Using Mailing Lists to Get FREE Stuff

Welcome to {Part 2} of my series, “How to Get FREE Stuff”… First, I showed you how I use survey sites to earn free cash, gift cards – and even free full size products to review in my home. No, you won’t get rich, but yes it does do a ton to help your family budget! And, today’s tip will totally help you in the budget department too – in a ton of different ways. I’m going to show you how joining brand reward programs and signing up for mailing lists can save you hundreds of dollars, and load you up with new freebies every week! Check it out…

How to get FREE stuff using newsletters

This is something that I started doing a few years ago, and I get so many great offers, coupons, and freebies this way. I know that some people say, “Why would I want to sign up for all that marketing junk?” Well, because I like to be “marketed to.” Lol. Seriously – I want to be enticed to try your brand new products, whether it’s a coupon or a sample. I want to be in the group of people that brands send their best stuff too. And I love getting to try the newest products before anyone else, save a ton of money when shopping, and get random cool perks free. So – “That’s why I want to sign up for all that marketing junk,” lol.

Most companies send you out a weekly or monthly email newsletter, filled with great stuff. You’ll almost always get new coupons to print, usually higher-value ones than you’ll find in the paper or other places. {Looking for more coupons? Check out my giant coupon site resource too.} And, most newsletters reward their subscribers with their best stuff – you can request free samples, free coupons, enter exclusive giveaways, and more. {Because heck, if you were a brand, who would you give your cool free stuff too? The people that love you enough to subscribe, right?} Plus, I love seeing new ways to use products that we already love, and the newsletters usually have fun tips, recipes, and ideas to solve the chaos of my busy-mom life :)

Many companies invite their newsletter subscribers to join consumer panels too. Many times these panels are not open to the public, they are exclusive to people who have already shown their interest and loyalty to the brand by signing up for their newsletter. Makes sense, right? These panels usually involve doing a few surveys or activities, and reward you with free product or other perks. {Love sharing your thoughts in surveys? Learn how to make money at it, and how to get free products to test too.}

Another benefit – my very favorite! – is that by filling out your mailing information when signing up for a newsletter, you’ll sometimes get random goodies in the mail! If Betty Crocker comes out with a new cookie mix, they might send me a free sample, or a coupon to try it out. The unexpected surprises like this are the best!

How do I get started?

A great way to get started is to take a quick look through the house, and make a list of all of the brands that your family uses frequently. Then hop online, and use Google (or your Swag Bucks search bar if you’re smart and using that for more free stuff!) to seach for the brands. Almost all of them probably have a website with an option to sign up for their newsletters!

You can sign up for newsletters for products like Cheerios, Tide, or Dove…. And you can also sign up for brand newsletters like General Mills, P&G, or Unilever. There are also places like Viewpoints or Vocalpoint that have amazingly fun offers to try out new products in their newsletters.

Now that you know what kind of cool free stuff you can get, I’m sure you’re ready to sign up for some newsletters, right? And of course I’ve made it easy for you to get started by putting together a list of some of my favorites! But remember, almost EVERY company has some type of newsletter, (some better than others) – so search out newsletters for your OWN families favorite brands too. You’ll love it.

My Favorite Food Newsletters

Vocalpoint: Check out all of the great articles, message boards, coupons, and free samples.
Campbells: Links to TONS of other brands, coupons, and special offers. Campbells is about WAY more than just soup :)
Kellogg’s: Get exclusive coupons and earn rewards from your favorite Kellogg’s® brands. Click Here. They have lots of great stuff going on – and, I happen to be in love with several of their products, lol.
FreeFlys: This isn’t a brand exactly – but, they have new offers every single day – great coupon round-ups, and freebie and sample round-ups too. You’ll always learn about the best mailing lists to get on with them – this was one of the first sites I joined, to learn about other cool sites to sign up with!
ReadySetEat: Tons of your favorite brands are included in this newsletter. You’ll find tons of easy recipes, coupons, and more samples too.
Bisquick: Amazing ideas, cool coupons, and great offers – Bisquick can make meals all day long, so don’t think it’s just a “pancake product” – :) We make casseroles, biscuits, breads, and more.
Kraft First Taste: Samples, House Parties {these are things where they send you coupons and products, enough to do a small party with your friends. All you have to do in return is share a few pics on their site, and maybe give some feedback!} coupons, and tons more.
MyInsite: From General Mills – you’ll find lots of coupons, recipes, and cool freebie offers. Usually cereal type products, but other stuff from them too.
Betty Crocker: Click up in the top right to join their club, and sign up for some newsletters. This is one of my favorites – I don’t get too many freebies, but I get loads of really high-value coupons, and SO many fun recipes and party ideas.
Box Tops: Help your school earn cash and rewards by signing up for Box Tops for Education – Registration is free, you get access to cool coupons and samples, AND you’re earning the school free money too!
MySavings.com: This is another one where you’ll find a big resource of cool stuff each day. I find a lot of freebies this way, that come from newsletter or mailing list sign ups. So I get the goodie, and then sign up so that next time I get my own notice in my email too.
P&G Everyday Solutions: Opportunity to request free sample packs once each quarter, which are awesome. You want to be sure to watch for the emails, to make sure you get in asap as they announce it, so you get more stuff. This is a great site for moms too, since they share tons of great tips.
Tablespoon: General Mills products, includes recipes and coupons. Lots of big brand names – you’ll love it.
Pillsbury: I get some of my absolute favorite recipes on here. Their newsletters rock! They also do a free recipe calendar each year for subscribers – Like, gorgeous pics, big full size, and amazing stuff. They have lots of cool offers each week in their newsletter, so be sure to open ’em each time!
Dinner Made Easy: Betty Crocker products, simple meal ideas, giveaways, and great ideas to solve your dinnertime dilemas.
Eat Better America: Healthy menu ideas, coupons, and free samples of healthy products. Great option if you’re looking for most diet-friendly fare.
Cheerios: Big giveaway right now, plus tons of contests, samples, games, and coupons. We eat loads of Cheerios in my house!

Photo Company Newsletters

Shutterfly: Free offers, coupons and discounts, amazing project ideas, and more. Once you have this for awhile – especially if you do an order every once in a while, you’ll get great free offers. Things like free prints, free photo books, holiday cards, and more.
Snapfish: Very similar to Shutterfly, plus – Get 50 FREE prints when you join, plus lots of discount offers and deals.
York Photo: Get 60 Free prints with code: FREESIXTY. Just pay the shipping. You’ll also get an additional 40 Free prints just for registering. Click Here.

Household Products

Home Made Simple: TONS of great stuff!! Plus they send out big coupon books every month or so, in the mail, for things like Swiffer, Febreeze, Cascade, Dawn, Mr. Clean, etc.
Tide: Special offers and promos, samples, and more. And they come out with new products a lot.
Dawn: Coupons and offers, lots of tips and ideas.
Febreze: Discount coupons, freebies, rebates and more. {I can’t even tell you how much I rely on their products, with a very bad dog living in my house, lol.}
Purex: Sign up in the top right little email subscribe tab to get their offers – soooo much good stuff. And, you can also check out their Purex Insiders {bottom left side little link says “join here”} group if you have a blog or other influence, to get free full size products.
Right @ Home: These are for SC Johnson products – sign up on the right side, and get their awesome newsletters. This is another one that often offers up BIG samples to subscribers!

Best Baby Newsletters

Johnson’s Baby Products: Helpful baby advice, lots of coupons, and special deals and offers. Plus, who doesn’t love Johnson’s, right?
Earths Best: Tons of great offers and ideas, coupons, and fun sample events. The sample events are more of those “house party” style events, where you get great stuff to share with all of your mom friends too.
HappyBaby: Coupons and offers, big giveaways, fun stuff, samples, plus check me out on the partners page :)
Sprout: Coupons, deals, promotions and more on some really amazing healthy and natural baby and kids products.
Pampers: Join now & get 100 Free Points. Plus coupons, deals, and giveaways. You can get things like free photo books, children’s books or toys, and more. (Read my list of bonus points in this post.)
Big List: I also have a big list of how to get free stuff for babies – check it out for more cool lists to get onto.

I hope you find some newsletters on the list that you LOVE, and I can’t wait for you to start getting some fun FREE stuff! Look forward to new recipes and tips, exclusive offers and surprise samples, new product information and promotions, and great giveaways. Seriously – this is such a simple way to get more stuff for free, get cool tips and awesome ideas, and coupons to save big bucks.

If you have any favorite newsletters, PLEASE share in the comments! Remember, this weeks series is all about you guys, and I’d love for you all to share your ideas, tips, and suggestions.

You can check out {Part 1} of this series: How to Earn Free Money & Products with Survey Sites, and see the Intro to Getting Free Stuff post for all of the links. And remember to share this with your friends too – Use the social buttons to share to Facebook, Twitter, Stumble Upon, or of course everyone’s fave – PIN IT! :)