Government Freebies

Government Freebies are provided by the US government and local governments. The government is not in the business of simply providing free stuff to people no matter what they want or when they want it. There is a process that makes these freebies available and in every circumstance, it was related to law or budget policy that was established to help a specific group of people for a specific reason. Some reasons include stimulating the economy, encouraging land development, helping low-income families, protecting the environment, creating an equal playing field for minorities or small businesses, and a multitude of other reasons. Each law that grants free resources was passed by a lawmaker that is working to benefit their supporters, and occasionally to benefit all citizens.

Between 1986 to 2006, Matthew Lesko was probably the most popular published author on free stuff. He was nicknamed the question mark guy since his personal branding involved wearing attire with question marks all over it. He has published 18 books, all of which list government programs and tips. Since the latest one was published in 2006 they probably have a lot of outdated information as money programs and laws constantly change. His business is a perfect model for gaining profit from the public domain. The majority of the material from government freebie authors comes from the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

Lesko now has a paid membership site which claims to be the largest government program database. Despite his track record as a freebie expert with over 35 years of experience, having been a New York Times Bestselling Author and appearing on multiple television and radio shows, his business model now violates a common mantra of freebie hunters – don’t pay for something you can get for free. Information on all government programs is provided freely by the government. However, government programs are not always easy to find since the government doesn’t always make them readily available. They don’t always create advertising campaigns and public announcements that the freebies are available. So you have to go looking. Whenever reasonable programs are discovered, they’ll be added here to the AF.c Government Freebies Directory, which is free. In some cases paying for research, assistance could be beneficial. However, you might try getting it free first.

Another more recent author is Kevin Trudeau, who has published a book called Free Money “They” Don’t Want You To Know About. This book generally explains more of the how-to process of finding government freebies and some common places to look. It does not extensively list actual government programs like Lesko’s books and websites do.

Are Government Freebies Actually Free?

Government freebies are actually free to the recipient. Sometimes the recipient has to do a lot of research, jump through various hoops, and meet specific criteria to qualify; but once they get the benefit, it’s actually free to them. There is someone who pays for it. They’re called tax payers. The government receives income from various taxes and then uses that income to perform government operations, and they redistribute it through various government programs.

Actually Free is not a platform for political debate. If you don’t like how the government manages money, then this is not the place to argue about it. AF.c is simply here to provide the facts for anyone who can use them. However, if you’re going to complain in other places, such as Facebook, social media, or most effectively to the law-makers themselves, then there are at least two problems to consider with government spending. One is that most government programs are not very efficient. Two is that the government often goes into debt to cover all their programs and operations. Government debt is more like personal debt, not business debt. Businesses can leverage debt to make a higher profit, but the government cannot. When the government has higher expenses, their common is solution is to either raise taxes or go into more debt so that they can continue to support all of their inefficient programs, while the politicians boast about the people they’ve helped during their campaigns for re-election. Government freebies are a viable resource for people when they qualify; that’s why the information is here. But if there is a discussion on how the overall resources can be used more efficiently, then it would be better to let civilian-organized non-profits do more of the work and the government do less of it. See also Non-Profit Freebies.

Where Can I Find Government Freebies?

One of the first things to understand about Government freebies is that they are for people that meet certain criteria. If you’re elderly, a student, disabled, the victim of a natural disaster, a veteran or family of a veteran, Native American and/or other minority, a teacher, starting a business, or a farmer, you are likely eligible for government assistance. If you don’t fall under one of these categories, you may still be eligible, but your search won’t be as simple.

Government gifts are mostly received in the old fashioned way. Information on the internet can help you get started, but if you’re serious about looking for government freebies, be ready to go to offices, talk to caseworkers and assistants, write letters and make phone calls. Sometimes emails and online forms are available. In many cases, getting results when working with government employees requires that you know their job better than they do. But don’t act like you know their job better or they might not help you. Working with government employees involves working on their turf. Their job is secure even without good “customer service” so it may require a lot of patience and preparation. So do your research, pay attention, and learn from mistakes and experience.

When the government creates a new law or policy that gives money to specific groups or individuals, they never call it a “freebie” or “free money”. You’d never call a government agency to ask for anything that is “free”. Freebies from the government are called “programs”, “grants”, “assistance”, “credit”, “loans” (including no-interest loans), “benefits”, “support”, “aid”, etc. You would call them to ask for programs that help with a specific problem. For example, you might call to ask about any “real estate or land programs”, or “small business assistance programs”.

Here are some places to begin your search:

USA.gov – Official Guide to US Government information and services. See also Benefits On USA.gov, also Benefits, Grants, and Loans.

Benefits.gov – “Your path to government benefits”, includes state and local resources.

Grants.gov – “Find, Apply, Succeed”. Includes tutorials for applying to government grants.

GovLoans.gov – Find the right government loan for you. Loans available in the categories of Agriculture, Education, Business, Housing, Disaster Relief, and Veteran.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance – provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia).

USAspending.gov – provides data on how the federal government spends money.

GovEngine.com – This is not an official US government website, but it is a directory of ALL federal and state government websites and it’s free to use.

State Government Websites

Find more resources on the Government Freebies Directory