By Lou Carlozo, dealnews contributor Chances are your seasonal holiday shopping will cost you, even with all of the great dealnews deals you'll find. Black Friday is right around the corner, and retailers are ready to tempt you to open your wallet with their sale prices and promotions. But there's something even better than a great bargain, and that's "free!" With Black Friday sales waiting in the wings, we've found five freebies that will help you stretch your holiday shopping budget just a bit further. From cookbooks to free drinks at Starbucks, here are today's freebie deals. Starbucks: Buy 1 Holiday Drink, Get 1 Free Price: Free with the purchase of one holiday drink Expires: November 20 Is It Worth It?: We're calling this one an Editors' Choice, firstly because there's a Starbucks across the street — there's pretty much always a Starbucks across the street, right? — and secondly because we like sharing delicious things! Indulge in a Peppermint Mocha, Caramel Brulée Latte, Gingerbread Latte, or Starbucks' longest-running holiday favorite, the Eggnog Latte any afternoon from 2 to 5 pm, now through November 20, and receive a free drink for your favorite co-worker, too. Martha Stewart Thanksgiving Hotline Recipes Cookbook Price: Free Is It Worth It?: Sirius XM offers downloads of the Martha Stewart Living Radio Thanksgiving Hotline Recipes 2011 Cookbook in a PDF format for free. You'll receive tips from contributors like Emeril Lagasse, Wolfgang Puck, and Mario Batali. The 73-page cookbook has recipes that run the gamut from butternut squash lasagna to Riesling roast turkey with fig and root vegetable dressing. Yummy! Spend the weekend planning something special (and impressive) for the big day. Dog or Cat Cartoon-a-Day: 2012 Day-to-Day Calendar eBook for Kindle Price: Free Lowest By: $11 Is It Worth It?: John Hawkin's 2012 Day-to-Day Dog Cartoon-A-Day eBook (pictured) is full of virtual wet-nosed kisses and canine capers and can be yours for free. More of a cat-lover (like a certain staff member we know)? His Cat Cartoon-A-Day eBook is also free for Kindle. Free MP3 Albums and Singles from Google Music Price: Free Is It Worth It?: Queue up the free tunes from your favorite genres — from Rock to Country and Pop/Hip Hop. You'll find the Rolling Stones' "Dancing With Mr. D" MP3 single, Coldplay's "Every Teardrop is a Waterfall (Live from Glastonbury 2011)" MP3 single, and Pearl Jam's "9.11.2011 Toronto, Canada" MP3 Album (pictured) at the Google Music Store — available for free! To download the music in this Editors' Choice deal, you'll need Gmail and Google Wallet accounts and to provide a credit card for verification purposes. For more music, click here. $25 Melissa & Doug Credit for Bloggers Price: Free Expires: November 20 Is It Worth It?: A $25 credit for this popular maker of educational and wooden toys could certainly come in handy around the holidays. Just fill out the Blogger Registration form to become a Melissa & Doug blogger, then follow the instructions for blogging about the Melissa & Doug North "Poll." (The post requires a specific headline, image, link formatting, etc.) Then, start scanning the site for the toy of your child's choice! Front page photo credit: Free Mortgage CRM Lou Carlozo is dealnews' Green Dad columnist. He was most recently the managing editor of WalletPop.com, and before that a veteran columnist at the Chicago Tribune. Follow him on Twitter — @LouCarlozo63. You can also sign up for an email alert for all dealnews features.
