One thing I do to save money

[merlik]

One thing I have been doing and didn't even realize it to save money is to get free t-shirts from companies on the internet. I haven't bought a t-shirt in over a year because it is so easy to get free Schwag from all the various .companies out there. All you really have to do is ask, and maybe blog about them or something. I have gotten hats, t-shirts, keychains, etc... just by asking. It isn't something I go out of my way to do really. When I find a product I like, usually I will do a quick blurb about it on my blog and 9 times out of 10 they contact me, but every once in a while I will send them an e-mail asking for something. I don't even have a very well read blog, so you could just have a wordpress.com free blog set up and you would be all set to do this. Try it out and let me know if it works for you as well as it has for me.

[beren]

It would be awesome if you (or someone like you) took a picture of himself wearing a ton of corporate swag.

[rstlne]

I too have accumulated lots of t-shirts, not just from trade shows but also from doing volunteer work. I don't think I'll ever have to buy any.

If they would only give away free corporate pants too, then I'll be set for life.

[Xin Lu]

there was one guy that sent out one hundred letters asking for free stuff and got quite a few responses. His site is here: The $39 Experiment: Asking Random Companies for Free Stuff

He wrote pretty funny letters, though.

[purplefdu]

Companies adore feedback. Most have boxes of swag hanging around for just that. I know I wrote to POM about how much their expanding their line has helped me enjoy pomegranates everyday, and got a set of stickers. We also got a spife from the kiwi company because they don't do presentations near us but I really wanted one. My husband called and said his wife was a kiwi fiend and we needed one badly, they sent two, one in each color.

[amandajane]

There are freebie forums around for people to get links to companies offering free merchandise. Personally I find it grating when I see people asking these companies for free stuff just because they can. I noticed a particular post recently that was written by someone who evidently does not consider the cost for these smaller companies - she talked about 'taking advantage of this one'. I'm trying to find the link, if I do I'll pass it on. Personally I think it sucks when people do this.