Nifty little things in my mailbox

      So one of the things that I have been very excited about (super, stupid excited about) is the fact that my friend Marcie showed me how to sign up for free stuff online.  Now I know that people occasionally get free samples in their mailbox, and I am a total sucker for the gift with purchase deals (Clinique Bonus Time anyone?) that you see in the stores.  I never realized how much companies want you to try their stuff.  I know it is all a marketing ploy to get you to fall in love with something so you will repurchase it in the future even though it might be expensive or something you would've never planned on buying in the first place.  That being said, I am a terrible impulse shopper so if a company is willing to let me test out something that I find out I don't care for I don't waste any money.  At the moment, I have enough shampoo sachets to keep my hair clean for several weeks and I didn't have to shell out the $3 -$5 a bottle on them just because I thought they smelled good.

      Like I said before, going to the mailbox every day is a little like Christmas.  Besides Sundays and holidays I have gotten at least one cool (or possibly cool) thing in the mailbox every day except one for the last three and a half weeks.  Free magazines, free beauty products, free coupons, and free cleaning products.  A whole mess of stuff that I think is amazing.  Now I understand that some of you might say - "Oh wow - cereal - big freaking deal!"  but I love the potential of a little gift brightening every day.  I am amazed and impressed by the quality and the size of some of the samples.  I look at some of them and I think "really?  They wasted a stamp to send me 2 blisters of Prilosec?"  In the end it is all part of the excitement.  If I can't use it I know that I could donate it to a local food bank or save it for Christmas when they put out calls for sample sized items to send overseas in care packages for the troops.  None of it will go to waste because I will pass on anything I get that doesn't suit me to friends and family.  Do I really need an Arby's t-shirt?  No.  Will I sleep in it and garden in it and love  it just the same?  Absolutely.

      The very first thing I got was also one of the things that blew me away.  It was an Atkins weight loss start up kit.  Now I'm not running out to start the Atkins diet plan.  I consider myself a starch-itarian, so it would be murder for me.  However I have tried the bar before as a snack in place of candy and I really enjoyed them.  The kit came four days after I filled out my info even though it said "allow 6-8 weeks".  It looked like this:

      The box was filled with a meal plan and recipe book, a carb counter card and three of the bars that I liked so much.  I know that the bars generally come in six packs, so I was able to try several flavors that I hadn't had before.  I thought this was a genuinely cool sample, and I was happy to take the bars to work with me and have them as a snack or even as lunch.  The chocolate peanut one in the middle tasted about as much like a Snickers bars as anything that had no sugar in it could, so I would say it was pretty awesome.  I emailed them and asked a question about how I could get a second one for my mother in law who didn't have an email address and they took her mailing address and sent her one too which was pretty cool of them.

      I plan on making little posts whenever I get something awesome or surprising in my mailbox.  If you want to know more about how I got it, where I got it or if it is still available, I will do my best to find out for you.  Leave me a comment and I will post a link if you can still get it.

      As of today (June 2, 2012) the Atkins link is still open if it looks like something you might want to try.

                                      Atkins Start up Kit

      In my next post I'm going to talk about another new discovery - instant win games and contests.  After that there is a whole world of cool things to come - product test sites, coupon match ups that are already done for you, and the thing I am most excited about - sample subscriptions!  (The last ones cost money.  No worries though, I will try and explain the ins and outs of the ones I have subscribed to so you can make informed decisions.  Are they cool - yep!  Are they all worth the money? - nope.)

Much Love, and the hope that you may find some small wonders in your life today.