We all know that the purpose of a free trial is to try out a new product or service, see if you like it, and then (as the person or company offering it hopes) purchase or subscribe to it.
There are so many amazing things out there, but most of us are trying to keep on a budget and cut unnecessary expenses. Often, that means the fun things we want, but don’t need, are the first to go.
So when something we like is offered to us, free of charge, how can we not jump at it? Too often we pass on things that seem like an indulgence because we want to put everything into our family. But there’s nothing wrong with enjoying things ourselves, too.
So how do you get the most out of your free trial?
They usually only last for a limited amount of time, maybe a week or a month, depending on what it is. But regardless of the time frame, it’s important to make the most of it.
It could be that, at the end of the trial, you decide to buy it anyway because it was that good. And I say that’s awesome! Or it could be that you decide that it was fun or useful, but not at the price it’s being offered at. In which case, it was fun while it lasted. Or it might be that you found that it was not nearly what you had hoped it would be, and you’re glad you didn’t spend a dime finding that out.
So here are a few hard and fast ways to make the most of your free trial:
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- Always have a plan of attack. Put thought into how you can efficiently and effectively use the service.
I love reading and have always wanted to get Kindle Unlimited. But at $9.99 a month, I just wasn’t sure that I could justify the expense, especially with all the books I could get at the library, albeit with less selection and waiting lists. So their 30-day free trial sounded like a great way to try it out.
But I didn’t want to start it and spend valuable time dithering about what book to read first or even fifth. (I’m one of those people that can’t eat at the Cheesecake Factory because their Bible-length menu gives me anxiety.) So before I took the plunge, I made a list of all the books I wanted to read and made sure they were part of the program. Once I had that down, I got the free trial and started right in. No wasted time here.
- Set Aside Time to Use the Trial. If time is limited, make sure you can make space to use what you have.
CBS All Access is a program that allows you to watch all the shows on the network, old and new, for $5.99 a month. It’s not much, but again, it’s not a need and, by the end of the first year, would cost us about $72. I’m pretty sure I could spend that on something else that I do need.
But, they offer a week-long free trial. Being a big fan of crime shows and police procedurals (I’ve watched NCIS in more than one delivery room), there were a lot of things that I could watch with this free trial. So I set aside some time at the end of the TV season and started my free trial at a time when I could binge watch a number of different shows from premiere to finale. I had to make the time to use it since I only had a week.
It was really a guilty pleasure, but, hey, it was only seven days. And I can fold a lot of laundry while watching my tablet.
- Use it before you lose it. If it’s unlimited for a set time period, use it as often as you can.
When I got a new iPhone, I was given 3 months free to download as much music as I wanted from the iTunes store. I believe it costs about $10 a month to purchase that access. The best way for me to optimize those three months was to download as often as possible. And I did. Standing on line at the grocery store. Waiting for school pick up. While pasta water boiled.
I made a list of the artists or songs that I absolutely wanted, adding to it as I went. And whenever something else occurred to me, I would either add it to the list in Evernote, or just download it right away. I got to try lots of new artists along with my old favorites. But using it as much as possible helped me to get the most out of it.
- Don’t waste it. Don’t forget to use it during the time that you have access to it.
I’ve done this enough to know. We can have the best intentions on how we are going to use our free trial, but then life happens and we forget or something distracts us and, before we know it, it’s over and we didn’t take advantage of it like we would have liked. So if you have a trial for a photo site that lets you download 20 images a day, please remember to get those 20 images before midnight rolls around.
If you can try a product for a week and then either keep it or send it back for a refund, remember to send it back if you didn’t like it. Don’t let time pass so that you’re stuck with something you didn’t like or need.
Free trials are a ton of fun and incredibly useful. You can get so much out of them while still maintaining your budget, saving money, and making frugal choices. Saying no after trying something doesn’t make you cheap. It makes you a wise and thoughtful consumer. It’s important to be a smart steward of your money, so give yourself the opportunity to spend it where it’s most needed. And make the most of that free trial.
Do you enjoy free trials? How do you make good use of them? If I missed any tricks to making the most of them, please let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear your take.
[Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
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