Freebies

Like movies? Like free stuff? Then today is definitely your lucky day.

For what promises to be a limited time, Walmart movie-streaming service Vudu is offering 10 free movies when you sign up for a new account. (Just click the green Sign Up button and you'll see the promo.)

This is a surprisingly no-strings attached offer. All you need to create an account is your name, e-mail address, and date of birth. Or, if you prefer, you can sign up using your Facebook account. Although Vudu will ask for billing information, you don't need to provide it (though … Read more

Talk about good timing!

From now through Dec. 31, you can get a free 1-year membership to ShopRunner -- the service that affords, among other things, free 2-day shipping from dozens of big-name stores. (Use offer code runner when filling out the registration form.) That may come in awfully handy for you last-minute gift shoppers.

Before I go any further, and to help prevent another SiriusXM Internet Radio-style debacle, I must point out that this offer is ostensibly for American Express Platinum Card members only. Consequently, it could disappear at any time, and it's even possible that ShopRunner will … Read more

Poke around Amazon Instant Video's freebies section and you'll often find pilot episodes of new TV shows, previews of upcoming seasons, behind-the-scenes bonus content, and so on. But an entire season of a critically acclaimed (if little-known) series? That you usually have to pay for.

Not today. For what promises to be a limited time, Amazon Instant Video is offering BBC America's "Copper" Season 1 HD absolutely free. (It's also available in standard definition.) That season consists of 10 episodes.

Also available: BBC America's "Luther" Season 2, again in HD or … Read more

Happy Free Shipping Day, fellow cheapskates. Nearly 1,700 online merchants are offering "free delivery by Christmas Eve," so today might be the ideal day to finish up your holiday shopping.

That said, lots of stores offer free shipping every day, and I have no doubt we'll see lots of other "free shipping in time for Christmas" offers in the days to come, so don't fret too much if you miss FSD.

Today I couldn't decide on a single deal, so instead I rounded up a bunch of good stuff -- a little … Read more

I love a good win-win.

From now until December 24, you can get SoftMaker FreeOffice for Windows or Linux absolutely free. And when you do, SoftMaker will donate 0.10 Euros to betterplace.org, which raises funds for a variety of worthy worldwide projects.

So what the heck is SoftMaker FreeOffice? As you may have guessed from the name, it's the free version of SoftMaker's commercial office suite. It provides word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations, all with an interface that closely resembles Microsoft Office 2003.

Speaking of which, FreeOffice is fully file-compatible with Microsoft's suite, though it'… Read more

There are countless ways to find free apps for your iPhone, iPod, or iPad. You can peruse the App Store. You can subscribe to a Twitter feed like 148Apps Now Free. Heck, you can even use an app; I continue to be a fan of Appsfire Deals, which serves up a huge helping of freebies every day, right on your iDevice.

But here's the thing. Sometimes you don't want a seemingly endless list of unknown apps to wade through. You want a personal recommendation, like from a friend who says, "Hey, I found a great freebie today, … Read more

Having posted a smattering of Facebook-oriented deals in the past, let me preface this one by saying I'm aware many of you don't use Facebook. Or don't like Facebook. You're sick and tired of companies trying to market to you on Facebook. You don't think companies should require a Facebook account in exchange for a coupon or credit or giveaway. Facebook? Barf!

So, yeah, I get that. Just thought I'd save you a little comment-section grouse time.

If, on the other hand, you like easy savings and don't hold Facebook in the same … Read more

Remember Cubby? It's the new file-syncing and -sharing service from LogMeIn (makers of my longtime favorite remote-access tool).

Cubby's been running a closed, invitation-only beta for some time, but I've got good news: now it's an open, no-invitation-required beta. That means anyone can sign up for a free Cubby account, which includes, among other things, 5GB of cloud storage.

But hold on a sec -- this isn't just another Dropbox wanna-be. For starters, the latter gives you only 2GB of free storage; Cubby gives you 5GB. And for each friend you refer who signs up, … Read more

Happy Black Friday, cheeps! (That's "cheapskates" plus "peeps" in case you're new around here.)

In honor of this crazy day of shopping madness, and to cap off the celebration of my fifth anniversary writing the Cheapskate blog, I've got one seriously killer contest for you.

Because it's a fifth anniversary, I decided one prize wouldn't do -- I needed five. And thanks to some very generous companies, that's what I ended up with. I'm overjoyed with this roster of goodies, which you can easily enter to win by following … Read more