Reuters file

J. C. Penney is now offering free haircuts for kids to lure parents into its stores.

J.C. Penney made headlines this month by announcing it would offer free kids’ haircuts every Sunday, extending what had been planned as a one-month promotion. This was undoubtedly welcome news to many families struggling to balance their budgets. Of course, J.C. Penney isn’t the first merchant to offer complimentary services in the hopes of bringing more traffic through the door. Savvy shoppers know that many stores offer free products, services and special events. Here are some of our favorites.

Personal shopper. Live like a movie star and enlist the (free) services of a personal shopper to help you look your best. A surprising number of stores offer complimentary personal shopping services — just book an appointment, which you can often do online. Nordstrom, Anthropologie and Macy’s all offer this service to customers. Personal shoppers at J. Crew will even keep the store open late or open early if you’re in a real time crunch.

Interior decorator. A lot of furniture stores, including Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel and Ethan Allen, offer complimentary design services. You need to book your appointment ahead of time, but who wouldn’t appreciate a little free help decorating their house? Most of the stores recommend that you come to your appointment prepared — bring photos of the room you’re looking to furnish, measurements, swatches and pictures of styles you like to help make the most of the experience.

Free workshops and classes. Ready to learn a new skill but not ready to shell out money for an expensive class? Many stores offer free classes and workshops. Want to chop veggies like an Iron Chef? Sign up for a free technique workshop at Williams-Sonoma. Want to know how to host a spooky Halloween party or pick up some decorating tips? Mosey over to Pottery Barn for one of their free classes. DIY’ers can drill into a number of free home improvement workshops at The Home Depot or even get a complimentary kitchen design at Lowe’s. Crafty types can get free product demos and tips at Jo-Ann Fabrics.

Keeping the kids happy.  It might be easier if we just mentioned the stores that didn’t offer special programs for kids. But here’s a sampling of some of what’s out there. You can sign your budding carpenter up for free kids classes at both Lowe’s and Home Depot. Michael’s craft stores also offer free classes for the kids. Babies “R” Us, Toys “R” Us and Disney Stores routinely have special events for kids; just check their websites to find out what’s coming up. If you and your little one ever find yourselves near a Pottery Barn Kids on a Tuesday morning, drop in for story time at 11 a.m. The stores also host a number of other events, like superhero cape-making workshops and Halloween fashion shows. Lego stores offer a “Mini Model Build” once a month for kids ages 6–14. Not only do kids get to build a mini creation in the store, but they also get to take those Legos home with them. For free. Lakeshore Learning offers free crafts events for kids every Saturday.

You say it’s your birthday. Nearly every chain restaurant out there has some sort of birthday club you can join. Sign up ahead of time and then dine out on your big day — you’ll be a cheap date for your friends and family. Johnny Rockets (which also offers discounts on movie tickets any day of the year) will give you a free hamburger for your birthday when you sign up for their emails, and Baskin-Robbins will give you free ice cream on your big day. Some offer a free entrée, others offer a free dessert, but almost everyone will give you something for having survived another year.

Free baby-sitting. Baby-sitting is expensive. That is, unless you shop at IKEA. The Swedish furniture giant offers a supervised play area and ball pit for the kids. Some other stores and businesses are also offering free child care in the hope it will free up Mom and Dad so they can spend more. Fred Meyer stores, a member of the Kroger family in the West, offers supervised child care while parents shop. Life Time Fitness, a nearly national chain of gyms, offers members two hours of free child care every day. Rock climbing and swimming lessons for the kiddos are part of the package.

Free health screening. Sam’s Club members can get a free health screening every month. This month, they’re offering a diabetes screening, and in October the company promises to offer women’s health screenings.

Recycle. Freecycle. Best Buy stores offer free electronics recycling. Check their website to see what components they’ll accept in your state. Many Starbucks locations offer “Grounds for Your Garden.” They’re yours for the taking, but supplies can be hit or miss.

Car talk. AutoZone will test many of your car’s components, such as batteries, alternators and starters, for free. They’ll also charge up your battery for you, if needed.

There is such a thing as a free lunch. Costco offers free lunch every weekend. Of course, if you ask them, they’ll just call it “samples.”

Casinos. Casinos are the kings of comps. Free drinks, complimentary meals, hotel rooms and free shuttle service. Chances are, if you gamble enough, everything else is on the house.

What are some of your favorite freebies and complimentary services?

Dana Macario is a Seattle-area writer who would love to try out a personal shopper.

We all love free stuff, whether it’s cheese on a toothpick at the grocery store or a bag of makeup samples with a purchase. The Internet is bursting with giveaways and coupons that let you nab all kinds of cool things without spending a penny.

Insider tips

Part of the fun of freebies is getting to try out new products. Here’s how to find the greatest giveaways and avoid letdowns.

1. Act fast.

The best stuff runs out quickly. Several times we clicked through freebie offers excitedly and found that the supply had already been exhausted. (The goodies for pets went especially quickly.)

2. Remember: Some freebies aren’t really free.

But they could still be a good deal. Be sure to read any fine print in giveaway offers. For example, Vistaprint offers 250 free business cards, but you have to pay $7.09 for standard 14-day shipping.

3. Share deals — with others or with yourself.

Some freebie offers come with a friend component. But some offers even allow you to enter your own mailing address for the person receiving the gift, and you could score two samples for yourself.

4. Know when to quit.

Some giveaways just aren’t worth jumping through the hoops for; Lifescript promised freebies, but we gave up after filling out multiple pages of registration forms. And some sites will try to collect your info with no payoff. That happened when we attempted to order Life Choice energy bars via Walmart’s free sample page. We completed the entire form, then we were told that the offer wasn’t valid in our area. We could have saved ourselves the trouble by reading the comments on the referring site, at moneysavingmom.com, where others had complained about the problem.

5. Strategize for full-sized freebies.

They’re rare, but they do exist. In general, we saw manufacturers offering a set number of them at a specific time daily. If you really want something, check the product’s Facebook page or follow the product (or the manufacturer) on Twitter for giveaway announcements. Missed it? You’ll often get a coupon instead; when we were too late for the full-sized Nivea lotion, we got a $1 coupon.

6. Check women’s magazines’ Web sites.

 They often have monthly giveaways. For example, Allure gives away hundreds of full-sized beauty products and accessories each month, some to subscribers, some to anybody who asks.

Watch out for the gotchas

Let’s be real. Manufacturers and retailers aren’t giving their stuff away just to be nice. They want something in return — usually your contact info, which they’ll use to try to persuade you to buy from them in the future. So that’s the big trade-off. Here are some smart ways to minimize the aftershocks:

1. Create a new email address.

Use it specifically for freebies because all offers require one. When you request freebies via Facebook, you can enter an email address different from the one associated with your account. We received a few newsletters we didn’t sign up for but no hard-core spam.

2. Opt out of mailings.

Usually it’s presented as an option. Only two companies forced us to agree to mailings before we could order their freebies. (That’s you, Nine West and Beech-Nut!)

3. Read comments.

They’re on sites like Heyitsfree.net and Moneysavingmom.com and are the equivalent of user reviews. People are very vocal about how well (or not) the links, forms, and mailings worked. Scan them first!

4. Fudge your personal info.

Many offers requested names and birth dates. Make up something so that your identity remains private.

More from ShopSmart.com:

Five websites to score free stuff

Pick up the latest issue of ShopSmart magazine for more tips and tricks on finding freebies.

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