The most profitable tip I can ever possibly give you

Hello everyone! My apologies for the severe lack of posting over the Holiday. In addition to some much-needed extreme relaxation, I spent most of my time scrambling around doing interviews and attending events for my major.  I also actually managed to score the BEST freebie of my life to date over break: a FREE trip to New York City, 2 nights FREE in the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, and a FREE cocktail hour and dinner (valued at $750, apparently) with top industry leaders. Oh, and I'll be getting a FREE check for $5,000.  Total worth of freebie? $6,600. It inspired me to write this post, which details The most profitable tip I can ever possibly give you. (How Profitable? It could potentially pay for your entire tuition.)

 So how'd I do it? I entered and won a Merit-Based Scholarship. There are tons of them out there, and they're yours for the winning. If you can find 'em, enter 'em! Few people actually do, which means if you really take it seriously and put your heart into it, you've got a GREAT chance of winning. I only wish I'd known this before my last year in college! I've been discovering many amazing scholarships this year, and I want to share them with you, my readers, so that some of you can take advantage of these amazing opportunities. Not only do they  frequently pay in cash, but they look SO, SO, SO good on your resume. Having won a merit-based scholarship says to hiring managers that you have initiative and drive, seek out opportunities for yourself, take on extra projects and have a competitive edge. In short, the perfect hire!

So how do you go about finding these opportunities? In my case, I get a lot of emails sent out major-wide from my advisor, so I'm going to share a couple of those with you. I also hear them mentioned in classes (write those down and ask the professor about them afterwards!) and, of course, if you search around online, you can find them easily.  Also look at public bulletin boards on campus: not only are they great for finding new activities to go to, but they frequently advertise scholarships.  Look for scholarships offered for anything you participate in on campus: your dorm may have one, your major probably has a few, and any clubs/activities you're involved in may offer some as well. Here are some major-based scholarships I've found to share with you all. Get working!


For All Universities


- Sign up for these sites: http://www.meritaid.com/, http://www.scholarships.com/, http://www.fastweb.com/ and use them to search for scholarships to apply for
- Google "Merit Based Scholarships [Your School's Name]" and you should get some good results

For Indiana University Students
Your department's page will have a section titled "Scholarships." Go there to view all available scholarships for your major.

THE 2012 HENRY A. BERN MEMORIAL ESSAY COMPETITION
PRIZE: $1,500
Deadline: Tuesday, May 15, 2012
ELIGIBILITY: Any current Indiana University Bloomington undergraduate student.
Details: Read More Here

Apparel Merchandising and Interior Design Scholarships
PRIZE: Varies by specific scholarship, deducted from your bursar bill next fall semester
Deadline: January 18th, 2012
ELIGIBILITY: Scholarships are open to Indiana University Bloomington students who are either majoring in Apparel Merchandising, Fashion Design, Interior Design, or are earning the Fashion Design Certificate. (Not seniors, though, apparently).
Details: Common Application and Details Here

IUAA Alumni Scholarships
PRIZE: Varies by specific scholarship
ELIGIBILITY: Depends per scholarship - some are based on location, some campus, some group affiliation, and more.
Details: Read More and View All Available Scholarships Here

Oh - and the scholarship I won? It was the Y.M.A Fashion Scholarship Fund. If your school is a participating member, and you know a thing or two about fashion (either design or the business/merchandising aspect), you can apply next fall!

So what are you waiting for? Go win some scholarships! 


Want to know about new freebies, samples, deals and money-saving as soon as they happen? Follow The Broke Student's Guide on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

Freebies Scores from September and October

I've recieved lots of freebies since school started back up, but I haven't had a chance to post them yet! Of course that means several of them are already gone (RIP,  full-sized candy bars from the Hershey's booth at the career fair that I ate almost immediately) but I gathered together my remaining goodies to post them! Here we go.

Career Fair Goodies: Goody hair elastics (see what I did there with the "goodies" thing? eh?), Bath & Body Works Snow Kissed Berry shower gel, Target and Marathon water bottles, Cintas hand sanitizer, Chase piggy keychain, pedometer, Discover sunglasses, free song from Gap Careers, thumb drive, bottle opener keychain, Bon-Ton stores flip flop keychain. Not pictured: like 6 full-sized Hershey products, 6 adorable greeting cards from American Greetings, reusable bags from Sears, Target and Bon-Ton Stores, another thumb-drive, and a bunch of pens and highlighters. And some business cards from some seriously kickass recruiters ;) Seriously you guys, career fairs are awesome for ALL the right reasons. 

Mailed Freebies: Target beauty bag containing Pond's facial wipes, Garnier Fructis shampoo/conditioner sample, John Frieda shampoo/conditioner sampler, Burt's Bees moisturizer sample, Loreal Youth Code sample, and Tresemme Naturals sample; Origins night cream; Ojon serum; Infusium 23 hair treatment; Nivea body wash; Zantac pills; Obestrim pills; Youtonics collagen drink; Splenda with antioxidants samples; Tripliderm moisturizer; Wake Up Joe coffee; John Frieda shampoo/conditioner samples; Frederic Fekkai shampoo/conditioner and treatment samples; Glamour, Runway, Woman's Day, Family Circle and Good Housekeeping magazines

On-Campus Freebies: Kleenex, First-Aid kit, Aetna hand sanitizer (thanks, IU Health Center! They also have condoms and sunscreen on the 3rd floor. And a bunch of other stuff, listed here.)

Redeemed Freebies: Eureka! Cordless Vacuum cleaner  from Amazon.com using my  Swagbucks gift cards (read more about Swagbucks in this entry); HauteLook LORAC exclusive eyeshadow palette (learn more about Hautelook in this entry); check from BestMark.com for mystery shopping. (Note: if you sign up for BestMark, please enter my shopper ID, MO5014, on the 2nd page as your referrer!) Not Pictured: $100 or so and a ton of free meals from other Mystery Shopping companies (learn more about Mystery Shopping in this entry), and more stuff from Amazon via Swagbucks - milk frother, coffee machine, and some super cute boots.

So there you have it! What goodies have you received this month? Post 'em up here or on my Facebook page!

Want to know about new freebies, samples, deals and money-saving as soon as they happen? Follow The Broke Student's Guide on Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

My Free Scores from July

Sorry for the lack of updates this past couple of weeks - I was visiting family. Next time I will write some blog entries in advance so it's not quite so obvious when I dissappear :( Oops! Anyway, back to your regularly scheduled blog entry. As it is almost the last day of July (which, BY THE WAY, is also the day that the Broke Student Giveaway ends - have you entered yet?) I attempted to compile all of my freebies to take pictures of them. The following is the best representation I could manage of the freebies I got in July!


I got a ton of samples from my local Sephora - they are so, so generous with their samples! I just asked for "hair samples" and they gave me a zillion. I also was lucky enough to snag that full-sized Tide detergent sample, that's going to be super useful this semester! And I took a survey about Tom's Toothpaste that ended up sending me an entire free tube!

Some of the samples are representative of free gift cards- like that Fashion & Textiles Careers Guide and the 100% Pure Moisturizer, which I bought with about $40 worth of Amazon Gift Cards from Swagbucks. Not pictured at all are the $20 worth of Paypal gift cards from Swagbucks as well. I also received a $40 paypal check from TreasureTrooper ! Ahh, I love paid-to sites.

There are also some samples pictured which aren't redeemed yet - like the JIF Peanut Butter To Go cups, which I need to get from Target, or the McDonald's Free Ice Cream Cone reward which I purchased from Recyclebank (for only 100 credits, which takes NO time at all to earn!) And of course, there are also other samples that I couldn't take a picture of at all - like the free Noodles & Company salad plus a shirt worth 10 additional free salads! But hopefully you get the idea.

All of these samples were written about on the blog, so if you have yet to catch a Freebies and Deals of the Week post, keep your eyes peeled! I post every sample as I find it on my Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr.

My Freebie Scores for the Month of June

I got lots of freebies for the month of June! One quick note - that bag of Sunchips was supposed to be a visual depiction of the manufacturer's coupon next to it for one FREE bag of Sunchips, Lay's or Tostito's. I didn't realize it was actually for a much bigger bag, so what I actually got was the big bag of Tostito's! Anyway. Here's what I got for FREE in June:

-(5) $5 Amazon Gift Cards totalling $25 from Swagbucks.com

-(1) Check from InboxDollars for $35

-(6) Travel Set of Macadamia Nut Oil Haircare using credits from HauteLook

-(12) Honest Teas from CVS (Available until 7/2, Learn More)

-(1) Pringles On-The-Go can from CVS (Available until 7/2, Learn More)

-(1) Large bag of Tostito's (Coupon from writing to companies)

-(2) Hershey's Air Delight Chocolate Bars from CVS

-(1) Hands-Free Mobile Headset from 1saleaday.com

-(2) Packets of Miralax

-(1) Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Sample

-(1) Gold Bond Body Wash Sample

-(1) John Frieda Haircare Sample

-(5) DHC Skincare Samples

-(3) AG Hair Care Samples

-(1) Brewer's Yeast Sample

The best scores were the Honest Tea (12 of them! For free!) and other freebies from CVS, as well as the Macadamia Nut Oil set! I'm going to be hitting up CVS a lot more often in the future.

So, did you get anything this month? Comment and tell me what you received, or post a pic to the Facebook!

The Broke Student GIVEAWAY!

So I've been wanting to do a giveaway for a while. It's what blogs do, you know, when they have ~sponsors~ and such to give them free things to give away and it gets them all sorts of attention and whatnot. Well, good for them. I don't have any sponsors, and I haven't sold any advertising to anyone. Plus, I'm broke (you might have guessed). So I didn't know what on earth I was going to give away.

Then, it hit me. I've amassed quite a collection of stuff that I've gotten for free, and there's quite a lot of it that I just haven't used and probably won't use. So, I figured, why not give some of it away to you, my readers? I put together a collection of brand new, unused, unopened, 100% awesome stuff that I got entirely for free (not from a sponsor, just from the stuff I share in the blog with you!) and I'm going to be giving it away to 1 lucky reader. (Don't worry - with the amount of free stuff I obtain, more giveaways will absolutely occur in the future!)

Sure, whatever, it's not a $100 cookware set, or a Coach bag, but you know what? This is the Broke Student's Guide, and I'm a broke student. Maybe it's not the most amazing thing ever to be given away. But hey! When you win, you can brag to all of your friends about all the stuff you got for free. So that's cool. Also, I'm giving away a LOT of it. So there's that. Here are the goodies you'll receive:


-(1) Zippered Macadamia Natural Oil Pouch (containing beauty samples)
-(2) Pantene Brunette Expressions Shampoo + Conditioner Samples
-(1) Pantene Color Preserve Shine Shampoo Sample Bottle
-(1) Bain de Terre Sugar & Fig Scalp Massage Scrub
-(1) Paul Mitchell Fast Form Cream Gel sample
-(1) Oscar Blandi Olio di Jasmine Hair Serum
-(1) Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo sample
-(1) Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss sample in Hot Pink
-(1) Gold Bond Ultimate Deep Moisture Body Wash with Aloe, + $1 off coupon
-(1) Chocolate Mud Masque for anti-stress and deep pore cleansing
-(2) Cover Girl NatureLuxe foundation samples in Aspen and Maple
-(1) AG Colour Care Colour Savour sulfate-free shampoo sample
-(1) Bodycology Coconut Lime Lotion and Body Mist samples
-(1) Wet 'n Wild Eyeliner in Emerald
-(1) Prada Eau de Parfum Sample
-(1) Box of Peppermint Mints
-(2) Miralax Laxative Travel-Size Samples
-(1) Essential Amino Energy Concord Grape flavored drink mix
-(1) Total Omega 369 Swirl Orange Cream flavored drink mix
-(1) Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Quaker Chewy Granola Bar
-(1) Packet of Brewer's Yeast
-(2) $1 off Kahiki Products Manufacturer's Coupons
-(1) Diabetic Cooking Cookbook
-(3) Mickey Mouse Stickers from Disney World
-(6) Art Postcards by ArtMind
-(2) Disney's Cars Singing Birthday Cards by Hallmark, including envelopes
-(2) "Coconut" Singing Birthday Cards by Hallmark, including envelopes
Total: 40 Items

Click the pictures to enlarge




So how can you win all this schwag? Complete one or more of the following. Once you complete an item, post a comment on this blog post including your email address. Each one you complete, along with each comment, equals one entry. Make sure you leave a separate comment for each entry! At the end of the giveaway, I will use a random-number generator to pick a comment at random. If yours is chosen, you will win the giveaway! (Note: if your entry is invalid - say, you did not complete what you claimed - you will not be eligible for the prize, and a new winner will be chosen.) You will receive entries for EACH of the following:

1. Leave a comment about your favorite entry from The Broke Student's Guide, and how it helped you save money or get something for free! Limit: (1)

2. Follow The Blog using either Google or Blogger. There's a "Follow" button on the right-hand side of the blog! Once you've followed, comment with your Google ID and email address. Limit: (1)

3. Follow The Facebook for (1) entry. Comment with a link to your facebook and your email address. Limit: (1)

4. Follow The Tumblr for (1) entry. Comment with a link to your tumblr and your email address. If you have multiple tumblrs, you will recieve (1) entry for EACH tumblr you use to follow the blog, up to 3. Limit: (3)

5. Follow The Twitter for (1) entry. Comment with a link to your twitter and your email address. Limit: (1)

6. Promote the giveaway on a social networking site or blog - receive (1) entry for EACH time you link to this post, OR link to any page on the blog. Comment in this post with a link to where you promoted the blog and an email address for (1) entry per EACH link. Limit: (2) per day.
You can copy and past the following:

Win 40 FREE samples from The Broke Student's Guide! Enter the giveaway: http://bit.ly/kparLb

Total Entries Possible: 9 today, + 2 per day until July 30!

What are you waiting for? Start now! The giveaway ends on 7/30 at midnight EST.

CVS Couponing Tutorial: FREE Honest Tea, Pringles and Twizzlers

So, okay. I know I said that Extreme Couponing takes too much effort, and I prefer Casual Couponing. But sometimes, very occasionally, the stars align and there are opportunities for even the mildest of couponers to obtain Extreme Coupon status, if just for one shopping trip.

That time has come.

Allow me to explain. See that picture? With all the tea and stuff? That's $16.92 worth of groceries from CVS that I got entirely for free. Now a couple of them aren't easy to duplicate - the Hershey's bar was a coupon from last week , and the Tostito's bag was free thanks to a manufacturer's coupon I received for writing to the company - but this week, even YOU, my coupon-clueless broke college student readers, can get 6 free Honest Teas, 1 Pringles can, and $2 worth of whatever you want for FREE from CVS.
Here's a quick tutorial.

1. Step one is the most time-consuming, but it's not too bad. First, join this site: Recyclebank. It's a site where you win points for learning about recycling and green, planet-friendly stuff and can cash in your points for goodies like coupons. In our case, we're cashing it in for free tea. You'll need to get 180 points. Go to "earn points" and start taking quizzes, doing pledges, etc. I earned 300 points in about an hour last night, so it shouldn't take super long.

2. Got those points? Time to cash them in! Go to "Get Rewards" and search for "Honest Tea." You'll need to buy 3 Honest Tea coupons with your points. Now, after checking out your coupons, COPY the URL of the coupon printing page, and PASTE it into a new browser. This will allow you to print your coupons twice - for a total of 6 coupons. Now you're all set!

3. Head to CVS. Make sure you have an Extra Care card. If you don't, sign up ASAP. Once inside CVS, head to the ~Magical Coupon Machine~ (Apparently this is actually what it's called, it's just a red scanny machine thingy that prints coupons) and scan your Extra Care card. It should print you out 3 coupons - one for Twizzlers, one for Dove, and one for Pringles on-the-go. If it doesn't print that for you, no big deal, you'll still get free tea and something else for $2.

4. Grab 6 Honest Teas. The Orange Mango ones weren't part of the deal at my local CVS, so make sure the ones you grabbed are marked "5/$5.00." Also if you got the Pringles coupon, go ahead and grab that can of Pringles On-The-Go. They're $1.00 this week!


5. When you go to purchase your Honest Tea, it will print you out a $2 "Extra Care Buck" that is just like getting $2 cash for anything in the store! Here's an idea: if you also got that Twizzler's coupon, stack your $2 ECB with your $1 off Twizzler's coupon for FREE Twizzlers! Or how about a couple 2-liters of Coke? They're only $.79 this week. Enjoy!

Freebies and Deals of the Week!

I apologize for the lack of updates recently. As it is summer and I am suddenly blessed with enough free time to actually get a job, I went and got 3. Now I have no free time again. So things are basically back to normal, except I have a paltry income and thus one less thing to complain about. Yay summer! Now, back to free stuff and whatnot.

FREE Adidas Pack of Briefs or T-shirts at any Adidas Outlet: Print Coupon

FREE Tub-O-Towels Sample: Click Here

FREE Lanacane Anti-Chafing Gel (aka foundation primer for us makeup addicts): Click Here

FREE Seoul Photography book from National Geographic: Click Here

FREE Shield Immunity Defense Booster: "Like" the Facebook Page

FREE stuff from Auto Zone ($5 off a $5+ purchase!) *Ends 6/9* Print Coupon

FREE Sample of Prilosec OTC Click Here

FREE Sample of Trilipiderm Moisture Retention Cream: Click Here

FREE Jack Daniels Custom Labels: Click Here

FREE Sample of Playtex Tampons or Wipes: Click Here

FREE Hot Fudge Cake from Shoney's: "Like" the Facebook Page

FREE Nescafe Taster's Choice Coffee Sample: Click Here

FREE Skittles from Quick Chek: "Like" the Facebook Page

FREE Movies from Blockbuster Express Kiosks - These codes expire June 13th!

25ASJA9
29BACC2
25JBHS7
26RRAP8

Buy One, Get One FREE High Octane Energy Chews! Print Coupon

Get a FREE travel-sized product from Bath & Body Works with ANY purchase! (Hint: buy something under $2 for the best value!) Print Coupon

Get 80% off at Restaurants.com, just enter code "DEAL" at checkout and pay only $2 for a $25 Certificate at a restaurant near you! TIP: Go through MyPoints.com to get 5 points per dollar spent! Leave a comment or email me for an invitation to MyPoints!

And just as a brief reminder of why free stuff is awesome, here's a pic of some freebies I recieved in May (there is another pic at the beginning of the post! See that hands-free mobile headset? That's the one from this post - what a great freebie!)


What did you get in May? Comment below or on my Facebook Wall to share!

Freebies of the Week! Hope you're hungry.

You might notice that giant picture of a cheese pizza... you know, the one with that 0.00 price tag. Yup, that's right - Papa John's is giving away FREE Medium Cheese Pizzas! This is 100% confirmed legit as evidenced by that delicious pizza in the picture (which is now mostly eaten). Just go online to http://papajohns.com and enter "MKCQOW" in the "Promo Code" box to credit your FREE pizza. Then go pick it up at the closest Papa John's! Best. Freebie. Ever. (Note: this might not be available for long - so hurry!)


Next we have Free Bagel & Cream Cheese at Bruegger’s! Coupon here.

FREE Quick Freeze at Quick Chek! Print Coupon Here

FREE Arby's Grilled Chicken & Pecan Salad with purchase of a 22oz drink! Print Coupon Here

May 10th is Free Cone Day at participating Haagen-Dazs shops. Stop by from 4-8 p.m. and receive a free scoop of your favorite flavor. http://www.facebook.com/haagendazsshops

FREE Ironman Sports Drink! Print Coupon Here

And something for you to do while you're enjoying all that free food. FREE Redbox Movie Rental on 5/12! http://www.redboxmoviefanfreebie.com/

And a few mail-in free samples as well! You know, so your hair can look pretty while you watch that free movie and eat that free pizza.

Dove Haircare Sample! Click Here
John Frieda Root Awakening Haircare Sample Click Here
Garnier Fructis Anti-Dandruff Shampoo Sample Click Here

Free full-sized Ojon shampoo and conditioner on May 12 at select Sephoras - Beauty Insiders Only! Bring in any empty full-size shampoo or conditioner on May 12, 2011 and receive one full-size set of damage reverse™ Restorative Shampoo and Conditioner for free.

And finally, something to wear with your pretty hair and pizza and free movie. Like the Bicardi FB page to get a FREE t-shirt. You need to be 21 or older, void in California, Utah. http://www.facebook.com/bacardi

Oh, and Kmart has like 10 samples as well, so check those out! Click Here

Enjoy! Don't forget to post pictures of the freebies you receive on the Broke Student Guide Facebook Page.

Freebies I've received lately!

Here are some of the freebies I've received lately! Pictured here are:

- Tangled Disney free tote bag from Earth Day (my boyfriend got a Mickey Mouse one!)

-Free Origins cleanser from Earth Day

-Free Too Faced palette from Sephora, it's a Beauty Insider VIB 500 point perk!
This one took me YEARS of gift cards to finally earn, but it's SO worth it!)

-Free Beauty Bag from Target with Fredrick Fekkai shampoo/conditioner sample, Nivea lotion bottle, Pantene shampoo bottle, full-sized Neutrogena lip balm, and Revlon lipstick sample.

- 2 free comic books from Free Comic Book day last year! This year's Free Comic Book day is coming up on May 7th!

-Cup, cupholder, mints and pen from a free career day event. Remember that career days and job fairs are not only crucial for your future career, but they are PACKED with freebies and goodies from all kinds of companies! I have an endless supply of plastic cups, pens and stress balls thanks to them.

-Free Hallmark cards from a free career day event. Sometimes they do give out actual products at career days/fairs; I've gotten a few from Hallmark and Proctor & Gamble.

-Free Bath & Body Works Into the Wild lotion and travel-sized Signature Item lotion (free with purchase using coupon)

-Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Perfume Sample

Whew! What have you recieved lately? Take some pics and post 'em up! You can find more pictures of my freebie scores at the Broke Student Guide facebok page.

Also, I've added a tag called "My Freebie Scores" that references posts with pictures of the freebies I've gotten, in case anyone is interested!

Happy Earth Day!

Today is Earth Day! So go turn off some lights, recycle some of those empty beer cans and red cups, and get some free stuff! There are tons of awesome free Earth Day deals to take advantage of today. If you missed my previous post, here they are again, with a bunch of new ones!

If you sign up at RecycleBank, you can earn "points" for stuff like recycling and learning about how to be greener. You can then cash those in for prizes. Right now they have 3 coupons for Free stuff at McDonalds - oatmeal, a salad, a latte - and a BUNCH of other free coupons and stuff. Perfect for Earth Day!

Get a Free Dream Angels Heavenly Perfume from Victoria's Secret!

Treat yourself to a Free milkshake from Rally's and free pretzels on April 26th, and then some Free Garlic Fries. I hope you're hungry.

Bring in 5 plastic shopping bags to your local Disney store on April 22 and receive a FREE Disney reusable tote bag!

FREE Coffee at Starbucks when you bring in a reusable travel mug on April 22! More Details Here

FREE coffee from Caribou Coffee on Earth Day when you bring in a reuseable travel mug! More Details Here

From April 16 through April 24, the country celebrates National Park Week. Get free admission to all national parks this week! More Details Here

Bring in a skincare product to an Origins counter and get a FREE fullsized Origins cleanser! Click Here for Coupon

Lowe's is giving away Free Trees today! Click Here for Details

Free Milkshake from EVOS today! Click Here for Details

Enjoy!

Edited to Add: I've picked up a few of these today! The lady at Origins was so sweet, she gave me both of the cleansers since I brought in 2 products (1 was mine, 1 was my boyfriends! He needs new facewash too.) They also had FREE Godiva Chocolates, so I was in heaven. These are worth $20 each, guys!! I'm psyched. I also got my Victoria's Secret sample. There are 2 different scents so I might go back another time to pick up the other one. I'm getting the Disney bags, and free Starbucks coffee later tonight! Omg, I am such a freebie dork. Here is a pic of what I got today:

HauteLook aka Free Designer Clothing and Beauty Products!

A while back I wrote an entry on websites that sell designer and brand name clothing at drastically reduced prices during brief private sales, listing a few of my favorites. However, I didn't spend quite enough time raving about my #1 favorite site to purchase inexpensive clothing/beauty products/everything on: HauteLook.com. I am obsessed with this site. Not just because they have awesome brands that I love with surprising frequency (some common ones are Juicy Couture, American Apparel, LORAC and Urban Decay) but because I get lots and lots of FREE stuff from HauteLook. Yes, FREE. See all those pictures on this post? They are all pictures of items I got 100% for FREE. So, how did I get so much free stuff - and more importantly, how can YOU get that much free stuff?

The answer is referrals. Because HauteLook is an invite-only site, everyone who signs up needs an invitation. For every invitation that YOU give out that is accepted, the new HauteLook member becomes your referral. When they make their first purchase on HauteLook, you get $10 in credits. You can then use that $10 just like real cash towards any items on the site (including shipping for your purchase!) making that $10 worth of FREE STUFF that you just got. Now, say you refer a bunch of your friends - say, 10 of them. 5 of them purchase something on HauteLook. Guess what? You just made $50. Go buy yourself a new outfit.

It didn't take me long to build up referrals, since I'm a fashion design major and LOTS of my friends are into beauty/makeup. According to HauteLook, I've received $460.00 in free credits and have $1,930.00 of credits waiting to happen once my referrals make that first purchase. (Seem like a lot? It is - I've been a member on the site for a couple of years, and tell EVERYONE about this site!) Some tips to get referrals: post your invite link on your Facebook.... frequently. Post every time there's a good sale. Post every time YOU purchase something, so people see how awesome it is and then sign up and purchase it themselves. Post it to your twitter. Post it on any and all other forms of social networking that you have, and then do it a couple more times for good measure.

As for the site and its products, it's super legit. Everything I've received from the site has been just as high quality as I expected. Their customer service is great: once they even comped me on the purchase of a tinted moisturizer I purchased because it was too light; another time, they refunded me the full price of a purchase plus a $20 credit because of a shipping error! I literally have purchased so much from them that I have their customer service number saved in my phone (sometimes shipping takes longer than expected, so I just call up and check on it). It's definetly a great site to get bargain prices on name brand, designer and high quality products and I absolutely recommend it. Plus - allow me to repeat - LOOK AT ALL THAT FREE STUFF. Also - the pictures don't depict EVERYTHING I've gotten free from HauteLook. I have other stuff that I didn't even take pictures of yet. To see some more pictures, visit The Broke Student Guide;s Facebook page.

So what are you waiting for? Sign up and start earning some referrals! Click Here to Sign Up!

Freebies and Deals of the Week!

There are some great Valentine's Day freebies and deals happening right now!

FREE Slice of pie at waffle house with coupon. Valid until Feb 16th. Click Here for Coupon

FREE Lace Panty and Mini Purse with any PINK purchase. Buy a PINK lollipop for $1 – it counts! For new & existing Pink Nation rewards members. http://www.vspink.com

FREE $2 amazon mp3 credit! Enter code VDAYMP3S to get $2 MP3 credit. http://amzn.to/eA4dRP

FREE Boston - NY Bus Trip from Monday, Feb. 14 through Thursday, Feb. 17. Valentine's Day promotion: The line, which offers free WiFi and power outlets, will make tickets available online starting Tuesday Feb. 8 at 10 a.m. It's first-come, first served, and you're limited to two round-trips per person. The company will run about three round-trips daily between Boston and New York in that period. World Wide plans to give away all available seats, which it estimates will amount to more than 1,000 fares. http://www.worldwidebus.com/

Free sample box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares: Click Here

‎80% off Restaurant.com gift certificates, and a free $10 gift card with every order! $2 for $25 gift certificates? Yes please. Use code "Love" at checkout. http://bit.ly/dTB430

And a picture of the groceries I got for FREE last week using the coupons that I received from writing to companies! Read more about that.

These were all posted on my Facebook and Twitter before I posted them here, so if you aren't already following me, go add me!

Freebies and Free Samples of the Week!

Here are this weeks freebies and free samples! Enjoy.

John Freida Haircare Sample
Maggi Chicken Soup Sample
Always Sanitary Napkin Sample Kit
Cover Girl Foundation Sample
3 Free Bruegger's Bagels on Feb. 8th
Free Lens Cloth and Cleaner Voucher
Emergen-C Samples
Free Music Download: The Biggest Loser Workout Mix

Here's a code for a Free Movie Rental from Blockbuster Express! Use coupon code MRC37H to score your freebie. This code should be valid through 2/25/2011. Enjoy!

Also I'd like to share this freebie that I scored:

The coupon for this one is here! Just print it out and check where Veggie Patch products are carried near you.

How I saved $11,700 in college (and you can too!)

You've heard the old cliche, "every little bit counts!" You might call the people who subscribe to that notion "penny-pinchers" in a none-too-kind way. Well, I happily count myself among that group of people. And to demonstrate that penny pinching does, indeed, add up into something significantly more than a few pennies. I present, for your enjoyment, a whole bunch of numbers. (Well, how else are you supposed to believe that I saved $9,600 since starting college??) As a reward for sitting through all the numbers, I took a bunch of pictures of some of the free stuff I had sitting around for a more visual demonstration. (There are more on facebook) The point of this post, essentially, is to prove to you that reading this blog is very much worth your time. You, too, can save this much, and by doing - let's face it - not a whole lot of extra work!

First I'll start with paid-to sites because they actually earn me physical, actual money, not just savings. I've been using paid-to sites since 2007 - aka freshman year - and have made roughly $600 total. So that's an extra $150 a year for simply clicking emails and links occasionally.

When it comes to free stuff (freebies, schwag, etc), I have also been actively getting free stuff since 2007. I get about $250-$300 per year (I figured a minimum of 10 free samples a month - each month varies - valued at $2 each on average, times 12) so a total of roughly $1100 minimum since I started college.

As for general savings I have accrued, there are a few main areas where I save significantly:

Groceries: I spend about $50 a month, the average person spends about $150 a month. that's $1200 savings/year. More on thrifty grocery shopping in this entry.

Textbooks, I save about $300 a semester selling back and buying carefully - read more on that here. The average college student spends probably $600. That's twice a year, so $600 savings/year.

Clothing, I spend a lot on clothing but I buy all of it at reduced prices! I'd say I save $800 each semester if you take the reduced price from what the full retail price would have been if I'd paid it. Read more on thrifty clothes shopping here and here. Savings: $1600/year.

Eating out, I use Restaurant.com coupons with emailed 80% off codes (making a $25 gift certificate cost only $2) and I also save with things like birthday freebies, email clubs that send free appetizer coupons and such, and finding coupons online before I go out anywhere. I'd say I save about $300 a semester, so $600/year.

Total savings: $4,000 a year

I've been consciously saving for only about 2.5 years though. So that's a total of $10,000. Adding in $600 for paid-to sites and $1100 of freebies, and I've saved $11,700 or so since I began college. Not bad! See what I mean about how every penny counts?

Now, onto the photos!

Lots of freebies! These come from all over, so ask me if you have any questions about where I got specific ones. The perfume samples are all awesome for travelling or putting in my purse or gym bag to carry around. Actually, so are all the little bath/beauty samples. I never have to buy travel-sized anything!

I get a lot of free magazine subscriptions. I stopped paying for magazines a long time ago!

Freebies from Hautelook.com, one of my favorite sites to shop at with free credits for referrals!

These were ALL 100% free!! On my last trip to the grocery store I got $40 worth of free groceries, thanks to coupons I got from writing to companies!

These are coupons I received from writing companies! The ones with that big, bold, FREE on them are obviously my favorites. They got me lots of free groceries!

I've received a couple of these gift cards from MyPoints.com (comment for an invite) and about $50 worth of e-gift cards to Amazon from Swagbucks. They're perfect for buying Christmas presents for everyone on my list!

Freebies I've recieved! Pictured here: Tangled Disney free tote bag from Earth Day (my boyfriend has the Mickey Mouse one!); free Origins cleanser from Earth Day; free Too Faced palette from Sephora Beauty Insider VIB 500 point perk; Free Beauty Bag from Target with Fredrick Fekkai shampoo/conditioner sample, Nivea lotion, Pantene shampoo, Neutrogena lip balm, and Revlon lipstick; 2 free comic books from Free Comic Book day last year (coming up on May 7th!); cup, cupholder, mints and pen from a free career day event; Free Hallmark cards from a free career day event; Free Bath & Body Works Into the Wild lotion and Signature Item lotion (free with purchase using coupon); Victoria's Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Perfume Sample. Whew!

You can see more pictures on the Broke Student Guide Facebook page, and be sure to "Like" us to receive daily status updates on free sample opportunities, new entries and more!

10 Freebies I've Gotten Lately

I've been getting a decent amount of freebies lately because my 21st birthday is tomorrow (yay!) and I spent a few days last month writing companies for free coupons. (Check out my entries on how to get free things for birthdays and by writing companies!) Here are some of the freebies I've gotten lately, and how I've gotten them:

1. Free iPhone holder (that fits the iTouch 3!) from Sephora for downloading the free Sephora App. (Just download the App, walk into any Sephora and show it to them. They will give you either a iPhone 3 or 4 Sephora cover.)
2. Free eyeliner, eyeshadow and mascara from Sephora for my birthday.
3. Free entree and free piece of cake from Mimi's Cafe for my birthday
4. Free scoop of Baskin Robbin's ice cream
5. Free entree from Noodles and Company for my birthday
6. Free Stash tea bags from writing the Stash Tea company and complimenting them.
7. Free Van's products for writing Van's and telling them I loved their waffles.
8. Free Clif Z-bars for writing Clif and telling them I love Z-bars.
9. Free White Castle burgers (6 total) for writing White Castle and complimenting them.
10. Free Jägermeister wifebeater and poster for writing Jägermeister and telling them it was my 21st birthday.
11. Free Aveda sampler of Smooth Infusion products. Get the coupon here.
12. Free Cold Stone Creamery ice cream for my birthday.
13. Free package of Lofthouse cookies for my birthday from Lofthouse Cookies. I wrote them a compliment letter.

Hopefully I'll have more soon - and I'll try to get pictures of the stuff I have received as well!

Freebies!

First and foremost: WHAT are freebies? Freebies are free samples, products, or promotional materials sent out by companies to promote their product, service, or brand: they typically are small samples of new products, anywhere from a travel-size bottle of shampoo to a free pack of gum. They are completely free, available to whoever signs up to receive them online. Freebies can also refer to schwag, or the free items you can get in giveaways, at career fair booths, or various places around campus and online. Schwag can be anywhere from a full-sized product or complimentary service to a free pen or pencil (but pens and pencils aren't cool, you say! Well, imagine how much money you would save if all of your pens or pencils were free for all 4 years at college. Maybe not enough to buy a car, but certainest enough for a shirt or a yummy dinner! Remember- it all adds up.)

I am a freebie addict, as you can see in the picture above, which is a typical haul for a month of casual freebie sign-ups for me. I get a variety of magazines for free, lots of snack foods, and tons of beauty products - I sign up for just about every beauty freebie there is, and most of the food freebies! There are so many companies out there looking to get the word out about their product. Is it effective, you might be wondering? In my case, yes - I will certainly admit to buying a full-sized product of some of the samples I've received, and I also spread word-of-mouth praise on companies who I feel strongly about. Freebies are a great way to create brand loyalty and positive perception in a target demographic. OK - no more lecturing, sorry! I sound like my marketing professor.

Now here's what you really wanna know. Where can I get some freebies?! Well the first thing you need to do is click the little "Follow" link at the very top of the page, because I'll be posting my favorite freebie picks on the blog weekly to make it easy for you. Go on, click it. Now that you've Followed me, here are my choices for the best places to find freebies:

1. http://www.frugal-freebies.com/ Frugal Freebies reports Freebies daily for the US and Canada. It can be a lot to sift through but I always find some good ones!

2. http://community.livejournal.com/freestuff/ LiveJournal? Isn't that for like, emo kids in the early 2000's? Well, you're not wrong, but LiveJournal is also a thriving social network site with a huge demographic of users surfing its "communities" (like message boards) daily. This community/board is specifically for posting freebies, and with nearly 10,000 members all searching and reporting their freebie finds, there are usually daily posts with some good freebie links. The catch is you have to be a member of LJ to "Join" the community, but I promise it's worth it!

3. http://www.freeflys.com/ This site is great because the freebies are categorized. I mainly only sign up for food and beauty samples, so I love that I have the ability to filter out my freebie selections on Free Flys.

4. Wal Mart Samples Wal Mart has weekly rotating samples available for consumers to sign up for. These are great because they are extremely reliable. Wal Mart ALWAYS sends its freebies (sometimes a company runs out or just doesn't send it for some reason). It's also pretty quick with shipping, usually within a month. They switch out about once a week and usually have 3-4 samples from various categories. The selection isn't the best but they are a good one to check. Also personally I hate Wal Mart as a company so I love the idea that I'm costing them money to send me free products, muahaha.

5. http://www.shop4freebies.com/ This one also has categories to search though, and a rating system so that people who have received the freebie can rate it for potential freebie receivers.

Looking for more freebies? Try Googling "Free Samples," you'll get tons of results. Some rules to keep in mind, though:

-Not all freebies are legit. A legit freebie site will typically be on the actual company's website (look for a URL like this: http://candybarbrandname.com/free_candy_bar_sample.html )If the site doesn't seem legit, it may just be trying to collect information. A real freebie also only asks for your address to send the freebie, and will typically have an opt-in option for its newsletter and maybe a couple of other relevant questions. Never fill out a long survey with pages of ads for a freebie.

-Yes, you have to give out your address to receive your freebie. If this makes you nervous, get a post office box!

-Freebies usually take 4-6 weeks to arrive, so don't expect things to start arriving on your doorstep immediately.

Next week I will begin listing my favorite freebie picks!