Bills, unsolicited advertisements and catalogs are the banal materials found in my mailbox on a daily basis. Despite the predictable contents, the anticipation of retrieving the mail is one of the most exciting moments of my day.

When you play the slot machines, you never know what will occur when you yank on the handle. Will you win a few quarters or hit the jackpot? The most probable scenario is you will lose your money, but the possibility of wining draws you back for more. This is how I feel about the anticipation of checking my mail. Instead of bills, perhaps I will find an invitation, a letter or a package.

Today when I peaked inside my mailbox I found a small brown package which contained a box of Oatmeal Crisp cereal. "Yeah, my first freebie," I thought to myself. Free and a packag--definitely a mailbox jackpot for me!

Eighteen days ago I experienced my first freebie high. It happened quite by accident. I was surfing the net, in pursuit of a coupon for cereal when I stumbled upon an offer for a “Free Box of Cheerios”. I thought to myself, “This is a product I buy anyway, yet I would be able to get it for FREE”. Of course it turned out to be “too good to be true” since the supply was exhausted, but this did not deter my enthusiasm for finding more free items. What else is out there for the taking? Turns out, lots of stuff. Music, food, shampoo, digital prints, pet food, you name it and you can probably find it. The more I found, the more addicted I became and I didn’t care if I needed it or not—it was free. After receiving more junk email then usual, I soon realized I should be wary of “freely” handing over my personal information. Despite my increase in unwanted emails, I am still a freebie fanatic, just more cautious.