Freebies for You, Food for the Hungry

Tea: Mandarin Green

Music: Mellodog, "Zombie Beach"

Time: Night.

We've all seen the banner ads: "FREE $25 GIFT CARD TO (INSERT CHAIN RESTAURANT HERE)! CLICK NOW!"

Of course, there's always the tiny asterisked disclaimer, something along the lines of:

*must complete offers (translation: jump through hoops and buy stuff) for eligibility

And, of course, it's printed in something that blends neatly into the background color of the ad. Thanks, but no.

But as we also know, there's legit free stuff out there on the web. No, this isn't another plug for Hulu, Horror Masters or Download.com, although all three are incredibly cool. This one's for Walletpop's "Fantastic Freebies" section.

Tonight's haul: One free movie rental, one free wall calendar and -- coolest of all -- one free tote bag. (Hey, at least one grocery store here cuts a nickel off the total for using your own bag. I'm not proud. I'll take it.)

For two of the offers -- the bag and the calendar -- I didn't even have to sign up for email alerts.

Best of all? Walletpop has a heart as well as a nose for bargains. One of their links isn't to free stuff for yourself; it's to freerice.com -- which, as with Kiva and Heifer International, I'm always happy to promote.

I hope Walletpop keeps Free Rice in heavy rotation. It would be a good thing, I think, if people "paid" for each freebie by making enough correct clicks to rack up 500 grains of rice. And if you get on a roll, by all means keep going.

Beats Solitaire any day.