"Click here for your free Laptop!" We've all seen these ads on the internet. Can we really get a free laptop, iPod or $500 gift card to a big box store with no catch? Absolutely not! We can get, however, free samples of products. These include household, beauty and health items, stuff for kids, etc. Sometimes you can run across t-shirts, hats, and other really neat stuff.



There are hundreds of websites that claim to offer the visitor an opportunity to receive free stuff on the internet. A small number of them actually have things that the visitor to the site can really get for free. The others rely on unsuspecting website visitors to take long surveys, sign up for services that they don't want and buy things that they don't need. Then, after jumping through several flaming hoops, they may (with heavy emphasis on the word "may") receive a "free" item that is not worth the price that they paid.

However, after weeding through all of the scam's available on this experiment in free speech and entrepreneurial opportunity we call the internet, you will find some sites that offer totally free samples (wink wink, nod nod) and other lower budget items that you can really get for free. The first thing to look for in determining if an item is truly free is whether you have to pull your credit card out of your wallet. Whew, I said it. I shouldn't have had to, but some of the readers simply needed to hear that. Many of you must have forgotten that because those scam sites do a very good business pretending to link you to "free stuff". When you find the right website, here are some things you should do to make the free stuff experience a less stressful one.

• Make sure you have good anti-virus and spyware software installed and properly updated. This is a suggestion that applies to all web surfing, but whenever you do anything on the internet that requires entering personal information, it is a must.

• Get a separate e-mail address. Much of the free stuff available on the internet requires signing up for e-mail newsletters and many forms of spam. This a fair price to pay for the amount of free stuff you can get, but don't clog your primary e-mail address with the resulting spam. With a separate e-mail address, you can check it once a week or so and delete all the junk to make room for more. Personal note: Don't delete the e-mails mindlessly. I've found some pretty interesting newsletters as a result of ordering free stuff and have decided to keep some of them. The ones you don't want should have an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Use it wisely.

• Download and install the Google toolbar. In addition to a popup blocker, it has the autofill feature. Enter your personal information once and then you can fill out most forms with one click.

• Don't give out your phone number. Let me rephrase that so there's absolutely no confusion. Don't give out your phone number! Getting phone calls from solicitors at dinner time (or any other time) is too high a price to pay for getting free stuff. Check and see if the phone number field on the form is required. If not, leave it blank. If you are required to give your phone number, lie.

Once you have started down the free stuff road, get a larger mailbox and empty out some cabinets to make room for all the stuff you'll be getting. The possibilities are endless. Companies love to give out free samples to promote their products and I love getting them. Just use your common sense and have fun.