5 ways to pay zero for TV, phone, investments, haircuts and more

Written by |
Advertisement

Are you like Clark in that ‘free’ is your favorite word in the English language? Here are a few things people have become so accustomed to paying for…but that you can actually get for free!

Read more: Free identity theft protection is here from Civic

Free phone service

Not really a heavy data user? Then there’s no reason to pay for cell phone service!

FreedomPop offers a 100% free basic plan that includes 200 minutes, 500 texts and 500 MB each month.

RingPlus, meanwhile, has two basic free plans. You can either have 500 minutes, 500 text and 500 MB LTE data ($15 plus tax auto top up deposit required) -or- 200 minutes ( and 1,000 VoIP minutes), 750 texts, 750 MMS and 500 MB LTE data ($20 plus tax auto top up deposit required).

Free investing

When it comes to investing, keeping costs low is the name of the game. That’s because management fees, annual expenses and so forth can take a big bite out of your money. In fact, paying just 1% more in annual fees can mean you’ll have $80,000 less in retirement!

Clark has long advocated investing in index funds over individual stock picks. But did you know its possible to assemble a basket of individual stocks into something approximating your own individual mini-index fund? And that you can buy fractional shares without paying one cent in fees? That means every penny you invest is going to work for you and your future!

Over the years, there have been many attempts to offer free stock trading. Commissions on stocks have long been rumored to be going away, but what really happened is they just got really cheap. It’s now routine to pay under $10 a trade through Etrade, Schwab, Fidelity and others. That’s down from hundreds of dollars for a trade back in the old days.

But today is a new day and it’s now possible to pay ZERO commission or fees for stocks through at least two players.

Free haircuts

Everyone loves free. But free gets even better when the quality is just as good as something you would normally pay for. And that’s the case with this free haircut offering.

Advertisement

Supercuts is a national chain that has over 2,000 locations…they even stretch to Canada and Puerto Rico. The clip joint offers advanced education to their stylists, and it’s that advanced education that makes your free haircut possible.

Find out how to get your name on the list for free haircuts.

Free identity theft protection

Identity fraud is so prevalent that there’s a loss of $35,600 every minute, according to the 2016 Identity Fraud Survey from Javelin Strategy & Research.

That’s created a robust marketplace for services like LifeLock, Identity Guard and Identity Force. The identity theft protection packages that are so popular among people have settled somewhere between $9 and $15 per month or about $120 to $180 annually.

But what if you could get similar protection for free? That’s the promise of Civic, a new service that works in partnership with banks and other financial institutions.

Read about the three main parts to the Civic service, one of which is $1 million in free identity theft insurance.

Free over-the-air TV

With all the talk of where TV is going in the future, it’s easy to forget that it’s also extra cheap where it’s been in the past. Don’t overlook the original option—using an old-fashioned pair of ‘rabbit ear’ antennae to pick up local channels over the air for free.

The process is actually really simple. Go to AntennaWeb.org and you’ll be able to enter your street address. Then the website will tell you which channels are available to you and what kind of antenna would be best for you.

You simply need to buy the antenna and maybe a converter box to get the digital signal. Both are routinely available at any major electronics store.(Newer TVs tend to have a digital tuner already built in, eliminating the need for an external converter box.) Just follow AntennaWeb’s recommendations about the best equipment for your home.

Read more: 6 free ways to learn how to code

Advertisement

Walmart offering free grocery pickup service

Advertisement