This one is listed last for a reason. There's tons of free stuff out there via cyberspace, but you have to be careful—a good deal of it is also scams. While www.freeipods.com was featured on CNN recently, the site seems to start out legitimately pushing you towards a free I-Pod, and then directs you to a series of side pages offering you other "free" merchandise that you didn't necessarily log on for. Also, many of these sites ask for information, such as address and phone number, which you should be reluctant to often put into the wireless world.

If you begin with a search engine and type "free stuff," you'll get thousands of hits—start with some of the advertising links, such as www.fatwallet.com and www.coolsavings.com, where you can sometimes find reputable free giveaways. If you're willing to spend an afternoon going through some of the other sites—and have a patience for pop ups—you might find some other gems in the rough.