Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Free Dance Lessons!


No matter where you live the internet makes this world a much smaller and more accessible place. Video sharing sites like YouTube blast this reality loud and clear with hundreds of millions of videos viewed daily from all over the globe. You can now vicariously travel overseas, test out your new standup routine, share favorite news clips and even...take online dance classes! Whether you simply live for those dancin'-in-your-underwear-at-home moments or aspire to be a professional dancer, YouTube can give you instant access to top quality dance instruction sure to impress everyone from your teddy to club goers and professionals alike. One instructor from Ontario, Corey Vidal, has blown up big time with the help of YouTube providing FREE dance videos online as well as clips of his own creative choreography. His weekly instructional videos are recorded in his basement with a CD player and professional video camera and cover great pop and hip hop favorites such as Madonna, JT, Ciara and OneRepublic as requested by fans. All step-by-step instructions are detailed enough for beginners and include useful warm-up tips and tricks for dancers of all levels. The best perks of online classes are of course the flexibility to learn new moves on your own time but also to try more advanced stuff from the comfort of your home before jumpin' into a club to show off what you're made of. 

You can find all of Corey's instructional videos and choreographed dance videos at: www.youtube.com/coreyvidal 

With millions of instructional videos out there, please feel free to add a comment and recommend any other free online dance classes below...then go and get yer groove thang on.

Monday, September 29, 2008

Top 6 Free Stock Photo Sites


Whether your an online blogger or just want to add something more colorful to your websites or online presentations, professional photos can be expensive and free quality stock photos near impossible to find. Most stock photo sites require a hefty monthly fee or try to entice you to join with only a handful of free photos. Here are several truly free alternatives with a great selection to choose from. 

Public Domain Photos is a collection of 5,000 public domain photos and 8,000 free clipart images available for person and commercial use.

{EDITORS PICK}
DreamsTime has the option to buy photos individually for as little as $0.20 each, subscribe for as little as a month to gain unlimited access or you can choose from their wide selection of free photos! Professional photographers list their stock photos for sale through this site and they often donate a couple photos to attract potential customers to their selection. DT's search option makes it easy to find the photos you need and with thousands of new images added weekly, this site is a keeper.

{HONORABLE MENTION}
SXC is this our personal fav with over 350,000 images of instantly downloadable freebies to browse through. See guidelines for usage options here.

FreeRangeStock is yet another site of totally free stock photography. 

And with StockVault you don't even need to create an account to be able to download their images. 

Flickr is both a fantastic photo and video sharing community that is also open to anyone. According to their guidelines all photos and video must be submitted by the creator and anything used on outside websites must link back to their original page on Flickr after receiving permission from the photographer or videographer. The selection is great, the community concept phenomenal, the upload and download process easy enough and the price...just right. 

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Free Textbooks...Hallelujah!


Free books!?! It's no joke at TextbookRevolution.com and what an educational revolution it is! Teacher and authors of textbooks can submit their texts to this site and students are encouraged to find texts already listed and suggest them to their instructors for use in the classroom. Other similarly revolutionary sites include FreeLoadPress.com and TextbookRevolt.com. TextbookRevolt is actually an exchange site where you donate a used textbook in order to request a book posted by someone else, a book barter if you will. See if any of your required reading can be found online and save big this semester!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Free New Music (part II)


It seems that free music may be a new trend in marketing for companies from social networking sites like Myspace, incorporating playlist sharing and local concert info in their newly revamped Myspace Music, to free single Tuesdays by iTunes. But I could see the power of free music marketing has reached a new level when I stumbled across downloadable freebies at shabby chic clothing chain, UrbanOutfitters.com. UO is currently offering it's online visitors free downloads of 21 random but great indie tunes to inspire you while you shop in a playlist dubbed "LSTN#2". Can we expect more free tunes to come? That would be music to my ears: www.UrbanOutfitters.com 

Friday, September 26, 2008

Wanna be a Millionaire?


With the economy looking grimmer by the minute, thrifty and moderation are the motto's of today's consumer. But don't let all the buzz about growing national debt keep you from pursuing your fortune. One giant step towards millionairedom is to quickly take care of any debt you may have and learn to save smart. Below are some links to free information about debt management, saving strategies, budgeting tools, how to order your FREE annual credit report and a financial calculator to help you guesstimate when you'll become a high rolling Millionaire. 

America Saves is a campaign to help promote and educate Americans on how to best plan for the future. Click HERE for 5 saving strategy tips.

Dave Ramsey is a well-known debt management advisor, host to FOX's The Dave Ramsey Show and author of The Total Money Makeover. His site offers free financial advising podcasts and online streaming of his show 24/7. 

Geezeo is a free online personal finance organizer to help you make sense of your money.

Young Money is one of the most comprehensive sites geared towards college kids and young adults covering all things money-related.

CNN Money 101 has a wealth of money lesson knowledge and tips (101 to be exact). 

Request your FREE credit reports from all 3 Bureaus at once (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) from this safe and highly recommended credit report site.


Thursday, September 25, 2008

Thanks Craig!


The madness and random stuff you'll find in the Free section of Craigslist is often amazing and sometimes disturbing. I decided to take a look at the items listed in the Manhattan Free section within the past 24 hours and see just what kind of treasures I would uncover. 

Wednesday, Sept 24

Turns out if I just happened to have moved to NYC with only the clothes on my back I would not only be able to kick it in fresh ankle socks but I could furnish a one bedroom apartment complete with black leather-clad living room and a carpeted home office/weight room (Added bonus: urinal or "artistic" pot for my braided ficus on the balcony beside the BBQ). I'd also be able to go job hunting rocking a free salon-quality haircut washed in my salon-quality hair products and make some friends sharing the passes I'd have to an advanced movie screening, beginner salsa lessons and the Weezer show at the Garden all within 24 hours of becoming a newbie New Yorker. It seems one person's trash is what another would gladly dumpster dive for (or go all the way to harlem for anyway). But honestly, it's gotten so that craigslist freebies are really one-upping the garage sales of yore and the trashy fratboy decor...I mean, if you can find a matching black leather chair and black leather sofa in the same day from two different people for free, there's just no excuse for those sloppy greek houses to rock anything less then coordinated living room sets now is there? This certainly is the land of opportunity, where anyone can furnish a home on an actual dime and all within a day's work of scanning the web. Thanks Craig, you're the man.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

What's all the hype about Skype?


You've got family on the opposite coast, maybe made some connections with a few foreign exchange students or a Brazilian hottie through an online dating service and want the chance to call versus email without doubling your phone bill? Check out FREE long distance calls through Skype.com, that's what all the buzz is about...plain and simple, zero cost...zip, zilch, nada. 

1. Create a Skype account [HERE]
2. Get your friend(s) overseas to create an account as well.
3. Start chatting computer-to-computer!

(Extra: You can add options like unlimited calls to landlines and mobile phones for as little as $2.95/month to the US & Canada, $5.95 unlimited calls to Mexico and $9.95 for the unlimited world plan)

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Got AT&T? Then say "HELLO!" to free DAILY wifi!


Are you an AT&T DSL customer? If so, did you realize that you get 2 hours of free wifi service PER DAY at nearly all Starbucks coffee shops? To take advantage of this fantastic 'lil perk all you need to do is sign-up for a Starbucks Rewards Card and an AT&T Wifi Account at Starbucks.com. You will need to enter in your Rewards Card number to activate AT&T's speedy internet service and within seconds you can begin to enjoy free wifi with a side of steamy latte goodness.

Non-AT&T member? No worries, you're still eligible for the free 2 consecutive hours of daily wifi by activating your Starbucks Rewards Card online and reloading it at least once a month. 

Monday, September 22, 2008

Travel on the cheap with FREE lodging!


The Couch Surfing project began with a mission to provide international networking through the offering up of that extra sofa, guestroom, floor space, etc. to complete strangers...odd as it may sound (maybe even a little sketchy), they seem to really have something. With member ratings, detailed profiles (similar to those found on facebook or myspace), a well thought out verification system and a rather large database of "surfers" from all over the globe, this really is becoming more a popular option for international travelers (young and old alike) than the youth hostel. Other perks this site can provide are insider tips from the locals. Like myself, not everyone who is a member has a couch to offer, but everyone is asked to contribute something from people who are willing to simply meet up with international travelers for a drink or dinner to those who are willing to play tour guide and direct tourists around the local scene. If you thought that trip to Italy was impossible, this may be just the thing to get your butt overseas. Bon voyage!

Sunday, September 21, 2008

OMMMMMM to Free Online Yoga














This uber comprehensive website has an amazing variety of downloadable online yoga classes from Kundalini to Yoga for Athletes, Chair Yoga, Prenatal, Hot Yoga and Yoga for Back Pain just to name a few. There are many free audio podcast offerings as well as printable posters of various poses for practice at home.

This site offers free classes recorded LIVE from studios across the US including the popular vinyasa, power and ashtanga yoga styles among several others.

Everything Yoga provides links to many popular podcasts available for download through iTunes as well as listings of studios across the country and free yoga events in and around your area.

This popular yoga magazine offers a free online video podcast series as well as one of the most unique online tools to help you create a personalized yoga practice (sequence builder).

This is a NYC and Berkeley-based studio unique in their approach to providing a yoga for everyone from "the mighty and meek to the bones that creak" as their website puts it. Their donation-based classes are quite popular but if you're living outside NYC or central California, try their free online podcasts of these live classes.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Enjoy TV's best this fall season...without a TV.














If you're reading this blog I can assume you have internet access but if you're reading a freebie blog you're prolly also trying to save a buck and may have cut out cable TV to do so. Well, fear not fellow cheapskate, we now have access to more TV shows than you should ever have time to watch. Here are links to a several sites where you can view everything from full-length movies to this fall's hottest shows including Fringe, Lipstick Jungle, 90210 (part deux), Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, The Cobert Report and SNL.


* iTunes offers free HD downloads of pilots and season premieres on occasion such as this year's fall premiere of The Office, Monk, Eureka, Psych, Heros and Battlestar Galactica as well as pilots of Life, In Plain Sight and Lipstick Jungle.

And of course don't forget that all major TV stations have their own websites and many offer free online episodes of previous seasons as well as recently aired shows to help you catch up on the latest as early as the day after they've aired. Here are a just a few stations providing many of their popular shows for gratis to both the computer savy and naive alike (Tidbit Tip: you can usually find a station's free episodes are under a "Free Episode", "TV" or "Video" link):


Friday, September 19, 2008

So you wanna learn a second language?

Now you can study Portuguese or Greek online completely free and on your own schedule with Mango Languages.com. This online language lesson site offers 100 lessons per language completely free and is recommended as an online learning learning resource for business travelers by the LA Times Travel. Other language classes available include Spanish, German, Japanese, Polish, Mandarin Chinese, French and Russian. 

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Free New Music (the legal way)!!


Those of us familiar with LimeWire's original free-for-all music sharing site will be happy to hear that post-regulation-changes they are still able to offer many free tunes through their revamped site, LimeWire Store.com. Among the many freebie album offers are several hot sampler CDs dubbed Ear To The Ground.  These sampler CDs showcase a variety of underground and emerging artists from Chicago and Seattle to NYC and Beijing, it's like visiting urban music venues or music festivals in these cities and coming away with a local's "best of" mix...for FREE! Another notable album of interest, the CMJ 08 album (CMJ Music Marathon and Film Festival hosted in Lower Manhattan this October) giving you a taste of 28 notable newbie artists about to breakout of the indie scene.  With 5-day music passes starting at $450 (or $250 for students), this festival often excludes those on a starving artists budget so it's nice of them to collaborate with LimeWire and give us this hearty two-hour taste, much appreciated ya'all. LimeWire Store also offers Starbuckesque single serving freebie songs for a limited time like this bloggers current fav Charlie Brown by Ghostface Killah...(thanks for this GK)...again, completely FREE and iTunes compatible! 

Extra Tidbit: Site access requires only an email and password to start downloading these freebies.  For an annual membership fee you can upgrade your access and get a wide variety of music for as little as 27 cents per song!

Log on now @ LimeWire Store.com!