I Love Free!

Wow - have I been having FUN on-line the last two days. I finally decided I just simply had to share about all these neat things I am getting for FREE or nearly free. Amazing! And be sure to read to the end. There is a freebie mentioned there that is perfect for the upcoming holidays and EVERYONE can get it!

It all started when I started to clean up my desk area. A few months ago I had renewed my subscription to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine. They were offering 19 free gifts with either a new subscription or a renewal this past summer. They looked pretty good but I hadn't been impressed in the past by their bouquet of gifts. However, I decided to take the chance since I truly DO love their magazine (obvious by the fact that I applied to work with them this year as a member of their Homeschool Crew).

Well, I started getting curious about all the little cards I had received. I spent some time yesterday afternoon and this morning redeeming them. Want to know what I've gotten so far? Of course you do!

• A free unit study on sunflowers directly from TOS
• A $10 gift card code from Apologia. I used it to buy a book by Diana Waring called Reaping the Harvest. Apologia sells it for $12. With priority shipping my grand total was $6.95. I am going to be participating in an on-line discussion of the book through the Diana Waring Yahoo Group.
• A free math video from sdlearn.com. It was a $20 gift certificate. Once I placed the video in my cart, I ended up with a $2.05 credit on the site. Absolutely free video on math basics AND free shipping!
• I am waiting for my coupon code from Franklin Springs but I already have the videos I want from them in my cart. They too are giving me a $20 gift certificate. I can't wait! I have been eying this first one for a long time. If you read the magazine, Above Rubies, you will be familiar with Nancy Campbell and her family. The first video is called The Family Meal Table. It looks so good! The second video is by her daughter, Serene, and it's called Rejuvenate with Serene. It's all about healthy eating. I'll end up paying some out of pocket for both of these videos and the shipping but it will be well worth it. If I only went with one, it would just be the shipping cost (I'm guessing) but I really want both!
• A ScienceMatrix: Cell Structure & Function software program - free.
• A one year free subscription to I Can Write Online. It's normally $10 a child. I think I'm going to try it out on N8 & see how he does.

I still have a bunch more to go through. Some need to be mailed in or called in. I'll continue to work on those. I have a few more to go to websites for as well. Some to come are:

• A free portrait and no session fee from Sears Portrait Studies - I'm actually not sure I'll use this since I do all my own photos now & the closest Sears store is over an hour away. But we'll see...
• Free level of Quarter Mile Math - well, I actually won't be using this since I was given a free subscription as part of being on the TOS Homeschool Crew and we're loving it!
• A $10 Wildtree Sample gift pack - I'm going for the kitchen staples one I think.
• $25 in free books - my favorite! Library & Educational Services contributed this one. (Okay - this one should move up because I am ordering these NOW - it even includes free economy shipping!!! Neat! Oh no - so many choices!!!)
• A free personalized photo calendar from Happy Kids Personalized Calenders (just ordered)
• Two free e-books from Barker Creek.
• A free cookbook from Sue Gregg
• $10 off from Daystar Publishing
• Handwriting by George Volume 1 from Greenleaf Press
• A sample of Wikki Stix - these look like fun!
• In the Hands of a Child is offering a free lapbook (one of my favorite lapbooking companies!)
• A free game from My Game Value!
• And lastly - free admission to an online intro film course from Advent Film Group

But here is what has me super excited...and this one...it won't matter if you don't have all those little cards from TOS. This is for everyone & it's good through the end of November.

I just ordered 50 free photo Christmas cards and that included shipping! FREE! Photo cards! I heard about it in one of those friends of a friends type blog things. However, all the details are listed right here at Freebies 4 Mom. By the way, this may become my new favorite website. It was pretty easy to make the cards. I ordered the smaller version (4x6 and kind of wish now I had done the bigger one but oh well) & my total came to $24.50. But I didn't pay anything. Now I get to mail out some of those to relatives who rarely see the kids or hubby & I. Yup, I even included a photo of the two of us. So cool and so much fun!

So that's how I've been spending some of my infrequent computer time lately. What? Infrequent? Yup. The boys are playing with the newest review item for TOS Crew members. It's a software program with online tutorials that teach you how to make your own computer games. B13 is pretty much in seventh heaven right now. He just finished making his own "platform game" - similar to a Mario Brothers type game. N8 felt well enough to try his own hand at a racing game & started that tonight. To say they are having fun would probably be an understatement so be watching for that review in the next few weeks!