Going for Not Broke

I've been a little behind on a handful of home tasks, including clipping coupons. On Saturday, I took the time to get caught up. While thumbing through one of the circulars, I came across an add for a Loreal rewards program , which awards registrants with a free box of hair color after they've purchased five. I love free stuff. According to the website, registrants can also get other perks. I just signed up, so I'm not sure what those are yet, but I'm looking forward to them. According to the info in the circular, participants may receive only two free products during the duration of the program, but the program ends Dec. 31. No more often than I color my hair, I probably will get only one free box, but hey, I'll take it.

I just discovered that Kmart, like Walmart and Target, also offers free samples. Good to know. To request some, follow this link .

Through the Target website, I requested a sample of Garnier’s Ultra Lift 2-in-1 Wrinkle Reducer . The Target link will take you directly to its Sample Spot page. Other samples that you can also request include a spring beauty bag, but I don’t have the code required for that one, and a Gevalia coffee, but I’m not a coffee drinker, so I passed on that one.

Through the Walmart website, you can request a free sample of Sani-Hands hand sanitizer wipes. I've found in the few months I've been a mom that you can never have enough wipes on hand. To go directly to the site to request your sample, click here .

The Spark People website provides free tips, tools and recipes for people wanting to improve their health. It has exercise advice, community support and a place to track what you eat. You can also add your favorite recipes to find its nutritional value. It also provides forums for other topics, such as hobbies. Like any weight loss program, though, it works only if you do it. I've been a member of the site for about two years and have logged in only occasionally. However, rather than return to Weight Watchers and shell out the money for the weekly meetings, my plan is to spend more time on Spark People and tracking what I eat. My hope is that visiting the site more often will keep me thinking about what I eat more. I'll write more on this topic when I see how well I'm able to stick with it.

I recently discovered that like Walmart , Target offers free samples, too. I have yet to snag one because every time I've been to the site, I get a message that they're all gone. I hope to see what types of products it offers soon, though.

Turtle Through Feb. 29, parents can get a one-year subscription to the magazine Turtle for $9. Content includes crafts, puzzles, games and other activities for preschool-age children. To see the deal, click here . Parents For $12, parents can get a three-year subscription to Parents magazine, which is basically three years for the price of a one-year subscription. To see the deal, click here. American Baby Parents can get a free subscription to American Baby magazine. (Click here .) In addition, they'll receive free e-newsletters.

My husband gave me a Kindle for Christmas, and I've been happy to see there is much I can do with it without paying a cent. I've found free games and ebooks on Amazon.com . I've enjoyed all of the games. Finding a book that suits my tastes has been a little more challenging, but I have found some worth reading. Kindle owners who subscribe to Amazon Prime get a bonus: They can borrow one book a month from other Kindle owners. I signed up for Amazon Prime for a two-week trial but forgot to cancel before I was charged for it, so I guess I'm giving it a yearlong trial. I personally don't use the service enough to make it worth the money, so I don't plan to renew. While I have it, though, I'm going to take advantage of the ebook-borrowing feature. The bulk of the Kindle ebooks that are free -- as far as I've been able to tell anyway -- are books that are in the public domain or self-published. With the borrowing feature through Amazon Prime, though, I ca...

Walmart is offering a free cloth and cleaner for glasses on its website while supplies last. This link will take you to the site where you can print out a coupon then take it to be redeemed at at a Walmart Vision Center.

I love samples (especially ones that show up with coupons I can use later). I saw on television yesterday that Quaker is offering free samples of its Oatmeal Squares cereal through its Facebook site. Click here for the link. I signed up for it; it should take six to eight weeks for the sample to arrive. I can hardly wait!

Through Walmart.com, people can sign up for a free sample of Life Choice bars . It's not available in my area (darn!) but I thought I'd pass the info along anyway.