Updated 09/03/12

Welcome to our regularly updated freebies article. You’ve read our article on 50 ways to live for free, and now it’s time to apply some of those ideas to your everyday life. So we’re constantly scouting around for the best freebies, vouchers and coupons to take a bit of the squeeze off your purse and save you money for the important things.

Make sure you sign up to our free bargain alerts. You’ll receive the latest discounts and offers straight to your inbox every week.

Food & drink

• Free Tastecard trial
• Free drink at Marston’s pubs
• Free Yorkshire Tea
• Free Douwe Egberts coffee

Home & garden

• Free Persil dosing device
• Free light bulb
• Free block paving sealer

Health & beauty

• Free Oral-b sample
• Free baby products
• Free gym membership
• Free sample pack of Huggies DryNites

Books & magazines

• Free copies of The Week magazine – six issues
• Free WHSmith vouchers
• Free novels

Going out

• Free tickets for TV shows
• Free cinema tickets
• Free guide to free days out

Technology

• Free iPhone apps
• Free photo prints
• Free Wi-Fi access
• Free SIM cards
• Free DVDs

Miscellaneous

• Free cuddly toy
• Free fluffy bug!
• Free cat or dog food
• Freebies on Gumtree, Snaffleup, Freecycle and Craigslist
• Free phone directory enquiries
• Free discounts and vouchers

When you apply for a freebie the company will often ask for your email. It’s a good idea to set up an email specifically for freebies so you’re regular inbox isn’t flooded with advertisements. A postal address is required so samples can be sent to you.

Food & drink

Free Tastecard trial for 2 months

With a Tastecard you can eat at hundreds of restaurants UK wide with 50% off. It normally costs to sign up but you can get a no strings attached free two month trial. Just sign up  here.

FREE drink at Marston’s pubs

By completing a short form, you’ll receive a voucher to enjoy a drink on the house at your local Marston’s pub.

FREE Yorkshire Tea

Yorkshire Tea is giving away free samples of its famous brew.  Simply register for free as a ‘Friend of Yorkshire Tea’ and you can send samples to your friends.  Just make sure you get the tea back off them!

FREE Douwe Egberts coffee

Douwe Egberts are offering a free sample of their delicious Brazilian Samba coffee from the Inspirations range.  All you need to do is complete this form.  Lovely!

Home & garden

FREE Persil dosing device

Receive a free Persil dosing device (either a net, ball or scoop) when you fill in a short questionnaire.

FREE light bulb

Sign up to GoCarbonFree and you’ll receive a free energy-saving light bulb.  Registration only takes a minute, plus you’ll be doing your bit for the environment!

FREE block paving sealer

Get a free sample of block paving sealer from experts Resiblock and help protect your path or drive for nothing.

Health & beauty

Free Oral-B sample
Pick up your free sample from Oral B – try their new pro-expert toothpaste and see what all the fuss is about.

FREE baby products

Sign up with FreeParentStuff.co.uk to receive free baby products and emails for discounts and coupons. For parents of children from newborn to school-age.

FREE gym membership

Receive a free one-day guest membership for your local Fitness First club with no obligation to join. Simply fill in the short form on their website, wait to receive the one-day pass in the post and spend a day trying out their facilities and burning those calories rather than a hole in your wallet. Be aware, though, that they will try to pressure you into joining full time while you’re there.

Free pack of Huggies DryNites
Get a free sample of Huggies DryNites - just sign up here and they’ll be winging their way to you in no time.

Books & magazines

FREE copies of The Week magazine – six issues

Get six weeks’ quality reading worth £16.50 absolutely free by signing up to The Week magazine.  You’ll even get a free pen!  Once registered, you’ll receive six free copies, although you’ll need to cancel once the free trial‘s over or you’ll be charged for subsequent issues.

FREE WHSmith vouchers

Get a whole heap of WHSmith vouchers when you sign up to the free WHSmith Privilege Club. You will receive £20 worth of vouchers just for signing up, then a minimum of £10 in vouchers every month thereafter. The vouchers are split into four £5 vouchers which all require a minimum spend and can usually only be used on certain items. For example, you may receive a voucher that you can only redeem on stationery and requires you to spend at least £12.

Visit the site here to apply, then fill in your details and make sure you tick the appropriate boxes if you don’t want to receive any promotional information. Once you’ve registered you’ll receive an email with the vouchers attached which you can simply print off and hand over at the till.

FREE novels

Get two free Mills and Boon books, with a mystery gift, just by going on their site and entering in your details.  But careful, after receiving your freebies make sure to tell them you aren’t interested in subscribing or they’ll send you four more books at a cost of £3.69/each.

Not in the mood for a Mills & Boon bodice ripper? Don’t forget if you have an eReader (like Amazon’s Kindle) you can download hundreds of free eBooks (including classics such as Dracula or the stories of Sherlock Holmes) for free from sites such as Manybooks.net.

Going out

FREE tickets for TV shows

Many television companies offer free tickets to the recording of their programmes. The BBC tickets page has details of how to apply online for free tickets to shows such as A Question of Sport, while SRO Audiences gives you the chance to see programmes such as Loose Women and Dancing on Ice first hand.

FREE cinema tickets

Register with See Film First and you can have free movie tickets emailed directly to you.  All you have to do is put up with some promotional emails (so use a different email from your usual one) and you could be watching films before they are released.

FREE guide to free days out

Family Day Out UK is giving away free copies of its report on the top 50 Free Days Out – just enter your email address and they’ll whisk it over! A great cheat sheet for taking the kids out. To get your report, click here.

Technology

FREE iPhone apps

You can get paid-for apps for your iPhone for free by buying them through Truevoo then reviewing them for the site. When your review is uploaded they will send you back the cost of the app. Not bad!

FREE photo prints

If you sign up and share your photos online at Truprint they will give you twenty free prints to share with your friends and family. Also if you use good old-fashioned film, they will give you a new roll every time you get your photos developed with them.

FREE Wi-Fi access

Use the website free-hotspot to give you an impressive list of free wireless internet hotspots around the world. It’s also worth checking JiWire and My Hotspots, which offer a similar service.

FREE SIM cards

Never pay for a sim card again. Just head over to any large networks including o2, T-Mobile and Orange and claim your free sim cards.

FREE DVDs from LOVEFiLM

Get access to thousands of movies with LOVEFiLM’s 30-day free trial!  Make sure you cancel before the end of the trial period, though, or you’ll be charged.

Miscellaneous

FREE cuddly toy

Infant nutrition specialist Aptamil is giving away free polar bear toys when you sign up to their baby club.

FREE fluffy bug!

Fill in your name and address at Prizebug to get a cute free fluffy bug. Numbers are limited to two thousand and are sent on a first come first served basis, so don’t delay.

FREE cat or dog food

You can receive a free sachet of dog or cat food from Trophy Pet Foods. Offers are limited to one per pet for maximum three pets.

FREEBIES on Gumtree, Snaffleup, Freecycle and Craigslist

Gumtree: Just go to the website and under ‘Stuff for Sale’ click freebies for a list of free things in your area. You will have to collect the items but it’s a small price to pay for a free sofa or washing machine! Just click on the items you want then email the owners to organise a time to collect – but be quick as they tend to go quickly. You can also try posting an ad of your own saying what items you need and someone might get in touch.

Snaffleup: This is the newest free item site. It works exactly the same way as the others. List your items on the site and someone will pick them up for you. Or you go and pick up the items once you’ve emailed the person who is offering it. No money is allowed to change hands. You can register your postcode so the search prioritises items that are in your area. There are also other features – check them all out here. We’ve tried Snaffleup out and we got our hands on a huge TV within a couple of hours of emailing the person who was offering it. Brilliant!

Freecycle: This is another way to get free items that people are throwing out. Go the website where you sign up for free and join a Freecycle network near you. You can browse the networks by your region here. Once you become a member of a local group you can view the items being given away and post your own items. Everything posted must be free, legal and appropriate to all ages.

Craigslist: This is similar to the other two and lets you get your hands on stuff other people are getting rid of. Click on the Great Britain menu then choose your nearest city. Look on the ‘for sale’ menu for the ‘free’ option and see all the items that are available to you for no money. All you have to do is pick it up. People often use the site when they are moving house so are keen to shift stuff as soon as possible.

FREE phone directory enquiries

If you need to find phone numbers and don’t want to pay use this number – 0800 100 100 – for free directory enquiries.

FREE discounts and vouchers

SendMeDiscounts has a load of offers to use when shopping online to get discounts or free postage. It also covers vouchers that you can print off and use in shops to get discounts and money off. So click here and start saving.