Welcome to makedonikajournal.org

Following Up on Fallacies about Getting Free Stuff “Free stuff” – the mere whisper of the words is often enough to make many people throw common sense out the window and head for the free goods like a missile to a target. And then there are those people whose eyes glaze over when they hear those words, because they can’t believe anything worth having can actually be free. The truth about free stuff is really somewhere in the middle. Yes, you can really and truly cash in on many freebie deals for things that you want to have, but a healthy sense of cynicism about free gear is also useful. Here are some of the important things to keep in mind about free stuff. The first myth you should throw out the window is that nothing good comes for free. The fact of the matter is that the price tag on a good doesn’t always match up to the quality, and there are many great free things out there. Case in point: music. Sure, everyone has heard the scare stories about file sharing online, and maybe some big record labels will come after you if you focus on their artists. Dig a little below the surface, however, and you can find a whole new world of really great bands that are more than happy for you to listen to their music over and over again. The same goes for free software. People on the cutting edge of technology who have a passion for creating new and efficient applications often develop open source code software. They’re doing it for the love of it, and they often have more talent than any ten suit-and-tie tech guys trying to hock their latest product for a mega profit margin. Here is where the reality part comes in, however. Yes, you can find wonderful things that are completely free – but yes, you can also find a lot of free things that aren’t worth your time at all and in some cases can cause you a lot of trouble. The net is a great place to fall victim to a “free stuff” scam, but you can also sometimes come across these scams in the mail as well. If something is free, but requires you to give your credit card number or bank details, run the other way. Another myth people have about free stuff, especially free stuff on the internet, is that when you try to cash in, the only free stuff you will be getting is an inbox full of more spam than you can handle. The truth about this is, well, that is can certainly be true. Many companies give away free things in exchange for your email address, so they can try to hit you up to purchase things in the future. What makes this a myth, however, is that it can be avoided. If you don’t want to choke on an inbox of spam, and who could blame you, set up a special (free) email account that you will use exclusively for freebie hunting. You’ll have the best of both worlds. The last myth about free stuff involves the “catch” people are always looking for. Often, for free stuff, the catch is a bit of junk mail or email or the fact that you have to submit to a time consuming survey. Sometimes, the catch is that if you get free stuff through a trial offer, if you don’t cancel it, it keeps coming, and this time you have to pay. The truth about these catches is, however, that the catch is in the eye of the beholder. These things don’t make products any less free; so don’t write off every free offer offhand. You might just find a catch you can live with to get a great free product you really want.

Taking Advantage of a Free Service to Find Great Grocery Deals Are you interested in saving money on your groceries? Are your grocery bills getting you down? With the rising cost of food staples, it is becoming more important than ever before to choose carefully and shop smart. Fortunately, if you are willing to do the research and homework, you can find many great deals that can save you hundreds on your monthly grocery bill. Here is a free service that can help you find great grocery deals. This new grocery service is known as mygrocerydeals.com. Here is a brief run-down of what this new system can do for you. What Can MyGroceryDeals.com Do For You? There are many web-based services, and while many offer fine free services, very few can help you save actual money on your grocery deals. It is a good thing that mygrocerydeals.com came along, then. What can this web-based service do for you (and your grocery food bill?). Mygrocerydeals.com is directed at those savvy food shoppers that rifle through the weekly circular ads on a regular basis, and those that spend their long Sunday mornings clipping coupons with a cup of coffee in hand. If you are tired of this dull ritual, fear not—mygrocerdeals.com is here to save you from this routine. Discovering the Scope of MyGroceryDeals.com Basically, this fine web-based service saves you the trouble of having to rifle through all that newsprint and coupon circulars. This web-based service is basically a giant database of local grocery store offers and specials. By using this easy web-based service, you can build your very own grocery list and even build shopping lists for the store that you prefer to shop at. You can also choose to browse the various deals and steals at your local grocery stores. Furthermore, you can even get information about the products you are shopping for. With this easy to use web-based service, you can even check out the nutrition database, food allergy alerts and other pertinent information. You can create your own virtual shopping list and then print it out for when you are ready to hit the store. Even better, you can download special deals and coupons for foods on your shopping list. How You Can Use MyGroceryDeals.com If you are ready to use this free web-based service, you can begin by registering a new account. You will need to enable pop-ups in order to get the full scope of the website. Most links will show up in a pop-up, so be sure that you check your Internet preferences before you begin. The website allows you to compile grocery lists and even save lists for future reference. You can try the 'try us now' link in order to browse your local store and select your closest location. You can even browse the stores in your surrounding areas. Before you submit your registration, note that there is a small check box asking you whether you would like to receive a free copy of Taste of Home Magazine. Make sure that the box is checked or unchecked accordingly. Get a Taste of the Printable Coupons One of the best things about using the mygrocerdeals.com web-based service is that you can gain easy access to a large collection of printable coupons. Make certain that your printer is ready to go before you log on. Also, be forewarned that in order to print out many of these coupons, you will need to install a browser plug-in from Coupon.com if you don't already have this driver installed on your computer. If you have already printed coupons from the World Wide Web before, chances are that you already have this plug-in installed. You can test this by attempting to print out new coupons.

Yes, There Really is a Freebie Santa Claus If you are a cynic when it comes to offers of free stuff, you are not alone. Everyone has had notions like “there is no such thing as a free lunch” and “if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is” drilled into their heads, and for good reason – these things often hold water. On the flip side, there ARE actually lots of places you can score some decent free stuff, if you know where to look and are willing to devote some time to hunting them down. The key to getting the best free stuff with the least amount of hassle is to stick with that healthy cynicism but to also dipping your toe in the freebie pool little by little. But why would anyone give stuff away for free? It is certainly an obvious question, but if you stop to consider it for a moment, you can see that companies actually have a lot of motivation to give away free stuff. After all, if they give you something for free, you are bound to have a little soft spot for their company, and when you are ready to part with some cash, their product may near the top of your list. Also, by giving away free things, companies can convince people to try new products. You might not want to try a new kind of shampoo if you have to pay for it, but you’d certainly be willing to give a free sample a try. You may end up loving it and switching to that shampoo for good, turning you into a paying customer. Another reason a company might give you free stuff is to complete market research. This is where getting free things can get a little complicated for some people because the products may not cost you money, but the offer may cost you a little time. A company might ask you to take a survey of your buying habits before they give you a free offer, or they may ask you to provide feedback on a regular basis as you try their product for free. Some people balk at the time commitment required here, but for other people, filling out some paperwork is a small price to pay for some free stuff. Of course, to convert you into a customer or to communicate with you about market research, a company will have to contact you, which is complicated area number two for freebie lovers. You will almost always be forced to hand over your email address in order to cash in on a free offer, and that is a recipe for opening your inbox up to a barrage of spam (many companies sell your email address to offset the costs of their free promotions, which means the number of people soliciting you can go through the roof very quickly). If you want to avoid this downside of freebie hunting, set up a special email address specifically for your freebie deals. That way all of your spam goes to this one address and your regular email you use with family and friends remains free and clear. One final note of caution about free stuff online: a lot of scammers have hit on the idea of using pretend freebie offers to solicit personal information about people or to convince people to send them money. Don’t send money, even for postage, to a company you don’t know and never, ever give out personal information online. No reputable company is going to ask for your social security number or bank account details for a freebie offer, so don’t hand them out to anyone. When in doubt, skip it and move to the next freebie.