Tap into the wealth of no-cost items online to free up cash for holidays

MarketWatch (MCT) - In uncertain economic times like these, it's comforting to know you can still find items that are free. And one way to avoid going into debt this holiday season is to find free items to fulfill your own needs, thus freeing up your cash for holiday purchases.

The Internet reigns supreme when it comes to finding no-cost stuff. Sure, you might have to provide your email address and sometimes a bit more information, and you might be put on a mailing list, but the end result is plenty of free goods and services.

Financials

Want to control your holiday shopping? FinancialRecovery.com offers a free holiday planner. This spreadsheet will help you track spending so you don't bust your budget. See the site. http://www.financialrecovery.com/

Mint.com helps track everyday spending. It also categorizes trends and searches the Web for deals based on where you spend your money. See the site. http://www.mint.com/

Meanwhile, Rudder.com is another free personal finance site that helps you take control of your spending. It tracks credit cards and bank accounts, and even offers free software aimed at helping people dig themselves out of debt. See the site. http://www.rudder.com/

Entertainment?

After Napster, free downloads died _ but not for long. There are a number of ad-supported sites where you can download songs by musicians from Adam Ant to ZZ Top. One is SpiralFrog.com, offering more than one million songs and 4,000 music videos, all free. See the site. http://www.spiralfrog.com/

Another music site, Pandora.com, bills itself as an online radio station that builds play-lists from your preferences. For example, entering "Bob Dylan" brings up "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" followed by Neil Young's "Ohio (Live at Massey Hall)" and then "Imagine" by John Lennon. See the site. http://www.pandora.com/

If you're willing to watch television on your computer, you might be able to lower or eliminate your cable bill. For instance, you can watch everything from "My Favorite Martian" to "30 Rock," "Ugly Betty" and "Sons of Anarchy" for free at TV.Blinkx.com, a site in beta currently. See the site. http://tv.blinkx.com/

Hulu.com is another Web site offering free television shows and movies. See the site. http://www.hulu.com/

Also, don't forget the networks offer many of their shows for free on their Web sites. Another online freebie: Comedy Central shows including "The Colbert Report" and "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart." See the site. http://www.thedailyshow.com/index.jhtml

Books and guides

If you'd rather read than watch TV, save money by checking out Free-eBooks.net. The site offers popular works, how-to guides, recipe books and more, including Adam Smith's 1776 tome, "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" which might be pertinent today. See the site. http://www.free-ebooks.net/

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At MrExcel.com you can download a free copy of "Learn Excel" by Bill Jelen, the self-proclaimed "Mr. Excel!" This is a book of more than 900 pages with 377 Excel tips. Jelen does caution: His book is designed for people who already use Excel 20 to 40 hours a week. See the site. http://www.mrexcel.com/

The Sutter Lake Hospital in Lincoln, Neb., offers a free wellness book, titled "The 5 Keys to Wellness." This is a hardcover children's book _ not a download _ teaching whole body wellness. See the site. http://www.harmonyhealinghouse.com/order.asp

If you have always wanted to write a book, April Hamilton offers free, downloadable copies of her book, "The IndieAuthor Guide." See the site. http://www.aprillhamilton.com/FreeIAG.html

From clothes to video games to art _ and more

Almost everyone these days knows Craigslist.org, which offers free and barter listings online. For an alternative, try Freecycle.org, a rapidly growing online community where people post stuff for others to take. Or ask for items you want. One user, Robin Bectel of Alexandria, Va., said she's amazed at the items she's found there. See the site. http://www.freecycle.org/

"I got a brand-new, tags still on them, pair of snow pants for my toddler, and a few months ago, I got a whole snowsuit for myself, also with tags still on them. I have gotten hundreds of dollars worth of garden plants, landscaping pavers and winter clothing. And, I've given away a lot of stuff that I would have just left piled in my basement or thrown in the trash," Bectel said.

There are a number of blogs that direct readers to free offerings, including Gayle Bu's AffluentPauper.com. See the site. http://affluentpauper.blogspot.com/

Bu, from Grayson, Ga., said she started her blog out of a frustration many middle-income American families share. "I'm not rich enough to reap the benefits of the wealthy," she said, "and not poor enough to qualify for government assistance programs that provide free food, education and services." Bu has received free meals at Zaxby's just by signing up on the restaurant's site. See the site. http://www.fishbowl.com/clt/zxbys/lp/join/join.asp

She's received free tacos at Taco Bell, a free cappuccino from Barnes & Noble, and free ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. Some recent offers:

Free sample products from Wal-Mart http://walmart.triaddigital.com/In-Stores-Now-free-samples.aspx

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Free sample products from Procter & Gamble http://www.pgeverydaysolutions.com/pgeds/en _ US/jsp/EDS _ Page.jsp?pageID=UMLP&brand=eds _ brandsampler

Instant coupons for free meals at Captain D's http://www.captainds.com/files/home.aspx

Free museum visits sponsored by Target http://sites.target.com/site/en/corporate/page.jsp?contentId=PRD03-002065

Special offers for Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus http://www.ringling.com/PortalContent.aspx?linkID=348&parentID=348

Leah Ingram writes a blog called "The Lean Green Family," which offers a wealth of free items and resources. See the site. http://suddenlyfrugal.blogspot.com/2008/08/getting-something-for-nothing-or-almost.html

C&T Publishing produces how-to arts-and-crafts books _ dozens of free projects are available on their site. See the site. http://www.ctpubblog.com/category/projects/

Some people create a blog with the specific goal of receiving free items. Mike Essex, Birmingham, England-based writer of Blagman, said he's received over 250 freebies worth more than $8,000. He encourages others to do the same.

"The trick is finding a unique offer about yourself that makes you viable for a company," he said. "Whether it's starting an online book club, becoming a product tester, offering to show products to others at work or emailing all your online friends, everyone has something they can offer." See the site. http://www.blagman.co.uk/

Gamers have a lot of options if they want to play without paying. Free online gaming sites include GamesCampus.com, TrueGamesInteractive.com, WickedInteractiveLtd.com, and G4box.com. They're great for folks who don't want to pay $40 to $60 for a new game CD.

Meanwhile, Troy Lilly, of Cross Lanes, W.Va., offers his photographs free to anyone who wants to download them on ForestWander.com. He said that while he was hiking on mountains and through forests with his sons, he was inspired to share nature's beauty with others. See the site. http://forestwander.com/

If Lilly's work inspires you to take your own hike in the woods _ another free activity _ check out the Automobile Association of America's free map site, AAAmaps.com. You can find a map of just about anywhere in the country. See the site. http://www.aaa.com/scripts/WebObjects.dll/ZipCode.woa/wa/route?area=TripTik&

Want to make free 411 directory information calls? Call Google's 1-800-GOOG-411. Troy Corley, editor at FreeFunGuides.com, said that's just one of the freebies you'll find at the site. See the site. http://www.freefunguides.com/

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Another freebie Corley noted: A free education online from MIT through its OpenCourseWare which offers about 1,800 courses. See the site. http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm

Sweepstakes and company promotions are an almost $2 billion a year business, according to Carolyn Wilman, of Oshawa, Canada. Wilman is that country's self-proclaimed "contest queen." She lives by her motto: You can't win if you don't enter. She fills out about 50,000 contest ballots a year, and said she has won more than $100,000 worth of prizes over the past five years, including trips to Los Angeles, New York, London and Venice. See her site. http://www.contestqueen.com/

If you're stressed from searching for freebies or just have the holiday blues, you can get help cheering up _ for free. Susan Gayle is a certified hypnotist, author and teacher in New York. She offers free, downloadable classes on how to let go of stress at NewBehaviorInstitute.net. See the site. http://www.newbehaviorinstitute.net/

If you just want to laugh out loud, check out Humoru.com. See the site. http://www.humoru.com/

Ann Fry is a humorist and chief executive of Humoru.com, and just in time for the holiday season she is offering free holiday stress management teleconferences. "I'm committed to helping people at work or in life," she said, "have more lightness and fun."

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