THIS WEEKS HAUL OF FREEBIES

Despite the spin the local spin doctors put on the state of the economy, those of us trying to live day to day realize most of it is just that...spin. The economy is in tough shape, prices keep going up, taxes keep going up, the next one hitting us is on Canada Day July 1st, the dreaded HST which has to be the most hurtful one yet. It isn't even clear what this tax will be charged on but it sounds like pretty much everything. Oh, and I would suggest you fill up your car's gas tank as apparently that is going up also but on my travels today, the gas companies seem to have put it up already ahead of the holiday.....(I believe this hike has something to do with a carbon tax)

Lately one of my most favorite word's in the English language has become "free". I have always been a couponer and more and more people are joining this trend as it become more difficult to get by. For many years it was possible to get coupons for free things in the USA and rebates from manufacturers making things free or almost free but in Canada free was a rare thing and the value on coupons was usually very low. In the last little while there has been a new trend towards Canadian manufacturers handing out coupons for free things. some of the great websites to find these deals are save.ca, Life Made Delicious and my favorite haunt Smart Canucks where you can find a ton of offers that are out there all in one visit to one site. Another great tool for finding "free" stuff is Facebook. Now in picture one you can see the great stuff I have redeemed on in the last week. My Mom also gets the coupons and passes on the ones she doesn't use so that is why there are two of some things. In this group there are free potato's from the "Little Potato Company", shaving razors from Proglide, Proctor and Gamble and this weeks exchange program at London Drugs. The Cheerios and React 5 gum (delicious by the way) are from Facebook, the first aid kit is a freebie coupon from Johnson and Johnson and included the tax...sweet...Kashi sent out little boxes of cereal to try, and Pillsbury has a coupon for a free product that has been available for awhile now.My mom gave me hers which will make my son very happy! Veet sent me a sample of their product in the mail to try. And the 5.00 Subway gift cards came from Lay's Chip trip program. Not shown because if hasn't yet arrived is a 20.00 gift card from Sport Chek which I bought with points collected on icoke. It takes a bit of work gathering all this stuff but the redemption and savings to our family grocery budget makes it very worthwhile. The Melitta coffee came from a promo that company is running where if you refer a friend, they will send you a coupon for a free bag of their World Harvest Fair Trade certified coffee, but hurry, that one expires June 30th! Oh, and another added bonus was that the free Cheerios have a code on them to order free magazines, so Canadian Living and Style at Home, 3 issues of each, will soon be heading my way!

Now below the Airwick Freshener were not quite free but very close at 97 cents a package. This was another awesome freebie I received in the form of coupons. Had I tired a little harder and payed a bit more attention, I could probably have found it on sale somewhere and gotten it totally free but for .97, I am not complaining! I saw it retail at a couple of locations for 12.99 and 19.99 so 97 cents was a great deal IMHO! Now everyone go out and find those offers!! You can spend the money you save on something fun to do!