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If you thought that nothing in life is free, then I'm here to prove you wrong. Below is just a few of the ways we can get services, entertainment, software, even cold hard cash, absolutely free! So if you'd like to save a few bob check them out: Free Phone Calls (worth £10+ per month) How much money do you spend phoning your friends and family, each month? How would you like to reduce it to next to nothing? Well, if like many you have a broadband connection at home, it's easy. Sign up to Skype, plug in a simple headset with microphone into your PC and you can call any of your friends who do the same, absolutely free! What's more, get friends and relatives who live abroad to sign up and you can call them for free, too. Free cash (worth £50+) If you'd find some actual cold, hard cash useful, and you're not getting great value out of your bank account, consider switching. You'll get £75 if you switch to Citibank, £50 if you move to First Direct or Lloyds TSB and if you can find a friend with an Alliance & Leicester account to recommend you, you'll both get £50! You can switch to First Direct and Citibank in our Banking Centre. Free Cinema Tickets (worth £7-8 each) If you're a member of the Nectar scheme, don't use those points to get money off your shopping bill. Whereas 2,000 points (four vouchers) would save you a tenner in-store, use those same vouchers in an Odeon cinema and you'd get two free cinema tickets, which could be worth over £15, instead. Use 4,000 points and you can get two tickets for one of the West End cinemas. Alternatively, if you (or a friend) have a mobile phone on the Orange network, take advantage of the Orange Wednesday promotion - meaning you can pay for one ticket on a Wednesday, and get another absolutely free! Free Virus protection (worth £40 annually) Protecting your home computer against viruses is extremely important, especially if you use Internet banking - some banks will even expect you to have it. And virus protection from Norton or McAfee typically costs around £40 per year. However, there is some very good, anti-virus protection software available, for absolutely nothing! Check out AVG and avast for excellent, free anti-virus protection. Free Bottles of Wine (worth £60+) Switch bank to Smile's current account before 10 December and, once you've credited the account with at least £1,500, as well as benefiting from excellent customer service and an interest rate of 3.3%AER, you'll also be given a free case of twelve bottles of wine! You can switch to Smile in our Banking Centre. Free just about anything! (worth £1+) Ever been concerned with the amount of stuff you take to the rubbish tip that still has some life in it? Ever had to buy something that you know other people simply store in their garage but no longer use? Then check out Freecycle. This worldwide network allows anyone with any useful items they no longer need but hate to simply throw away to give it to someone who could use it. So you can pick up virtually anything, for free. This fantastic method of recycling has really taken off to the point that wherever you live, you're likely to find yourself close to a Freecycle community. Items listed by my local Freecycle group today include furniture, baby gear, toys and even a wireless router! More free cash (worth £50+ depending on spend) If earning money while you spend appeals, a cashback credit card will be right up your street. By earning a percentage of every pound you spend on your card you can quickly accrue some serious cashback especially if you put all of your spending, no matter how trivial, on the card. Spending £500 a month on the American Express Blue card, for example, could earn you over £70 cashback in the first year. You can find a number of cashback credit cards, including the American Express Blue card in our Credit Card Centre. Free DVD rental (worth £7+) Fancy watching the latest blockbusters released on DVD, for free? Then sign up to one of the many DVD rental services and get films delivered, to your door (you simply pop them in the post box to return). They each offer a free trial, which; if you don't wish to continue after this time you can simply cancel. Check out Screenselect, LoveFilm, Tesco (powered by VideoIsland), Blockbuster and Amazon (subscribers get 10% off any DVD purchases made) to name but a few. And don't forget, you can rent a DVD at Blockbuster for just 500 Nectar points (one voucher). Free Firewall (worth £40+ annually) If you're a broadband user, along with virus protection you'll need a good firewall. But don't worry; you don't have to spend a fortune buying an off-the-shelf package. Download a free version from ZoneAlarm or Sygate and protect your PC against hackers, for nothing. Free electrical items, flights, days out etc. (worth £30+ annually, depending on your spending) If you grocery shop in Sainsbury's, buy your petrol at BP and your clothes at Debenhams you probably already have a Nectar card. The question is - do you realise all the different ways in which you can use the vouchers? Cinema tickets and DVD rental have already been mentioned, but you can also save up your points for free electrical items, pampering gifts, champagne balloon trips, flights and days out to name but a few. And don't forget, you can earn points when you make any online purchases at any of the new Nectar e-Stores including Amazon, Play, B&Q, The Apple Store, PC World, Curry's, Game, Heals and The White Company. Free Airmiles, days out, meals in restaurants etc. (worth £30+ annually, depending on spend) And for those that shop at Tesco, there is a wealth of ways to use those Clubcard points. Generally speaking, you'll get better value if you convert your vouchers into Deals (each £2.50 becomes £10). Exchange your Deals tokens for free entry to Hampton Court Palace, The Tower of London, Longleat Safari Park or Whipsnade Wild Animal Park amongst others. Alternatively, use them for a free meal at HAHA Bar and Canteen, Café Rouge or Bella Italia. And £8-10 in Clubcard vouchers will buy one year's subscription to Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping or Men's Health magazine. And if you're an Airmiles collector, each £2.50 voucher is worth 60 Airmiles with each additional 50p worth another 12 miles. Free Borrowing (worth £100+ depending on debt) If you currently pay interest on a credit card, don't forget that by switching to a 0% card for balance transfers you can save yourself some serious interest and effectively borrow for free. Why not bag a better card today? We have a number of 0% cards in our Credit Card Centre. Free Anti-Spyware programs (worth £40+ annually) Protect your home PC from fraudsters by downloading one of the free, anti-spyware programs available. Check out Ad-Aware and Spyware Blaster 3.4 for their free downloads. Free Aerial view of your home If you've got broadband and fancy viewing your home from space, check out this fantastic program from Google. By downloading the free version of Google Earth you can zoom in on anywhere in the world, from space, including your own home and even see 3D images and terrain! Free Financial Advice (worth hundreds, if not thousands of pounds!) And last but not least, save yourself a fortune in financial adviser fees by getting free information regarding personal finance and investing from the UK's best financial website, the Motley Fool! So there you have it, fifteen ways to get something for free. What's more, if you took advantage of all of these suggestions you could save at least £500 each year not bad, eh!