What do I do with all those freebies?

I post freebies all the time, and I request them daily. A lot of people ask me what I do with all of the freebies.

The family uses a lot of them, especially the food and baby freebies.  Coffee freebies (including creamer and instant coffee) get used right away.  Baby freebies (diapers and wipes) get added to the diaper bag.

The deluxe freebies, like the bareMinerals lip gloss I got today, get added to the gift box.  We have a box in the closet that I store gifts in.  It's always someone's birthday around here, and with the holidays fast approaching, I need to fill up stockings on the cheap. The gift box is something that a lot of people grew up with, especially those of us with frugal moms or grandmothers.  Both my mom and paternal grandmother had a gift box/closet.

I'd post a photo of the box, but some of the people who read this blog are recipients of "the box presents" and I don't want to spoil any surprises.  In addition to freebies, the box contains items that I have bought using coupons that produce overage, and items that were free using sign up bonuses of money I earned with affiliate links (groupon, savemore, saveology, thedailysave).  I buy gifts throughout the year this way for people on my gift list. By the end of November, I am 99% done with shopping for the holidays.

Because I don't work outside the home, I rely on freebies and deals that provide overage as much as possible. Our gift budget is very small because of what I am able to get for free or very little OOP.

Recently I hosted a Thirty-One Party and I was able to pick up a few great items to add to the gift box using the hostess credit I received because of the level of sales we had reached.  That's 3 more presents I can check off the list!  I used the credit to pick up some of the monthly specials.  It changes each month.