How to get ten awesome things for free

There’s nothing like getting something for free. If you’re like me, you’ll love a bargain and anything that has the words “sample”, “freebie” or “trial inside”. Well, I’ve recently learnt that there are some things I can do to get more for less. And by less, I mean free.

Here are ten things that we can all be getting for free. Take a look and add any more great ideas in the comments below!

1. Free plants and herbs

Local councils all around Australia provide free native plants programs and give away native plants for planting on private properties. Take a look at your council website to see what plants you are able to get. There are also new community gardens sprouting up all around Australian capital cities. In South Bank in Brisbane there is a beautiful herb garden that is available to the public so anyone can come and get some fresh herbs for dinner. Take a look at your local council website to see if one is near you and if not, why not try making one yourself?

2. Free music

There are more and more ways to listen to music for free online every day. Online streaming makes it so easy as long as you have a strong internet connection. Try Pandora radio music stations, Spotify or digital radio (including the ABC channels) and you can get all of your listening online with ease.

3. Free answers to IT questions

If you’ve ever had a computer problem or need to solve a hardware glitch, you can find your answer online without having to pay big dollars for a professional technician to visit your home. Some platforms provide free, fast, and accurate online technical support from real people. You can ask any question no matter how big or small and the 24 hour service teams will do their best to respond to you within a couple of minutes. Some of the best sites include: http://www.techguy.org/ www.computerhope.com and www.protonic.com.

4. Free gym equipment 

Parks all over Australia now have funky looking gym equipment frames available for public use. They range from simple, static equipment for chin-ups, sit-ups and step-ups, to new interactive and movable equipment with cardio and resistance features (similar to indoor fitness equipment) such as rowing and stepping machines. Better yet they all have instructions so you wont get confused!

5. Free recipes

There are thousands of recipes online, all you have to do is a quick Google search and you should find all that you need. You can even take a look at the Starts at 60 recipe page to see if any tickle your fancy there!

6. Free music sheets

If you’re a music buff and love to play piano, guitar or anything else, you can be getting your materials for free and can stop paying big prices for the books. Sites like, www.mutopiaproject.org have over 1200 free music sheets ready for you to download.

7. Free apps

A website, FreeAppOfTheDay sends you a daily link for free Android or Apple apps. The perk is that normally when you look at the App store it costs from $0.99 to $3.00, but now you can have it for free! But hurry, the link is only available for 24 hours so be quick when they send them through. The “Free Apps” section of the app stores often contains “lite” versions of paid apps with somewhat limited features but still most of the functionality so you can try them too.

8. Free ebooks

You can download free ebooks for iPad or iPhone by heading into the “Free” section on the Apple bookstore. You can download some great books by upcoming authors or find a classic that you would love to read. www.free-ebooks.net is another great site that lets you search by category for free ebooks to download to your device as a PDF. Just make sure you have a PDF reader app installed too! www.bookboon.com is another site that contains free downloadable educational ebooks so if you’re in the mood for some learning or intellect then take a look at what you can download here.

9. Free fitness classes

Local communities everywhere hold free fitness classes and events. You could attend a free pilates in the park or a free park run. Do a Google search for free pilates or yoga within your suburb to see what is available to you or head to www.parkrun.com.au to join in a free, timed 5km walk or run near you.

10. Free information

Head down to your local library and you have a whole host of information available to you. You can read newspapers, magazines, use free internet or even have a look through scientific journals.