Freebies in January

I promised a post on the free products I got in January, and how I got them, so here we are. This does not include samples I got in the mail. I should keep track of those this month, and do a post on that. I got 38 items free, although I did have to pay tax on a few of them.

Freebies at Giant Eagle:

1 Taco Seasoning Packet (Redplum)
2 Bird's Eye Steamfresh Broccoli (SmartSource)
2 Glade Soy Candles (Smartsource) paid $3 plus tax, got $5 in catalinas back= moneymaker
4 small containers of Quaker Oats (printable coupons from 2 computers)
1 Yoplait Smoothie Mix (got a FREE coupon in mail)
1 box Ronzoni Spaghetti (either Redplum or SmartSource)
6 cans of Pillsbury biscuits
6 cans Pillsbury cinnamon rolls -2 transactions, paid $7.80 and got $8 in catalinas= moneymaker- (Smartsource coupons- there were actually better printables at the time, but I used what I already had)
1 bag Stacy's Pita Chips (got a FREE coupon in the mail)
2 Mr. Clean pourables
2 Mr. Clean Sprays -paid $4.44 (including tax), got $5 back (Home Made Simple coupon booklet)
2 Seventh Generation Dish Soaps (FREE coupon mailed from Recycle Bank- 2 different times)- tax only
1 Seventh Generation All Purpose Cleaner (FREE coupon mailed from Recycle Bank)- tax only

CVS
1 3-pack Ivory Soap (P&G insert) tax only ( I liked this, because I use Ivory Soap to make homemade laundry soap)
2 Renpure Organic Shampoos (no coupons) It was a buy one, get one free, and I got to submit it for a rebate for the full price for the one- tax and stamp only

Rite Aid
2 packages Stayfree pads (Redplum) RiteAid had B1G1, and the coupon was B1G1, making both free -tax only

WalMart
2 Johnson's Soap Buddies (Redplum) -tax only

Smartsource coupons come every week except holidays in the Sunday paper. The Plain Dealer seems to have the most in this area. The P&G insert comes with the Sunday paper once a month or so. The Redplum coupons come in the mail, and lately, they have been really, really pitiful =( I get coupons for free products by following Money Saving Mom and other blogs, and signing up for them. The Home Made Simple Coupon booklet is a good one to sign up for- I sign up for it whenever it is available, and I usually can find a way to use them for free or almost free products. Update: Money Saving Mom shows you here how to sign up for several of these.  I'd encourage you to try signing up right now. The Recycle Bank coupons I mentioned awhile back. If you haven't tried it, I would recommend that as well.

And lastly, I also have gotten a number of free books (and more) from Amazon by redeeming my Swagbucks  points. If you sign up and get a friend or friends to sign up under your referrel link, you can get points even faster! Of course, I do have an ulterior motive to get you signed up under my referral link ;) but even before I had anyone signed up under me, I still got 1-2 $5 Amazon cards per month. I thought that was pretty good, too.

One more thing: the die-hard couponers often buy more than 2 or even many more Sunday papers to get even more great deals than you can with only one. You can also get them on coupon trading sites, eBay, and elsewhere. I have never done that, so I can't say how good or bad it is.