We all know that signing up for newsletters and freebies is a great way to get high-value coupons. However, I get a lot of questions about how to avoid giving out a ton of info or avoid spam when signing up for freebies. Here are some great ways to avoid being spammed in your pursuit of saving money!

1. Avoid any site that asks for social security numbers, bank account numbers, or anything else of the sort. This is common sense. Don't compromise your privacy and credit for a freebie!

2. Sign up for a free email account, separate from your normal email, that is used specifically for coupons, newsletters and freebies. That way your regualr inbox does not get inundated with a flood of advertisements and spam, thereby making it impossible to find the emails you need. A great one to get is Gmail. Not only is it free, but they also allow you to insert a period into your email address, anywhere you want it, and the email will still come to the same account! Why is this important? If you are signing up at a site that requires a different email address for first-timer discounts, you can insert a period into your couponing email address to make it a different one. You can do this to take advantage of promotions on photo websites and more (though you are out of luck if they require a different mailing address!). It shows up as a different email, but correspondance still comes to your inbox.
Examples: couponqueen@...
c.ouponqueen@...
co.uponqueen@...
cou.ponqueen@...
coup.onqueen@...
Anything sent to these addresses will all come to my inbox!
Other great sites for free email are Yahoo and Hotmail.

3. Many times you are required to put a phone number. I don't know about you, but I HATE giving out my phone number! You can sign up for a FREE Google voice account (tied to your gmail account above) that provides you with a free phone number. All calls to that phone number go to your regular phone number, but you can choose the "Do Not Disturb" option under settings to make sure that you don't have to take or receive any of those calls. This ensures that no one else has access to your regular phone number, but allows you to HAVE a phone number to use when filling out forms for freebies and coupons. There are other benefits to a Google voice number, such as voicemail and free texting, and free calls. It is definitely worth checking out.

4. Sometimes you will have to sift through a bunch of ads or offers when doing a freebie (like on the Quality Health ones). You do NOT have to accept any offers- just skip them. Don't give out any info or answer any questions. It is a never-ending trap. If they tell you that you HAVE to accept offers in order to get the freebie, DON'T. If you have to buy something or compromise your personal info, it is no longer a freebie! Just skip through all of the offers.

I hope that these helps to alleviate a bit of the trepidation when signing up for freebies! It is such a great way to get coupons that I would hate for you to miss out because of worries about spam!