Many restaurants offer little perks if you sign up on their websites, including free appetizers and desserts. Here are some sites to check out…

Cold Stone Creamery: Free Like-It ice cream creation in a cup for birthday (valid within 1 week of birthday)
Moe’s Southwest Grill: Free cup of queso for signing up (valid within 1 week from email)
Buffalo Wild Wings: Free dessert for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Red Robin: Free gourmet burger for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Schlotzsky’s: Free small sandwich for birthday (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Del Taco: Two Free chicken tacos for signing up (valid within 2 weeks from email)
Chevy’s Fresh Mex: Free appetizer for signing up (valid within 4 weeks from email)
Claim Jumper: Free small bite desert for signing up (valid within 30 days from email)
TGI Fridays: Free Appetizer or dessert (up to $8) for signing up (valid within 30 days from email)
Carrows: Free dessert for signing up (valid within 60 days from email)
(Info thanks to Tim P.)

There’s so many more of them, basically, if you take the time to get on a restaurants bulk mail list, you’ll probably get some freebies. Most restaurants seem to offer you something free for your birthday, if you ask on the spot. You only risk hearing a weird happy birthday song.

Free food is not always limited to restaurants or your birthday. There’s free food samples at Costco, free taste tests at most ice cream shops, candy shops, and free taste testing at many vineyards, breweries, and at factory tours, such as cheese factories.

Some other random freebies:
Free Disneyland ticket for your birthday in 2009 (http://tinyurl.com/3zjqno)
Free pre-season Portland Trailblazer tickets (for being an email subscriber)
Free tickets to TV shows (if you’re ever in Hollywood) (http://www.hollywoodtickets.com)

Beware of some free offers
Many credit card companies will give you free stuff for signing up, but I don’t recommend it. It’s not worth messing with your credit history and increasing the likeliness for you to pay interest and fees. You will commonly find ‘free’ software through rebates. That’s not recommended either, because you are not guaranteed to receive your rebate. If you have to pay something for something to be ‘free’, it probably isn’t completely free. Learn more free services to avoid…

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People get movies in a variety of ways. The following are ways people commonly use to acquire movies for home viewing, but I only endorse the final and best method, which happens to be 100% free.

PAID OPTIONS:

1. Rent from Blockbuster or Hollywood Video. This is the most inconvenient and most expensive way to rent a movie.

2. On-Demand through Satellite TV. While convenient, it’s expensive and may have a limited selection.

3. Use iTunes. It’s $3.99/ea for new releases on demand. The drawback is you can only play them on your small, portable devices, unless you have the extra Apple TV equipment.

4. Use Netflix. At $4.99/mo, it would seem you can’t go wrong. But you have the hassle of sending and receiving mail.

5. Buy the DVD. (price varies)

FREE OPTIONS:

1. Copy DVDs from a friend (not recommended). It’s common for someone to acquire movies from any of the above paid options, or borrow from a friend, and burn a copy for yourself. People usually do this using free software like: DVDShrink and DVD Decrypter or paid ones like: DVDFab Decrypter or Nero. They remove all of the copy protection so you can burn your own copy. They allow you to either burn to a dual-layer 8GB DVD or standard 4GB DVD.

2. Download movies using bit torrents (not recommended). Bit torrents are the latest protocol in peer-to-peer file sharing. Almost any recent movie, video game, or music CD is shared online and available for downloading through bit torrent websites. There are major drawbacks to this way of getting free movies. Besides the ethical considerations, the download goes to your computer and may be difficult to convert to play on your regular TV. You also may get a virus or some spyware on your machine by downloading material from unknown sources. And finally, your IP address can be tracked and has the potential of being monitored by a governing authority.

3. The best way to get free movies (recommended) is through your local library. Yes, libraries across the United States commonly have DVD sections with growing selections of movies, including new releases. Instead of paying $3.99 or more at Blockbuster, it’s totally free to walk out the door with lots of DVDs just for using your free library card.

Some libraries even have honor system-type scanners where you check it out yourself and don’t stand in any lines. Instead of returning the movies the next day or in 3 days, libraries often let you check out your movies for a week or more at a time. You can then renew them a couple more times by calling in or renewing online. Many libraries have high limits on how many you can check out at a time, for instance up to 20 DVDs.

Libraries in larger cities are often all networked and allow you to reserve anything you want online. For instance, near Portland, Oregon, users may login to the library network for Washington County and search and reserve DVDs online, and they will then send the DVDs to your nearest library and give you a call when it comes in. Some people with disabilities may even have them delivered to their door. In other cases, if you’re looking for a more obscure DVD title, you can simply request it and they may special order it for you (all for free).

Libraries are faster than Netflix, often include tens of thousands of DVDs to choose from (including new releases), are convenient (if you live near a library), and free. Why even take time to burn DVDs for your own home use? Your tax dollars already paid for your local library to stock all of these DVDs for you to use. Just pretend you’re part owner of it (which you are) and check them out whenever you need and return when you’re done. Easy.

I think everyone wants to be happy and I think it’s natural to seek pleasure and avoid pain. When seeking entertainment and recreation, if we have a choice between two equals, why not always choose the less expensive of the options? That’s my philosophy- I don’t consider it being cheap, I consider it smart.

For example, I enjoy riding motocross bikes, but I also like riding mountain bikes. Motocross riding probably costs 100 times as much as mountain bikes. There’s gas to travel to a riding area, gas for the motorcycle, track entrance fees, vehicle licensing fees (where applicable), oil, parts, and maintenence. Mountain biking is much simplier, they last longer and don’t have any ‘variable costs’ to ride it. Once you have a bike, considering you don’t wreck it, it should be mostly cost-free. You don’t have to drive as far to ride it either- bicycles are allowed almost everywhere. On a scale of 1 to 10 of pleasure, motocross is about a 9 and mountain biking is about an 8. It’s close enough where I have nearly as much fun for very little or no cost at all.

I have other hobbies which rate similarly in terms of the amount of fun it brings. I have a choice between wind surfing, skydiving, scuba diving, swimming, running, hiking, horseback, rock climbing, volleyball, tennis, raquetball, horseshoes, bowling, ice skating and more.

If all are fairly equal, why not choose tennis? Tennis has no re-occurring costs and are usually free in any city park- I enjoy that just as much as a sport like bowling or rock climbing that cost money, so I have decided to do that hobby as much as I can. Running is always free and I also enjoy that nearly as much. Hiking is free and feels great to be outdoors breathing fresh air among beautiful surroundings. So, when all things are equal, save the money and spend it on something more important. Because the difference in fun between the sports is negligible.

The same applies to many other decisions throughout your day. I have no extra pleasure in drinking a fountain drink for my meals vs water. Soda pop usually costs at least $1, where as water is always free. If I eat 3 meals a day 365 days a year, that’s a maximum potential of spending $1,096 per year on carbonated, colored, sugar water. Drinking water will also save you more $ on medication and doctor bills from the mildly adverse health effects of drinking that fake beverage. I am now so used to drinking water, even if I were given soda pop for free, I still would only have water. It’s healthier and I enjoy having an extra $1,096 to spend on something more important.

I try to avoid getting caught up in the psychological impact of pricing. Just because something is priced higher, does not mean it is better. Pricing is merely a marketing decision and, for higher priced items, the pricing level may be set to communicate a perception about the item’s value.

But I like to wipe the slate clean, and ask myself if I had a choice between two items, regardless of cost, which would I prefer. Sometimes it’s the less expensive item that is better- even better quality.

For example, I recently ate at a restaurant that cost $25 per person. The portions were small, the food tasted only average and was undercooked, and the service was slow. I later had indigestion from the food, as well. Now, if I were given a choice between that meal and a $5.65 burrito at Chipotle, I would have preferred the burrito. The $5 item tasted better and was healthier.

For travelling, one of the cheapest options for spending the night is camping (usually free, or a small $10-20 camping fee). Hostels are also an affordable option, which allows for meeting interesting people. It’s far easier to meet new and interesting people there than in the lobby of a fancy hotel. For example, if you ever visit New York City, you can stay at a hostel for $35 or less a few blocks from Times Square, or spend $200+/night at a regular hotel- with some of the cheaper ones farther away from the popular areas. A newer option worth noting is couchsurfing.com- which is a network of people worldwide offering you to crash on their ‘couch’ for free when you are travelling. The host may even offer to be your personal tour guide and you could make a new friend. You can’t put a price on that.

The takeaway here is examine your daily routine and see what buying decisions you make and see if the choices actually reflect your amount of fun/pleasure you get out of it. A higher price doesn’t always mean better, and in the cases where it isn’t, you’re better off saving the money.

1. Headaches – drink lots of water and try avoiding eating apples. Especially avoid drinking anything with caffeine.
2. Canker sores – Try gargling with saltwater, and also baking soda and water. Cuts in the mouth may be caused by biting your lip accidentally while eating, or getting a crack in your lip from breathing through a dry mouth while sleeping. Start gargling as soon as you can after you notice the crack or sore in your mouth to prevent a canker sore. Also, try avoiding bananas.
3. Hiccups – try relaxing and drinking a full glass of water while only breathing through your nose. Then after each swallow, try to belch/burp out any air built up in your airways. Take slow deep breaths and doing this should clear your hiccups. Try drinking more water while eating – this avoids them altogether for some people.
4. Acne – Keep your face really clean, cleaning 2x day with a wash cloth, soap and warm water. Never touch your face with your hands as this can transfer oil into the pores of your face, clogging them and causing acne. You also should workout and sweat, and use a sauna if you can. Immediately after anytime you sweat, wash your face. In the event your skin gets really dry, you can use a non-cosmogenic lotion, such as from Neutrogena.
5. Diarrhea – Eat foods that are high in fiber and try eating food that is bland and neutral, such as bread and pasta. Eat green salads and spinach leaves to help your digestive system and be more ‘regular’. Try avoiding milk products, in case you may be lactose intolerant.
6. Teeth whitening – Get a cheap electric toothbrush – only $4 at some stores. Make sure it’s soft. Brush your teeth regularly. Also, mix a paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide and brush with that daily. This works well if your teeth are already cleaned regularly by a dentist. If you haven’t been in a while, after some point, brushing the teeth can’t get what a dental hygienist can do with the tools. Avoid pop, coffee, and smoking.
7. Sore muscles – Slowly and carefully warm your body up each day, start with slow circular movements and gradually start working your muscles. Exercise. People that have office jobs during the day that fail to exercise before or after often have health problems and sore muscles- just from doing nothing. And when a sedentary person suddenly tries to lift something heavy, pain may occur, because the lack of fitness. Take care of your body by ‘waking it up’ every day and moving, exercising, and stretching for at least 10 minutes.
8. Colds – to avoid getting colds, wash your hands and avoid touching your mouth, nose, eyes, or ears, as these warm, moist areas are incubators for bacteria and viruses. If do you get a cold, however, drink lots of fluids, get lots of rest, and keep warm. Some people swear by chicken noodle soup, but as long as you do the previous things, you are on the path for recovery.
9. Warts – Remove warts by using an air duster can. Instead of paying $60 per cryotherapy application of liquid nitrogen from the doc, pick up a $4 air duster can at Wal-Mart / Target, tip it upside down and spray to freeze the part of the anatomy you wish. Of course, use extreme caution, as it can give frostbite. You may want to put a filter on the end of the nozzle, so the liquid doesn’t splatter on your skin. After freezing the wart area, put some duct tape over the area- with optional antibiotic ointment. In a week the wart should be gone. Some people say to get your own liquid nitrogen, but that’s too dangerous. You can’t beat the results from a simple air duster can.
10. Sleep – Try valerian, an herbal remedy from a flower, known to have a calming effect. You may also find psychological benefit in having the traditional warm glass of milk before bed. To reduce nightmares, try to keep your head cool in the night. You might do this by turning down the heater, or by using a pillow made of material that is less heat conductive. If you continue overheating and getting nightmares, try out the Chillow brand pillow- which actually uses water to keep the pillow cool.

I hope you find benefit in these 10 home remedies. If you have others that have worked for you, please post your comments. Thank you.