a search for FREE STUFF ONLINE will return more than 180,000,000 results on Google, but a large part of them require

• enter your email address so they can send you emails
• purchase after a short free trial period
• You navigate through pages of information and sales promotion before reaching the free section.

I can understand the frustration. I have spent hundreds of hours over the years trying to find what I needed for free. After all, raising kids as a single parent is expensive, and often there wasn’t much left over to buy computer-related software and whatnot. But, depending on what you’re looking for, there ARE places online today where you can access totally free content relatively easily and painlessly.

For example:

–Have you ever heard of Thunderfap.com, the site for free files? They boast on this site that NO credit card is required, ever! Only 100% real and free stuff with no strings attached, no shipping, no scams or spam. Sounds good and with a large number of categories, this may be the site for you. Choose from food, beauty, health, kids, pets, home, books and magazines, office supplies, tools, and more. Although you must enter your information, such as the address, to receive the products, I have had no problems and my samples arrive quickly.

–Open source is SOFTWARE that developers distribute for free. Payment is NOT required, but you may be asked to make a donation to help the developers continue their work. One of the best resources for open source software is sourceforge.net. Here you can find hundreds if not thousands of free software solutions to meet all your computing needs. Looking for games, they have it. Communication software? Yes. The education and networking are there. Almost everything you need can be found here.

• –Be sure to check out Gizmo’s Freeware Reviews at en.techsupportalert.com to find the best of the best freeware on the web. One of the most bookmarked free software sites on the internet and featured in PC Magazine’s Top 100 or 2010.

–Free BOOKS are also available online. Do you like reading books online? Several sites offer free books that you can read through their site or download to read later. I’m talking now about traditional books, not just e-books. For example:

• An example is at onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu and search through their offerings.

However, you can try your local library. You can usually access books online through most libraries if you have a current and valid library card. Your local university or community college may also have books that you can access for free online. However, library eBooks don’t always work on all e-readers, especially the most popular e-reader, Amazon’s Kindle.

What about gutenberg.org Gutenberg may be one of the largest repositories of free books on the Internet today. They include a section with some 33,000 free ebooks that you can read on your iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader, iPhone, Android or other portable devices. NO FEE required. Please note that the books here are free in the United States because their copyrights have expired. This means you won’t find the newest top 10 here, but you will find unbeatable classics, references, and more to stimulate your mind with possibilities.

–Free MUSIC is what you want, but you want it legally, without the potential problems that getting it from a peer-to-peer or other source can create. Have you tried ez-tracks.com? This site has free and 100% legal music. They bring you free music by making the site ad-supported. This means that advertising on the site pays for the music. There is no risk of prosecution by the RIAA. Look at them. They may be the ones for you.

–FREE MOVIES and TV are available online if you know where to look. One of the most popular sites is HULU, which offers lifetime movies and hit TV shows. Another site you can try is fancast.com, or you can check the web sites for popular series. I watch Y&R on cbs.com because I’m usually busy and I miss it. You can get streaming video of your favorite episodes of many shows by visiting the network page.

–Free GAMES are available at Shockwave.com and on the Pop Cap game site. I don’t have much time to play, but these are the two my husband likes when he wants a quick break. A search for free online GAMES on Google returns 333,000,000 results, so I’m sure you can find what you’re looking for in minutes.

These are, of course, just some of the places where you can find the free media, software, and products you’re looking for. However, I encourage you to be careful. Read the FAQs and Terms on any site BEFORE you think that free is really free. I am not affiliated with any of the sites mentioned in this article, but offer them only as suggestions to help you find what you are looking for.