Why I am a Schwag Whore
Over ten years ago, I was unmarried, fresh out of college, and stupid with money. I bought stuff beyond my means. I believe I had amassed $15,000 of credit card debt. For what? A bunch of toys that weren’t worth thatmuch. I was in denial for a while that my debt was rapidly going out of control. However, my then-girlfriend (now my wife) made me look at the whole debt and realize that I was spending myself into bankruptcy. My spending habits needed some reform, and fast. Within a few years, with my woman running the checkbook, the credit card and $15,000 of school debt was gone. These days, the only debt we have the mortgage on our home and possibly a small amount on one of our vehicles.
So what does this have to do with schwag? Schwag is free stuff. Okay, it’s not really free as you’re expected to do something with the schwag, usually write something about it or feature it on a program. But at least my free time doesn’t cost hard currency–at least not yet. 
Free schwag is good because I can satisfy my desire for new gadgets without having to buy them myself, or at least I don’t have to buy them as frequently. I do, on occasion, buy stuff with my own money, but I think a lot longer and harder about it than I did before.
I’m basically a schwag whore for two reasons:
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Spending less money is good. Anything that lets me get stuff for free is good.
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I like electronic gadgets.
