weekend pickthrough- mail call showdown edition.

this has been a good couple of weeks for free stuff in the mail. between the soy milk and the cleaning stuff, i also applied for some samples online, which showed up this week. i realized after i wrote that post last week about product testing sites, i had completely left out free sample sites! you may not get full sized products, but i am a sucker for tiny scale models of real products, and they almost always come with a pretty decent value coupon.

this week, i got two sample deliveries- one from target, and one from proctor & gamble (evil i know, but FREE STUFF!). when i originally saw the post for the target beauty bag on my favorite freebie website, i thought it might be a phishing scam. so much awesome stuff for free! my bag arrived a mere one week later.

though not packed with the same goods pictured (where’s my full sized sally hansen nail enamel?), still had some pretty hot shit inside (full sized neutrogena lip balm!). also, it came packaged in the most adorable tiny makeup bag known to man, and had $25 worth of target beauty coupons. and you know what that means… STACKING!! i was blown away.

then, i got my p&g brandsaver… and there was blowing alright, just not the good kind. one tiny sample and two tiny coupons? i hear these stories about people getting all sorts of crazy awesome shit from p&g, but i have never gotten anything good. this was better than the time they sent me a single metamucil packet in a huge box, but not much.

sadly, the target beauty bag is already sold out, but i would recommend finding yourself a freebie listing service so that you have a chance of getting in on the action next time around. i also follow deal seeking pros like hip2save on twitter, who usually have first knowledge of the good shit.

but since you’re probably still really jealous about not getting the beauty bag, here are some links to ease your pain:

why does proctor & gamble hate me so much?

today was a long day. up til 2 am watching medical shows last night (it’s mystery diagnosis monday!), and was dragging ass all day. then there was that time i got my my finger mangled in the file cabinet. ok, maybe not mangled, but temporarily squashed and bloody. surprisingly bloody. anyway, bunk day. so i haul my carcass up the hill and there is this beautiful bright blue box waiting on the coffee table. good news everyone! apparently, my P&G brandsaver had arrived!

i tore into that bitch so fast. what? a metamucil packet and 3 coupons for liquid tide (which BTW i’m allergic to). oh, and a whole lotta empty box (it was like a shoe box with two scraps of paper rattling around inside). so i ask you again, why doesn’t P&G love me like everyone else? why don’t they care about my bad day or my bloody finger? they just want me to poop and get hives. boo-urns. disappointing coupons are worse than no coupons at all. did P&G show anyone else more love than me?

double dipping.

i guess this makes me kind of a sucky coupon lady, but i’m not really that into rebates. sure, rite aid single check rebates are great and all, because you enter your receipts online and then they keep track of the rest. as for any rebate that involves saving receipts, filling out forms BY HAND, and hauling my fat carcass to the post office…mmmm not so much.

i’m sure at this point in my life my general laziness has cost me hundreds of dollars in would-be cash back. oh, and free grapefruit spoons. i completely screwed the pooch on that one too. but every now and then (ok, almost never), the stars will align just right, and my laziness will somehow no longer be a factor in my ability to get more free money/stuff.  remember last weekend when i got in just under the wire (by about 30 minutes) for my rite aid P&G “grab the gold” rebate? most people bought their stuff ages ago (and probably got better deals). but not me! and now, this poor planning and general laziness is coming back to benefit me. woot!

via a twitter tip from savvychicsavings earlier this week, i found out that there was a $100 P&G coupon book up for grabs for those of who can manage to spend $50 on P&G stuff between 2/1-4/15. hey wait, i just did that! and magically, i managed not to throw out my receipt. it’s a g-d christmas miracle.

now if i can only manage to wander to the post office before april, we’ll be all set.

in the event that you are more enthusiastic about receipt hoarding and envelope licking than i am, there are actually a shit ton of rebates out there ripe for the plucking. get to it!