26 fabulous freebies

By Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine

Cheapskate, skinflint, tightwad -- whatever you want to call us, we hate spending money and love finding a good deal. If we can save a few bucks, we're happy. And if we can get something for nothing, we're in heaven.

Even in these days of $400 haircuts and million-dollar starter homes, you can find plenty of things for nothing. We've pulled together a list of 26 of our favorite freebies, and they're not junk. These are valuable goods and services you'd actually want, from free music and movies to legal advice and financial services.

• Tell us: What's your best something-for-nothing bargain?

We've laid out our list in text format below, or you can check them out in a slide show.

When free means free

1. Free (and legal) music: You can find a smattering of free music tracks online at Amazon.com, CNet's Download.com and Walmart.com. But listening to Internet radio is the best way to get your free groove on. At Slacker.com, for example, you can listen to dozens of genre stations and thousands of artist-specific stations for free. Or you can be your own DJ and build a customized station.

2. Free shipping. Many merchants offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount. But a few Web retailers offer this freebie no matter how much you spend. These include Alyssa Basket Designs (special-occasion gifts), Bellacor (lighting and home furnishings), Blue Nile (jewelry), Shopbop.com (clothes) and Zappos.com (shoes).

3. Free PC protection. Guard against spyware, viruses and other invaders with free software defenders:

• To annihilate spyware, Microsoft Windows Defender.

• To kill viruses, AOL Internet Security Central.

4. Free books, music and movies. If you haven't been to the public library since you graduated from high school, dust off your card. It's your ticket to mounds of free books, magazines, compact discs and movies. Many libraries also offer free lectures, book readings and community clubs to residents.

5. Free credit reports. You're entitled to one by law once a year from each of the three main credit bureaus (see "How to get a credit report for free"). Go to AnnualCreditReport.com to learn what lenders can see about your credit history.

6. Free e-mail. No more fretting over someone sending you a huge e-mail file. Free accounts from Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo now give you at least 2 gigabytes of storage.

Sure, you get an e-mail address from your Internet service provider. But it's nice to have the freedom to change your ISP without worrying about alerting all of your contacts about a change in your e-mail address.

7. Free ATMs. A buck or two here and there may not seem like a big deal, but if you're frequenting ATMs outside your bank's network, the surcharges can add up quickly. Get money from an ATM that belongs to a surcharge-free network such as Allpoint and MoneyPass, which have thousands of cash machines nationwide.

8. Free money for grad school. A year of graduate school costs, on average, anywhere from $17,000 for a master's degree at a public university to more than $56,000 at a private dental school. But free money abounds, from grants and scholarships to assistantships and fellowships (see "Free money for grad school").

9. Free college courses. Colleges and universities worldwide, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Law School, are posting course materials on the Internet. You won't get credit toward a degree, but you can pursue an interest or sharpen your skills.

10. Free furniture. You'll find all sorts of stuff for free on your local Craigslist and Freecycle Network sites, including couches, chairs, entertainment centers and tables. Many are in heavily used condition and will work fine to furnish a dorm or first apartment. (One caveat: Though free or cheap mattresses abound in classified listings, you should probably steer clear for sanitary reasons.)

Keep your eyes peeled for diamonds in the rough. We spied a free pool table in good condition in Baltimore and a free one-year-old TV in San Francisco in perfect working order.

11. Free money. You have to buy groceries and gas anyway, so why not use those purchases to get a little more green in your wallet? Sign up for a rewards credit card and get free money, gift certificates, airline miles or other perks. (Of course, it's only free if you pay the balance in full each month without incurring interest charges.)

For example, spend $500 per month on qualified purchases with a card that pays 5% and you'll get $25 back. That's $300 of free money in a year. Sweet.

12. Free kids' meals. Kids eat free at Denny's and Lone Star Steakhouse every Tuesday night (and some Saturdays at Denny's) with a paying adult. Other restaurants offer kids-eat-free deals at select locations. You can search for eateries in your area at KidsEatFree.com.

13. Free budgeting. Looking for help keeping tabs on your budget? Track your spending through the free service at Wesabe.com. You enter your accounts to organize your spending into different categories on one convenient site.

Wesabe will also help you pinpoint areas where you could improve and lets you get feedback from other Wesabe users, all while protecting your passwords, identity and other sensitive information.

• More free budgeting advice: Managing Your Budget Decision Center

14. Free phone calls. Save on your long-distance bill and chat via computer with free software from Skype. You won't pay a dime for any call to another Skype user. You can call nonusers' land lines, too, for about $3 a month.

Continued: 12 more freebies

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