Suddenly Frugal Blog

How is it possible that December is around the corner? Didn’t the school year just start? Even though I posted a slew of Black Friday Freebies yesterday, I figured you wouldn’t mind some additional freebies to get your holiday season started. Check out what’s free for you in the coming week!

City-Specific Freebies

• Starting January 1, 2010 Washington, DC will charge residents 5 cents per plastic bag they take when shopping. (IKEA already does this.) To help Washingtonians stock up on reusable bags, the city will be giving away more than 120,000 free market bags in the next few months.
• Enjoy free ice skating at New York City’s Bryant Park!

Free Food

• Enjoy a free breakfast at IKEA on Black Friday weekend (that’s November 27-29), up until 10:30 a.m. This is part of IKEA’s seize-the-day events. (Carpe Diem IKEA?)Double your pleasure, double your fun? How about double your freebies?
• Now Boston Market lets two kids eat for free on Saturday and Sunday. Good for kids 14 and younger (yeah, mine qualify) and until January 31, 2010. You know I’ll be repeating this freebie in Freebie Friday postings for the next few months–you know, just in case you forget and all.
• Don’t forget that kids eat for free at Denny’s on Tuesday nights–and in some locations on Saturday, too.
• If you join the Dairy Queen DQ Blizzard fan club, you’ll get a coupon for a free DQ Blizzard. Yum. (My fave is the coffee Heath bar blizzard.)

Gratis Gifts–and Gift Cards

• Get a free Photo Book from Photoworks, courtesy of The Bonnie Hunt Show. Just type in the code “BONNIE” when you check out. If you’re one of the first 25,000 people to use this offer, your entire gift of a photo book–for yourself or someone on your list–will be free! (Thanks to Gather.com for the heads up on this free offer.)
• You can earn free gifts cards to Sears when you participate in its new electronics recycling program with Gazelle.com. The new program is providing practical, responsible, rewarding ways for consumers to get value for used, working electronics, and gives customers the flexibility to trade-in unwanted gadgets from more than 20 product categories, including cell phones, laptops, MP3 players and digital cameras. Electronics items that no longer work will still be accepted at no cost for recycling, but consumers will not receive value for these items. That’s still cool since many stores charge you a service fee to recycle your electronics.

Wifi That Won’t Cost You Anything

• Delta Airlines has joined the free wifi fray. It announced an agreement with eBay, the world’s largest online marketplace, to provide complimentary Gogo Inflight Internet service to customers traveling on all Wi-Fi equipped flights from Nov. 24-30.
• Visiting Times Square over the holidays? Well, don’t worry about paying or Wifi service so you can check your email. Yahoo is offering free Wifi in Times Square for the next year.
• Google is sponsoring free Wifi in 46 airports nationwide. Unfortunately, Philadelphia, the main airport I use, is not included in the list of participating airports. You can check it out in this Gizmodo.com article. Maybe your nearby airport is?

Free Shipping
Lots of retailers are attempting to inspire shoppers to buy online by offering free shipping this holiday season.

• Not only do you get free shipping from MomAgenda when you purchase a Kitchen Folio, but you’ll also get a free 2009-2010 calendar.
• Crate and Barrel’s kid-oriented company Land of Nod is offering free shipping on purchases made my November 30th. Enter the word “CELEBRATE” when you check out. (Sadly, furniture is excluded from this deal.)
• Pet-products website Drs. Fosters and Smith (from which I’ve purchased my dog’s pet meds) has eliminated standard shipping costs for all of its pet healthcare-related products.
• ShopatHome.com has put together a free shipping guide so that you’ll have an easier time figuring out which e-tailers are offering free shipping this year.