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With the current evolving changes the Coronavirus is causing, we’ve seen a lot of panic and fear. But there are also a ton of companies who have come out of the woodwork to help–offering FREE resources for at-home schooling, waiving late fees for utilities, internet & cell phones and giving FREE access to services they usually charge for! And they keep coming! Since there are so many news updates & announcements to sift through, I thought I would put together a list of all the resources to help you get through the Coronavirus Lockdown with your families.
All I ask in return? Please SHARE ALL THE GOOD with your friends & other families by forwarding them this list and making life much, much easier!! Having it all in one place can help offer a little relief knowing that we have so many amazing resources at our fingertips. And I’ll continue to update it!
UPDATED APRIL 2, 2020
EDUCATIONAL, SCHOOL & LEARNING RESOURCES
I’ll keep this one short & simple. There are a bunch of awesome bloggers who have put together extensive lists for this already. No point in doing it twice:
- http://www.amazingeducationalresources.com/ There are HUNDREDS on this list and it is updated daily! Go support this awesome list they’ve put together!
Caribu is an app, kind of like Facetime, but for kids. And there are activities & games they can play together online WITH their friends! It’s normally $7 a month but is FREE right now! So set up virtual playdates with friends!
Ivy League Schools are now offering over 450 of their classes online for FREE! Ever wanted to go to Harvard, Princeton or Yale? Now’s your chance to take some of their classes!
Delish is offering FREE Cook-Along Classes for you and your kids! Details over here.
FREE Rosetta Stone access for students for 3 months. Learn a new language or get help with dual-immersion languages.
FREE WORKOUTS, YOGA & GYMS ONLINE
High Fitness is offering several online workout options to choose from, in lieu of in-person classes – YouTube, Zoom or a Live Stream! Register over here to get access to the LIVE workouts. Or check out their YouTube for free on-demand workouts
National Parks have temporarily stopped park fees for any National Park locations still open. Here is that announcement. And you will want to go here to see which National Park locations are STILL open.
Peloton is offering new users a Free 90-Day Trial on its app. You DO NOT need to have a Peloton Bike or Treadmill in order to use the app. It can be used with any bike, treadmill and the app also has numerous workout classes, yoga & meditation exercises.
Golds Gym is offering Free Access to its app. They have over 600 workouts and workout music mixes.
Orange Theory is uploading a Free 30 Minute Workout each day on its website for you to do at home. No equipment needed as they get creative and have you use things you would normally have at home.
Planet Fitness is offering Home Work-Ins FREE–streaming live every day at 7pm ET on their Facebook Page.
Core Power Yoga and DownDog are both offering some of their Yoga Classes for FREE.
The Daily Burn is offering a FREE 30-Day Trial to its streaming fitness classes.
Tone it Up App Free for 30 Days for New Subscribers
For those of you who want to do what I’ve been doing for the last 6 months, it’s called The Mommy Tummy Fix. With our code MELEA30, you can get it for $67 instead of $97. It’s yours FOR LIFE- No Subscriptions of any kind. This program is what helped me lose over 8 inches in my tummy, fix my diastisis recti and drop 2 full sizes in clothing. It’s been a god send for me. So while I know it isn’t FREE, it is something that I have personal experience with it working. And a lot of you have had amazing results too! If you haven’t heard of it, watch it over here on my Instagram Stories for all the info and my BEFORE/AFTER pics.
And don’t forget! You can find any type of workout you are looking for over on YouTube. All are FREE. (If you don’t follow my YouTube Channel yet, make sure you follow while you’re over there 😉 )
INTERNET, CELL PHONE EXTENSIONS & NO LATE FEES
Keep Americans Connected Pledge: Asks that companies not terminate service due to non-payment or charge late fees due to the economic effects of the coronavirus for 60 days! And it includes residential service & small businesses. Who has signed the pledge?
- Comcast
- Verizon
- AT&T
- Charter
- CenturyLink
- Cox
- Sonic
- Sprint
- T-Mobile
- And lots more (head here to see the full list of participants)
The pledge also states that these companies will open FREE wi-fi spots to any American who needs them. (Most of these are at public locations & small businesses) If your service provider is on the list, I would head to their website directly to get full details and to see what they are currently doing to help. For example, T-Mobile has removed all data caps for its mobile customers. I’m sure other providers will follow suit as well. So it’s best to head to their websites directly for more info on what they’re doing and offering and if anything has changed.
FREE STREAMING SERVICES, eBOOKS & ENTERTAINMENT
There are a lot of online streaming services out there. Many already have Free Trials and due to the Coronavirus and quarantine situations popping up everywhere across the nation, a lot have extended their Free Trials even longer. Here’s a good starting list if you need one!
- Amazon Prime Video: Free 30 Day Trial (Plus, you get the other benefits of Amazon Prime, Free 2-Day Shipping, Free Prime Reading, Free Prime Music, Audible Books and a slew of other perks.)
- Netflix: Free 30 Day Trial
- Hulu: Free 30 Day Trial
- Disney+: 7 Day Free Trial. **If you have Verizon, use this link to see if you qualify to get Disney+ FREE for an entire year! That’s what we did! (They’ve also released content earlier than originally scheduled–including Frozen2!)
- The New York City’s Metropolitan Opera has cancelled live performances and instead is streaming them live online. One each night at 7pm EST!
- Google’s Art & Culture Collection will let you take virtual tours of hundreds of museums around the world for FREE!
- Kindle Unlimited: Free 30 Day Trial! You DO NOT need a Kindle to use this service. Read anytime on any device. Just download the Kindle App. This is the service I still use now, even though I’m past the free trial.
- Scholastic: Free 20-Day online access to their Learn at Home website.
- VidAngel: Free Access through April! Filters and Parental Controls for Netflix, Amazon, and other popular services. No CC necessary!
FOOD & RESTAURANT DELIVERY SERVICES
A lot of restaurants are no longer allowing in-house dining to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus. Instead, they are offering pick-up or delivery services instead!
DoorDash App: Order food from a restaurant nearby. A driver will pick up your order & bring it to your home. In the instructions, let your driver know they can leave your food order on the front porch if you want contactless delivery. If you are new to DoorDash, use this link and DoorDash will give you $5 off each of your first 3 orders. We’ve used this service a few times and you’ll find lots of restaurants also offering FREE DELIVERY on a regular basis. So look for those offers as well! (TIP: Don’t confuse regular DoorDash with DashPass….DashPass is a subscription thing. And you do not need to do that in order to order food or use their app.)
GrubHub: Another app to order from a restaurant nearby and have it delivered to your home. If you are new to GrubHub, use this link and you will get $10 off your first order.
They are also offering a Free 2 Week GrubHub+ Trial that will get you Free Unlimited Delivery & 10% CashBack. If you don’t cancel before the first two weeks are up, you will get charged $9.99 a month.
Instacart: This grocery delivery service has also implemented a contactless delivery option when ordering your groceries online. You can order groceries from just about any grocery store, warehouse store (like Costco) or drugstore in your area and your order will be delivered to you the same day. When getting messages from the driver, let them know to leave your deliveries on your porch. If you haven’t used Instacart before, use this link and it will give you $10 off your first order.
Dominos, Pizza Hut & Little Caesars have all announced contactless deliveries where you can order your pizza and instruct the drivers to leave you order outside when delivered.
UberEats: Same concept as GrubHub and DoorDash above. Use code eats-a6d8p at signup and it will give you a $7 off your first order. You can message drivers to leave your order at the front door as well.
Curbside Pickup: Lots of restaurants already offer a Curbside Pickup option (like Chili’s, Applebee’s, Macaroni Grill, Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, Red Robin, etc) and now most dining establishments will be implementing the same thing. So if you do want to pick up a meal, there should still be plenty of options for the time being.
Girl Scouts of America is selling their Girl Scout Cookies ONLINE to be shipped to you! So if you have a craving for Girl Scout Cookies, get them over here. Or donate cookies to local healthcare workers and first responders.
FREE PRESCRIPTION DELIVERY
Both Walgreens & CVS have announced they are offering Free Prescription Delivery. Check out their websites for full details and if there are any prescription not participating.
TRAVEL
U-Haul is giving 30 days FREE Self-Storage to College Students needing to move last minute due to Universities shutting down from the Coronavirus.
Enterprise Rent-A-Car is waiving “younger renter fees” and reducing the age minimum so college age students 18-24 can get home after campus closures across the country.
Major Airlines are offering Free Cancelation Fees & Change Fees — even if your ticket was not originally refundable or changeable. We had to do this with Delta this past week. And instead of losing our money on the flight, we were able to cancel and were given a credit voucher to use to purchase a new flight. **Airlines are changing what they are doing & implementing DAILY! So I would highly suggest that you check the website directly to see what the current refund/rebooking status is. I was able to do our cancellation online, without having to wait on hold for hours.
Hilton, Marriott, InterContinental Hotels Group and Omni Hotels & Resorts are waiving cancellation fees on existing bookings through the end of April.
ANYTHING ELSE??
I’m sure there are some major offers or freebies I might have missed. Or some that might come out after this post is written. If that’s the case, please let me know so I can add it! It’s easiest to just comment on my most recent Instagram post. Instagram usually notifies me when a new comment pops up! So it’s the easiest & the fastest usually. Don’t forget to follow me while you’re there. 😉
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