Free Money Free Stuff: The Select Guide to Public and Private Deals, Steals, and Giveaways [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

RD Editors (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Readers Digest (January 24, 2008)
• ISBN-10: 0762109033
• ASIN: B002FL5J2G
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Advice, May 20, 2008

By 

Lucky Lady (Los Angeles County, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Free Money Free Stuff: The Select Guide to Public and Private Deals, Steals, and Giveaways (Paperback)

I am single and therefore I gave this book only 4 stars. Many of the chapters I could not use the information because they were aimed at seniors or school aged children, etc. However there are many great ideas in the book. I would recommend this book for families more than individuals.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dated and Specific, January 23, 2011

By 

Lisa Shea "medieval swordfighting enthusiast" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Free Money Free Stuff: The Select Guide to Public and Private Deals, Steals, and Giveaways (Paperback)

The first thing to keep in mind with this book is that it was published in early 2008 - meaning it was actually written in 2007 - and many of the pages they provide are from much older information. So if you are reading this book in 2011 or later, you are reading about things that are at least four years old. It's sort of like reading a four year old book about the latest medical research. In some areas timeliness really does matter.

The basics, of course, are sound. Buy used if possible. Reuse and repair what you have. Comparison shop. Cut coupons. These are all things that we know already and they don't involve "free stuff" news.

So what are the actual 'free money and free stuff' the book helps you learn about? Sign up for food stamps. Get free information from websites (wait, like instead of buying this book?) Use Skype for free conversations (although of course you have to pay for the internet connection so technically that's not quite free). For $28, get a flag that's been flown on the capitol. Wait, that's not free. Get discount eyeglass frames by going to a discount eyeglass frame website. Again, not free, and this is starting to sound like advertising for certain websites.

A *lot* of the advice is "go to website X and sign up for their coupons" and "go to website Y and sign up for their coupons." That's not really valuable advice, the websites can go out of date fairly quickly,

It seems at least half the book is "go to this website and read it for free" or "go to that website and play their online games for free". I really don't need a book to tell me this sort of thing. The remaining pages are filled with discount websites. There's very little actual free stuff listed.

And then they have tips like: If you live in Garrett County, Maryland, you could be eligible for a scholarship. That's lovely. I imagine high schoolers in Garrett County, Maryland are already told about that by their guidance counselors.

Yes there are some legitimately free items. Go to your doctor and ask him for some free samples. Get free floss from your dentist. But again, buying this large book and weeding through everything else to hear those tidbits is just a bit much.

I recommend you do some web searching instead of buying the book. You'll get far better ideas, and they'll apply directly to what you're interested in.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Free Money Free Stuff, June 13, 2010

By 

Brice Partain - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Free Money Free Stuff: The Select Guide to Public and Private Deals, Steals, and Giveaways (Paperback)

An excellent book for today's senior citizens who want to accomplish things but are short on money to do so. I bought this book on the advice of my aunt as a good fathers day present for my dad. He is reading it now and this will help both my parents with navigating their lives without a steady paycheck.