Free Trials, What Could Go Wrong?

So, I’m living in Europe at the moment and don’t have as as many opportunities to hustle, but I’m learning a new culture.  So here they have very affordable cellular service.  A 1GB plan is €2.45 a week and a 5GB one is €3.99 a week.  I got the 5GB, but it may be overkill.  One thing that is pretty cool is that you can go to the store and they will give you a SIM card which you can use for free for a month.  After that you’ll have to reload it.  This is a form of a free trial and that is the topic of the day.

Media

Never tried Netflix nor have a password from a friend?  Well, you can get a month free.  I’ve used this before, as well as for Hulu.  However, now I’m off Netflix until the next season of House of Cards is released.

You can try Spotify Premium for 30 days.  I use the free version, but wouldn’t it be nice to not listen to commercial even if only for 30 days.

Newspapers, business journals, Amazon Kindle Unlimited also have trials and you will get charged after the trial is over so make sure to cancel if you don’t want it.

Online education

If you are like me and enjoy learning, then there are great online resources.  There are many free ones, but also paid ones.  Some are buffet style that you can do as fast as you like for a monthly payment and these often have a free trial.

Gym

Some gyms may let you try out with some free passes.  I was considering joining a gym that had squash (so expensive) but decided not to after playing three times.  Over here though, I’m going to join a squash club because the monthly fee is €42.50 vs. $150 in America.

Food

Blue Apron offers 3 meals free with your first order.  This may be a stretch into the introductory offers than a free trial.  For other similar offers my favorite travel blogger has compiled a list.

Don’t get these

You can sign up for a free trial of your credit score or report.  However, please avoid this because you can get these for free at Discover and many credit cards will show you.  The report you can request annually here from each bureau.

Conclusion

If you are going to do a free trial please make sure to cancel before the trial is up or are going to use the service.  There are horror stories of people who are still paying for AOL, so back to the title, that is the worst that could happen.  As for me, do you think I’ll pick up a new SIM card?  No, I already put a bunch of money on the account and I don’t want to cheat the system.