 available within five miles of my apartment. I can’t wait to give this deal a try. The main problem will be picking a restaurant from all those choices.
To make this even better, they’re running a promotion right now where you can buy $25 gift certificates for only $2. Yes, you read that right: only $2. Those savings are huge! Use the code TASTE at check out. This offer is valid through 8/31/09.
So if you’re going to eat out anyway, whether it’s a weekly thing or just a special occasion treat like us, you should really give Restaurant.com a try. It will save you major money. Just make sure you read all the rules for each restaurant: many of them have minimum purchase requirements, you can only apply the gift certificates when you’re dining in, etc. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Free Admission on Museum Day September 26
I know I’m always going on about how much I love museums and how to get the good museum discounts and how to even get in for free. Well here’s another great way to visit select museums for free.
Saturday, September 26, 2009 is Museum Day. Thanks to Smithsonian Magazine, you can download an Admission Card which gives you two free general admission to select Museums nationwide.
Search for participating museums here. This is a Saturday, which is great, since sometimes it’s hard to find museum promotions like this on a Saturday. Definitely check to see what’s available in your area.
There’s a museum just down the street from us which is covered under this offer, so I’m glad we won’t have to go far from home to take advantage of this great freebie!
Free Big Kahuna Reef Game & $5 Amazon MP3 Credits
I just discovered this via Coupongal.net and I have to share this with my readers, because it’s a great deal and absolutely free.
Go to Amazon and order Big Kahuna Reef
Go through the checkout process ( you will not be charged for anything).
You can download the game to your computer (it is free after all), but you don’t have to to receive the credit.
A few minutes later you’ll receive a confirmation email and then you’ll receive an email about a promotional credit.
Here’s what mine said about the deal:
Dear Amazon.com Customer,
As someone who recently purchased a qualifying video game item offered in the Amazon.com Video Games store, you have automatically qualified for $5 worth of any Amazon MP3 downloads. Use your credit toward the purchase of a full MP3 album or a single song.
Redeem your $5 credit by simply clicking the “Buy” button on any Amazon MP3 detail page. The expiration date of this credit is September 30, 2009. Each time you make an Amazon MP3 purchase through September 30, 2009, we will automatically apply your promotional credit until you have used its full $5 value. Your credit card will not be charged for Amazon MP3 purchases made through September 30, 2009 until your full $5 credit has been used.
You can read more about the promotion here
Reducing Air Conditioning Use to Save Money
Since the move, I’m back in an apartment with air conditioning, which is great. Previously I was devising all kinds of ways to keep cool without air conditioning. Though I’m glad to have ac again, it’s addicting and costly. Ours is supposedly energy efficient, but we haven’t gotten our first electricity bill yet to determine exactly how efficient.
Luckily, it’s been a pretty mild summer here Chicago. Before yesterday I didn’t turn the a/c on for 4 days. I had it on for a couple hours yesterday afternoon and evening, and now it’s off again and hopefully will stay off for the next day or two.
Sometimes I wish I could leave it off completely, but I have a pet chinchilla, and they are very temperature sensitive, so I have to keep it below 74 degrees Fahrenheit at all times. It takes a little work to keep the apartment cool and reduce the amount of air conditioning I use, but it’s totally worthwhile because it saves money and energy, which is good for me and the environment.
Here’s what I do:
Buy a thermometer
Weather reports aren’t necessarily the most reliable stats on the block. I can search for the temperature for Chicago, but am really getting the temperature at Midway Airport, which is about 10-15 miles away, and when you’re dealing with Lake Michigan, that can make the temperature a couple degrees off.
For some people this may not matter, but for me it’s essential (and convenient) to know what the actual outside temperature is where I live. I bought a great indoor/outdoor thermometer with a remote sensor
With just a glance I can compare the indoor and outdoor temperatures and automatically know when it’s cool enough to shut off the air conditioning and open the windows.
Turn off the AC at Night
Even if it’s too warm during the day, most nights I can turn off the AC and open the windows to let mother nature cool down the apartment. We use fans to circulate air through the apartment, though some nights it gets cool enough to just have open windows. If we really need to suck air in or out, we do have an inexpensive Holmes Twin Window Fan
In the morning I leave the windows open until it starts warming up (I also check the forecast for the day just to see if it may be cool enough to go sans ac altogether). I shut all the windows (and sometimes the door to where the pets are, to keep the cool air in there) and don’t turn on the air conditioning until the inside temperature gets too close to 74. (This works right now because I am home during the day. If my schedule changes, then we fortunately have a programmable thermostat I can set, but I don’t think it’s quite as efficient as I am). I always go off of the temperature in the animal room. If they’re at 72 and the living room is 76, then I just don’t bother with the ac.
Run the Heat Making Stuff at Night
When my air conditioning is off and the windows are open that’s the time that I turn on the lights, run the dishwasher, run the washer/dryer, and use the oven. During the day I try not to do too much cooking (sandwiches, salads, and fruit make great, healthy lunches), but open a window to counteract any heat that may come from the oven. Believe me, this does make a difference, even if it’s a subtle one.
Close the West Facing Blinds in the Evening
We’ve got a lot of windows in our new place, and it’s wonderful because there’s so much natural light that we don’t need to turn on any of our lights until about 8PM. That alone is saving us on electricity costs. The majority of our windows are north facing, but our living room has huge bay windows facing due West and once the sun starts to set, our living room becomes an oven.
Luckily there are some trees and other buildings near us that block out some of those sun rays, but usually there’s about a half an hour or so when we just close all the east facing blinds until the rays dissipate. It helps keep our living room cooler, and save on air conditioning costs.
These are the basic ways I’m cutting our a/c costs. I’d love to hear what you do.
Free Sample Round Up 8-24-09
Here’s the samples I’ve seen around the web today:
- No-Doz
- Dentaburst
- Almond Snack Tin (Short survey)
- Total Blueberry Pomegranate cereal
- Astroglide Natural (more free lube samples)
Thrifty Night In: Board Game Night with a Twist
Board games have become extremely popular since the economic downturn. With astronomical movie prices and less “fun money” available because of higher bills and such, a lot of families and even 20 somethings are opting not to go out, but instead stay in and do things for free. Almost everyone has a closet full of dusty boardgames (or can “borrow” some from their parents’ house). A board game, combined with the right people, is basically an awesome night in a card board box.
The boyfriend and I wanted to have a housewarming party, but didn’t like the idea of dropping a lot of dough on appetizers, booze, and entertainment. We did a little brainstorming and decided to combine two of our favorite things: board games and dips.
It’s pretty basic, but has the potential to be really amazing. This is a low cost party idea, for the host and the attendees. The main theme of the night, board games, is low cost in itself because we’re asking people to bring what they have on hand. For the dip portion, we just ask everyone to bring their own homemade dip. With an expected party of about 10 people, that gives 10 different dip options for everyone. By prompting them to bring homemade dips, that will save even more money.
Here are a few tips to throw your own, fun Board Game Night.
Thrifty Ways to Find Board Games
If you don’t have board games on hand, you probably don’t want to go blow a lot of money at Target or elsewhere to build up a collection.
Garage/yard sales and thrift stores are inexpensive ways to buy games. You do have to be careful about this because sometimes the games are missing pieces or what not, but sometimes it doesn’t matter too much depending on the game. For example if game A is missing some pawns, you could easily substitute from game B.
Ask your parents (or grandparent or aunts & uncles etc) if they have any board games you can have. If their kids are grown up or not using them, then they may as well pass them on to someone who will play them.
Make sure to ask your guests to bring their favorite games as well. If you only have 1 or 2 games, then you friends can fill in the gaps with the few they may have.
Building Your Own Game Collection
If you’ve had no luck with thrift stores or begging your relatives for games, you can cheaply build your own collection of games.
There are a few staples great to have on hand. A deck of cards is the most basic, versatile thing you can own. From Solitaire to Circle of Death, there’s a game for any size group. We got our deck at Jewel for 33 cents–very cheap.
Another recommendation is to get a few classic games like chess, checkers, etc. These cheapest way to get this is buy a game set. We bought something similar to this 10 Game Set
Keep your eyes open for sales, and when your favorite game is available at a reasonable price, then buy it. It’s a great investment.
Create Your Own Games
If you’re feeling creative, you can come up with your own games. I’m not saying you have to sit down and make a board game by hand–more power to you if you do! There are many simple games that require little or no cost to you.
Things like Pictionary, Charades, and Hang-man are great classic games that can thrive off of participant suggestions.
Create your own games or use clever mixer games, like those suggested by Divinedinnerparty.com (they even have printable .pdf versions of the games).
Add the Twist
Make it more than just a game night. Our twist for the party tonight is having everyone bring a dip. You can make it a potluck dinner, having each guest bring a dish, or a desert night. Ideas like that can provide your party with a lot of variety in terms of edibles and gives everyone an opportunity to try a variety of new things.
You can get even more creative. Add a theme for the night, like Westerns or Hollywood, and make people bring games or food that relate and dress up. Most of all just have fun. That’s the whole point!
