Fantastic Freebies: moving boxes for foreclosure evictees

Saturday will be the first day of the month, and with it, another raft of homeowners will be turned out on the streets as their untenable mortgages expire. Expect the usual moving mayhem that happens whenever the first of the month falls on a weekend: a shortage of moving trucks, jammed unloading zones at apartment buildings, and a run on cardboard boxes.

One California company is doing a little something to make the difficulty easier. For this move cycle, UsedCardboardBoxes.com is giving free moving boxes to anyone who has lost their home in a foreclosure. The point, of course, is to promote the outfit's products, which are boxes that have been used, misprinted, or overstocked but are otherwise perfectly good.

The freebie pack of boxes, normally $38, includes sixteen boxes of various sizes, a roll of tape, a stack of packing paper, a marker, and a box cutter. To get that, you have to call the company (888-269-3788), provide proof of foreclosure, and pay for shipping, which amounts to $15. (Shipping is usually free, so you're getting about $23 worth of gimmes in this arrangement.) The deadline to apply is Tuesday.