SofaCoins will help you save money today!

Get free education online!

If you're recently unemployed or looking to change jobs (or simply augment existing skills to shore up the job you have), there are many places online now where you can get absolutely free education!  Definitely check into these sites before paying to enroll in a course.

 

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (yep, MIT) is offering free courses through their website, which you should go to right now just to say you're taking classes at MIT, don't you think? 

 

I was starting to make a list of all the other places where you could find free courses (everything from getting your GED to taking Calculus, learning computer programs, and anthropology), but then a helpful reader pointed me to Free-Ed.net, where you can pretty much find all these things aggregated in one place. 

 

Word2Word.com offers links to hundreds of places where you can take free language courses, and for language courses and a zillion other cool things from universities ranging from Yale to Stanford, museums, and public radio shows, you should definitely visit iTunes U, www.apple.com/itunes to download.  Sign up for a few courses, download them straight to your iPod, and get smarter while you're waiting in line!

Free music sampler!

Can't make it to Austin for South by Southwest this year?  Not a problem.  Now you can download a free 10-song sampler of the artists featured by NPR Music at the South by Southwest music festival. Here's how to make it happen:  Click the link below and the songs will automatically begin downloading into your iTunes account. If you do not have an iTunes account, follow these instructions and then click below. Read more about the bands featured on the sampler and NPR Music's full SXSW coverage here.

Download on iTunes

More money-saving websites: free stuff!

I am all about going online to get things cheaper, did I mention?  Here are a few more places where you might be able to save some money.  By the way, I already heard from at least one person who found money on that "unclaimed property" website from last week, so if you haven't already gone there, do it now!

I was trying to tell you all about awesome money-saving websites last week, but then my computer crashed and took all my good advice with it.  Gah!

 

OK, here's where I was-- right in the middle of a post on Freebies:

Free Stuff:  Heyitsfree.net is a cool blog if you like getting freebies, which could range anywhere from product sample to rebates for stuff you actually use.  You might also try FreebieReporter and FreeStuffTimes.  One caveat with the freebie websites, though-- they are probably going to want you to "sign up" (name, email, address, demographic information) in exchange for the free samples.  If this is no big deal to you and you don't mind getting stuff in the mail, go for it!   A world of freebies awaits!

For online shopping, I would always make sure to check for discount codes before you make your purchase.