I LOVE compliments. I mean, who doesn’t love compliments, right? Everyone loves a good compliment. It can make your day better, it can lift you up, it can give you that extra kick you needed during the day to accomplish your goals. Have you ever been slapped in the face because you gave a compliment? I think not. Have you ever been verbally accosted due to a compliment? No way. The only time you may have a compliment go awry is when you go to tell your wife or girlfriend she “lost weight” and you get the “oh, so you are saying I was fat before” response. Now, we can’t get around this sometimes because life isn’t exactly fair.

I am here to tell you a little something involving compliments that I did back in college to help me get freebies and coupons.

The year was 2006

There I was, the year 2006. Justin Timberlake was blasting through my car daily, singing, I’m bringin sexy back (which I wasn’t) as I rolled into the parking lot for class. I’m not sure if I was a sophomore or a junior at the time because I had transferred schools and lost credits. Let’s just call me a sophmjunior.

So you know a little more about me, I can be a frugal man at times. I mean, I recycled solo cups at the time, I substituted honey for salad dressing a few times to cut my budget, and I once lived off tuna fish and barbeque sauce for two days while I was backpacking across Europe. And, yes, it was disgusting. And worst part is that I had enough money to just go get a perfectly nice pizza in Florence; I went for the tuna fish instead in a disgusting attempt to come in underbudget for the trip.

So when I was in college in 2006 I went through this anti high fructose corn syrup phase. For whatever reason, I decided high fructose corn syrup was the cause of all of society’s health problems, and I went on a high fructose corn syrup cleanse. I soon realized that basically everything I loved to eat included high fructose corn syrup. My cereal, my chocolates, my popsicles, my jello, my juices, they all had high fructose corn syrup. Now, I was a college kid and luckily beer had no high fructose corn syrup in it, otherwise I would have just had to stop my cleanse right there.

You may be asking yourself why I didn’t just go out and buy organic products since they don’t have high fructose corn syrup. I will remind you that I was in college, and I am the type to live off tuna fish and bbq sauce to save money.

The discovery

I came home one day ecstatic because I was able to find a tasty product that I actually liked, and it didn’t include high fructose corn syrup in it! I was so incredibly happy, that I reached in my pocket, pulled out my Nokia flip phone, and dialed the phone number on the package.

As the phone was ringing, I opened up my high fructose corn syrup-less food and began munching. When the company picked up, I told the woman on the other end that I loved their product, and I just wanted to let them know that their lack of high fructose corn syrup made me very, very, happy.

She proceeded to ask me for my address, because she was going to send me some complimentary items from the company. Wait. Are you joking? I’m getting free stuff? You are giving a man who recycles solo cups and lived off tuna fish and bbq sauce, free stuff? Halleluiah! Mamasita! Mr. Belvedere I do declare!

So the week kept rolling on, and one day, I received a bunch of coupons and a couple complimentary items from the company. Oh my I just saved money by eating something I wanted to eat and sending a simple compliment. This was the greatest thing ever.

How many food products do you have in your home?

I am going to take a guess that you have WAY more food products than you need in your home. What if, one Saturday as you were cooking breakfast, you got a pad of paper, or you opened an excel spreadsheet, and you started listing down all the companies? You could create a master list of all the products you have purchased and love.

A handful of those products will have their phone numbers directly on the package. I just looked in my pantry and the third thing I looked at was a box of cordial cherries and it has their phone number right smack dab on the package. Cordial cherries are delicious; I love them ever so much. So, I am going to call this company during business hours and give them a compliment. They may send me something, they may not. But it’s worth the try while driving to work, or in your downtime.

Start with all the products with phone numbers directly on the packages. For the ones that do not have phone numbers on the packages, you will have to look up their phone numbers. Many of these companies will have their social media on the packages as well. I am not sure if you will get as positive a response via interacting with social media, but you can try that as well. I would look up all the customer service numbers to the companies whose products you enjoy, and then call them to pay them a compliment.

The worst thing that happens is you get a “thank you”. The best thing that happens is you get free stuff!

A psychological win

I have read that receiving a compliment has the same effect on a person as receiving money. What if, instead of receiving a compliment, you gave a compliment, and received money? That is even better because giving a compliment aids positive thinking and helps destress. You are technically coming out with a psychological win if you give a compliment, then you receive free stuff.

Even if you don’t receive something in return, it’s still nice to pay a compliment; it will help you feel more positive, and hence, help you psychologically.

Thanks for reading!

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And in case you missed our article on budgeting, take a look here! How to Budget – Remember, Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie

Has anyone had great success doing this? Is anyone going to try this out this weekend?!

P.S. I started remembering these old thoughts while reading a post from The Green Swan. I’ll give him a fraction of credit for getting my memory going. Check his blog out here: thegreenswan.org