Free iPod -- it's TRUE!

So, my hubby's free iPod arrived recently. He was hinting around about wanting one before the holidays. The 8 GB one ain't cheap, so I thought I would try one of those "answer this survey for a free iPod" deals.

Well, it's not ONE survey, of course....and then you have to participate in all these deals. At the first level, everything was free or maybe $1. At the next level, I joined a cook book club and a coffee of the month deal. I do love my cook books, and the biscotti that came with the coffee was damn good. We got a free coffee maker, too, and I sold that at work for the cost of the club -- not too shabby, huh? So, it was really free for the coffee and biscotti, because I cancelled after my initial sign-up purchase.

Anywho, level three, the final level, required a little more skin in the game. I had to join a pricey wine club and apply for a Discover card. We did get 12 bottles of wine for something like $125, so I guess that isn't too bad.

However, I got declined for the Discover card at first and thought, "WTF? Oh, so THIS is how they screw you out of the iPod!!!" I did everything else but got dinged on this. And I have very good credit, so this seemed a little fishy.....

A call to Discover cleared things up, thankfully -- they were reading my credit report wrong. Hello! I got my card, and all worked out.

Unfortunately, the hubby got a wrapped box with nothing more than a note card that said "Your new iPod is on its way...." And on February 26, the note card came true. It was a serious pain in the BUTT....I probably should have ponied up the $250 in the first place and saved myself the hassle of completing all these offers.....

Ohhhh......and after only having this new iPod for a few weeks......POOF.....it disappears. Hubby can't find it anywhere. I'm about to kill him. And then I remember that he left his wallet in his pants a few weeks prior and it went through the wash....so, maybe.....just maybe.......ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! Luckily, I found the iPod before the pants went off to the dry cleaner, never to be seen again, I'm sure.....