Midweek Freebies, Samples, & Coupons 3/3/10
Sorry things have been a bit slow around here lately, there’s a ton of things I’ve had going on besides Thrifty 20 Something (including a new project which may be of interest to the readers here, so stay tuned…).
I will be posting more frequently over the upcoming weeks. For now, let’s check out some freebies to celebrate the middle of the week.
Freebies & Samples
- Crest 3D White Whitestrips
- Olay Total Effects Body wash
- Emergen-C Recipe Kit & Samples (Thanks Freebies 4 Mom)
- Emergen-C Sample (Thanks Freebies 4 Mom)
- Bounce 4 in 1 Dryer Sheets (Thanks Money Saving Mom!)
- Free MP3 Download of Alice’s Theme by Danny Elfman
- Download Angels & Airwaves’ new album LOVE for free
Passes for free screenings of Hot Tub Time Machine are still available, so catch it before it’s gone.
Coupons
It’s the beginning of the month, so there are new printable coupons and reset coupons available at Coupons.com, Redplum.com, and Smartsource.com.
Also, if you use UPromise, their eCoupons have reset as well, so make sure to activate those for passive savings.
Hot Tub Time Machine Free Screenings Still Available
It’s been about a month since I first posted about the Free Advanced Movie Screenings for Hot Tub Time Machine, but guess what, there are still screenings available! They’re adding new theaters, cities, and dates constantly, so if you haven’t gotten a chance to see John Cussack’s new movie for free, then you should check it out.
Eventful still has tickets available, but if the screening you’re interested in is full, you may want to go check FilmMetro’s site. I went on there this morning and was able to get tickets for one of the Hot Tub Time Machine screenings tonight that was full on eventful.
At this point, there seem to be screenings available up through mid-March.
If this curiously name movie has piqued your attention, you may want to check out the plot description and trailer.
Free Mp3 Album Download: Angels & Airwave’s “Love”
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone. I know it’s a fake holiday that most people loathe (though I don’t know why with all this awesome chocolate), but let’s celebrate today with a free album download!
Angels & Airwaves has released their new album “Love,” and they’re giving it away as a free download. The songs are all in mp3 format in a zip file.
I downloaded it earlier today and I’ve only had a chance to listen to a few of the songs, and they’re great. You should definitely check it out since it’s free!
Here’s the track listing:
1. Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce
2. The Flight of Apollo
3. Young London
4. Shove
5. Epic Holiday
6. Hallucinations
7. The Moon-Atomic (…Fragments and Fictions)
8. Clever Love
9. Soul Survivor (…2012)
10. Letters to God, Part II
11. Some Origins of Fire
If you enjoy the album, consider making a donation to the band.
Tax Returns Done Cheaply or Free Online
This is not tax advice. I am not a tax professional.
Okay, now that we got that out of the way, tax season is here! I personally am not a fan, and every year, as soon as I have all my forms, I do my taxes ASAP just to get it over with. The tricky part is finding a way to do it for free, but so far I’ve managed to do that every year.
If all you have to deal with are some W-2s, then you basically get the pick of the litter from free online services. I’ll run through all the options, including the free ones and and the most basic. Your cheapest option is to do it online yourself. Now, if you have a complicated a return and feel unsure about it, I definitely recommend having a professional do your return so it’s done correctly.
Don’t forget to network and talk to friends and family. If there’s someone close to you who is a CPA or works for a tax or accounting company, they may be able to do it for free or give you some sort of discount.
Most of the following companies will let you do your federal tax return for free, but then will charge a small free to file your state tax return. If your state offers free e-file, you may be able to take the numbers from your federal return and file the state by yourself. Find out if your state has free e-file.
TaxAct
I used TaxAct last year, and I love it. They offer a free federal edition, which asks you questions in plain English, which makes the process much easier. I believe most people with income under $50K should qualify for the free edition, though I couldn’t find specifics on the site. The online deluxe version is only $9.95.
If you use the free edition, the state return it $14.95. For the deluxe online edition, it’s an additional $8. (I would recommend filing the state yourself for free, if you can).
Complete Tax
CompleteTax
has several options as well. Their free options supports 1040EZ and EITC, and anyone single or married filing jointly without children or dependents. Their Basic level is $9.95, which supports any 1040 form, dependents, and itemized deductions, and there are two more levels after that for those with investments or businesses.
Now their State returns are $29.95–definitely not the best deal. But again, you may want to try to file that yourself if you can.
TurboTax
I’ve used TurboTax in the past, and their software is really easy to use, but not as cheap as some of the companies I’ve already listed. Their free edition covers a lot of forms for simple tax returns. Their next level, Basic, costs $14.95 and is good for mortgages, childcare expenses, and charitable donations.
Their state is $27.95, a little less than CompleteTax, but more than TaxAct.
H&R Block
H&R Block has their own at home software, and it includes a free option. Their free option will not prepare returns with self employment, stock transactions, rental property, farm or K_I income. The next level is Deluxe, which costs $29.95, which is recommended as best for investors/homeowners.
Each state return is $29.95.
This is not a comprehensive list of all the places that offer free online tax return services. The IRS has compiled a list that you may want to check out if none of the options suit you. I’d also love to hear what tax services you’ve used in the past and plan to use this year.
Free Movie Screening: Hot Tub Time Machine
All right, I admit it, I am in love with John Cusack, and the premise of this movie seems pretty epic. So I was excited to see that Eventful is doing tons of free screenings for this movie across the US and Canada.
Hot Tub Time Machine stars the wonderful John Cusack, Lizzy Caplan, Rob Cordry, and more. The plot description, via IMDB: After a night of drinking Red Bull and vodkas, a group of guys travel back in time to when they were younger cads. See. Epic. I’ll include the trailer at the end of this post.
Now how Eventful is doing it, is you can volunteer to host a free screening, or just sign up to attend. A lot of the cities already have hosts, but there still seem to be plenty of passes available.
I would list all the cities, but there’s 50 of them up there now. I don’t know if more cities will be added, but more screenings are being added daily. Check out the list. It’s good to note that some of the cities include other nearby cities. For example, when I clicked on Chicago, it included screenings in Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Elmhurst, and Woodridge. So the number of cities is epic. Some of the screenings in the larger cities are full.
To sign up, select a city and click on a screening. It will give you an option to become a host or attend a screening, if slots are still available. Fill out your info, and you’ll receive ticket info via email. Each pass is good for two people.
Now, I don’t know how overbooked these screenings will be, so get there early!
If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.
Trailer:
Free Advanced Screening: HBO Movie Temple Grandin
This screening is a little bit different. It’s for the new HBO movie Temple Grandin, which will premiere on HBO on February 6th at 8PM.
The movie stars Claire Daines and Catherine O’Hara.
The plot summary of “Temple Grandin” according to IMDB:
A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of top scientists in humane livestock handling.
This is a great chance to see the movie early, or just see the movie if you don’t have HBO.
The screenings will be Tuesday, February 2nd in the following cities:
- Atlanta
- Boston
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Philadelphia
- San Francisco
- Washington, DC
To sign up for passes, sign up at the website and select the city you want. If you win the free tickets, you’ll receive an email with your ticket and instructions for the screening.
Now, this is an Entertainment Weekly screening, so it should be reasonably easy to get tickets for it, but these screenings are always WAY overbooked. You should probably plan on being there about 2 hours early.
If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.
Tickets for free screenings of Crazy Heart are still available in select cities.
Merry Christmas! Get Your Free MP3s
Merry Christmas all you Christmas-y people out there.
Since it’s now Christmas Day, that means the last of the 25 free Christmas songs on Amazon
If you want to know more about this free music and how you can get other free music from Amazon, check out my original post.
Free Advanced Movie Screening: Crazy Heart
Let’s start this week off right with a new movie screening.
This is for Fox Searchlight’s new film Crazy Heart. It stars Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
The plot summary via IMDB: Bad Blake (Jeff Bridges) is a broken-down, hard-living country music singer who’s had way too many marriages, far too many years on the road and one too many drinks way too many times. And yet, Bad can’t help but reach for salvation with the help of Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), a journalist who discovers the real man behind the musician.
This film is already getting a lot of buzz with two Golden Globe nominations, including one for Jeff Bridges and another for Best Original song. I will include the trailer at the bottom of this post.
Cities currently available are:
- Austin
- Baltimore
- Chicago
- Dallas
- Houston
- Oklahoma City
- Philadelphia
- Pheonix
- San Francisco
- Washington DC
Dozens more cities are supposed to be added through the middle of January, so keep checking back for yours.
This is a Fox Searchlight screening, so it’s the usual drill: select your city and fill out your info. You’ll receive an email, which you should print out and bring with you to the theater since it will be your pass. With the nominations and everything, I expect these screenings will be popular, so make sure to get there early! You don’t want to end up like me, and have the theater fill up.
Check out the trailer:
If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.
Free Advanced Movie Screening: It’s Complicated
You’ll want to hurry to try to snag one of these passes. Originally passes were posted for a ton of cities and then they were gone before I could even post about it. 50 more cities were added today.
This film is already getting a lot of buzz. It’s Complicated is the newest film by director and screenwriter Nancy Meyers. It stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, and a ton of other great actors. Plot description via IMDB: During his son’s college graduation, Jane hooks up with her ex-husband, Jake, who’s married to a younger woman. As if being your ex’s mistress isn’t tough enough, Jane also finds herself drawn to Adam, a smitten architect. I will include the trailer below.
All screenings are Monday, December 21st.
The US & Canadian cities available at the time of posting are:
- Burlington
- Calgary
- Charleston
- Colorado Springs
- Dayton
- Des Moines
- Eatontown
- Edmonton
- Flint
- Fresno
- Ft. Myers
- Grand Rapids MI
- Greenville
- Hamilton
- Harrisburg
- Hartford
- Honolulu
- Jacksonville
- Kansas City
- Little Rock
- Madison
- Memphis
- Norfolk VA
- Omaha
- Ottawa
- Pittsburgh
- Providence
- Reno
- Richmond
- Salt Lake City
- Seattle
- Westchester
- Wilkes Barre PA
- Winipeg
To sign up: go to Universal Picture’s website. Select the city you want, fill in your info, and hit RSVP.
If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.
25 Free Christmas Song MP3 Downloads from Amazon
Sorry I have no posted in awhile. I was fortunate to get a temporary job for the next few months and had training this week. So if there’s a lack of posts here and there, it’s because I am out there being responsible and making money, not being lazy.
How about some fun music freebies to kick of this Friday?
I haven’t posted about this yet, but it’s been going on since the beginning of December. Amazon is doing a promotion called 25 Days of Free
In addition to the 25 free songs, there are two Christmas sampler albums available for free download right now as well: X5 Free Classical Sampler
If you want more free music, or just aren’t in a Christmas-y mood, or don’t even celebrate Christmas, then you can still get a free MP3 fix at Amazon. Check out all the free MP3s
Now, if this isn’t enough festive music for you, buy more holiday music at Amazon
Still looking for the perfect gift for that impossible to shop for friend or relative? Think about an Amazon Gift Card
If you know of any other holiday related freebies, feel free to post them in the comments, including links to your own blog.
