After you get your free samples in the mail, where do you put them? By placing them somewhere that makes sense, you will be sure to use them and they won’t get “lost” in the shuffle. This is especially important with some food and beauty product samples that are best used soon after they receive before they expire and the product quality deteriorates. Here are some possible uses for your fee samples and ideas on where you should store them to ensure they get used!
Travel – If you travel often then you will find that free samples are perfect for travelling, especially those beauty and bath products. Keep all of your “travel necessities” in one location – a container or basket in your bathroom, bedroom, or closet – so that when it comes time to pack for a trip you know exactly what you have and it is all in one place.
On-the-Go – With kids we have numerous bags for our on-the-go lifestyles from our purse to the diaper bag to the tote bag for day trips. Free samples are great to keep in one of these on-the-go bags or to keep in the car.
Themed Gifts – Sometimes you may want to save some of your free samples to use in a themed gift for a baby shower, birthday, or get well soon package. Keep all of these potential gift items all in one place so that you know what you have when you get ready to put together a themed gift.
Everyday Use – A lot of free samples are for the types of products that we use on an everyday basis, so it makes sense to just put these samples where we would normally put the full-size product in our pantry or closet. Now you will use it because it is right at your fingertips, ready to use when you need it.
Enjoy your free samples and please leave a comment if you have any other tips! Don’t miss my previous 11 Freebie Tips.
I think I saw your website on the news 2 days ago, very cool site
I definitely like the tip on ‘travel’ !
A great tip CC! I am usually able to use my free samples, but donate any items I don’t expect to use on a reqular basis at a local church that collects for several different organizations in the area.
don’t forget you can DONATE them to a shelter, food basket, etc!
Marly – thanks for dropping a note! It’s fun to hear what others do with their freebies. I too have a hard time with the food freebies (like Kashi and Quaker) lasting during our walk from the mailbox to our house right before dinner. They just don’t last, because I want to try them NOW!
First off – Thank You, Heather! I LOVE your site! Now, what do I do with freebies? Well…Our mail comes around lunch time, so all food freebies get consumed immediately. The baby freebies go in the “baby” drawer – I regularly host play dates for my mom’s group, and they regularly forget things. Office supply freebies get tossed in the kitchen drawer and end up getting used because I don’t shop for that stuff. Bath and body freebies go in our spare bathroom. My husband and I live far from our families, so we have quite a few house guests. But, I have a nephew entering college this fall, and I think I might steal the care-package idea! :)
Hannah – thanks so much for sharing how you share your free samples with your family! I also am sending a lot of mine to my sister off at college – I like to surprise her and remember how much I loved getting packages when I lived in the dorms.
My favorite use for my free samples is to collect them til I’ve got enough to fill a shoebox. Then I ship them to my younger sister who is in college. She then shares them with all her dorm sisters. Everyone knows that college students are “desperately poor”. ;-) The other thing i do is save them for when I go up to PA to visit my mom when both my sisters are home visiting too. I let them “fight” over who get what to try. so much fun!
Thanks for the comment, KM! Free samples are a great way to stretch some products we use every day – like conditioner! And of course it’s fun to try something new, and put together little gifts for friends, even some free samples are very easy to mail to friends who are far away!
I used my free conditioner samples for about 2 weeks without needing to buy anything new! I like the themed gift idea. I love your site by the way!
Makeup definitely has a limited shelf life, so I try to put mine in my current makeup bag to try right away, or I give it to a friend. Thanks for the comment, Sassy2!
That is so true. I get make up freebies and throw them in the drawer and by the time I find them they are yucky!!