Thursday, September 20, 2007

Free Samples


I don't know if I'm alone on this one (and I don't think I am) but I LOVE getting free samples. I love Saturday "Sample Day" at Sam's Club and getting the bag of goodies during Clinique bonus time. Actually it is the only time that I actually purchase Clinique products. Free samples have become a bigger part of my life these days for two reasons. First of all, we have less money than we used to, so products we can get for free are always welcomed. Second, Josh takes them home ALL THE TIME. Just a couple days ago he brought home a box filled with coffee creamer, a bag of dog food, dog treats, an insulated travel mug, and Sweetarts. We've also gotten stuff like Tide, Cheezits, and Post-It Notes. Yipee!! Why this stuff? Well, these days Josh often has to sit through presentations and network with recruiters from different consumer products companies in the evenings. He is already on the hunt for next summer's internship (which seems very early to me, but whatever) and some places won't even consider you if you didn't come to their sessions. It definitely keeps him busy, and can get a little stressful when combined with other school work, group meetings, and the like. But such is life. Would I trade my free samples for a hubby home in the evening? Definitely. Would he trade them for a little more relax time (or study time?) OH YES. But since he has to be gone it is at least nice to go through all of the treats with him when he returns. So what if I don't need 3 highlighters with tabs built in? Still very exciting. Too bad Toyota doesn't hand out cars. I think we got a pen from them.



... and as I was looking online for the highligher-with-tab graphic, i came across this way fun website. You can actually enter a sweepstakes to will a free Timbuk2 bag! AND - genius - if you interact with their site (basically click around a fake office and learn about Post-It products) you can get yourself more chances to win it. Some marketer somewhere was thinking!! I was very impressed. And, not surprisingly, more interested in Post-It products than I ever have been.



2 comments:

Short Stop said...

YEP...love the free samples at Costco. And, I'm the same with Clinique bonus time...I get all giddy about it! :):)

Erika said...

You crack me up, Jess, you're hilarious. :) Hey, if it's free, why not. I'm right there with ya'