Making the Most: Really, That's Free?

Have you ever found a website and thought to yourself, "How did I not know about this!?" Needless to say, I've had a few of those moments. I love that the internet has an endless variety of gadgets and services right at your fingertips. I'm always looking for new sites to try that will make my life just a bit easier, aren't you? Here's some of my favorites that you may, or may not, have heard about.

1. Pandora Radio - If you were like me and cried (just a bit) when internet radio dried up a few years back due to skyrocketing royalties, then you might just love this little gem. Pandora isn't your average online radio, you're the DJ. Choose a song and Pandora will generate a playlist from that pick. Fine tune your playlist by liking/disliking a song and Pandora will take your suggestions into account, making the radio station all your own.
2. Hulu - Video on demand is all the rage, but you have to admit, YouTube quality usually stinks. You can always check out the TV network websites, but every network has a different download for their player which usually ends up being time consuming to load. My favorite must-have right now is Hulu. There's no special download and the video quality is great. Not only do you get most of the major networks, you can see a bunch of shows from your favorite cable channels too, not to mention movies, sneak peaks and exclusive web content!
3. Evite - Evite is an online invitation service that allows you to create custom birthday, party, or anything invitations through email. Evite also has a cute selection of ecards through American Greetings, so once you confirm an invitation, you can send a "Happy Birthday" right back!.
4. Calorie Count - Let's face it, we've all done the fad diets, but Calorie Count is a traditional diet program that allows you to count calories in and out. What makes CC different is the database, knowledgebase and community. This site has thousands of foods listed in their nutritional database making it easy to log with one click and tracking your exercise it just as easy too. From the analysis chart, to the weight loss map, this free program takes that extra hassle out of staying healthy.
5. eHow - This is a fantastic site if you want to learn how to do, well, just about anything. With video tutorials and step by step instructions in every article, eHow makes it easy to put you in the know.
6. Fonolo - Fonolo allows anyone to visually navigate through a company's phone menu before they call cutting waiting time and headaches.Callers simply click on the phone menu option they want, and Fonolo connects them to the right agent. They have thousands of companies big and small listed and you can even suggest one that you don't see. There's also an iPhone app to take it to the next step of convenience.

Also on my list of favorite freebie sites are trading, barter and recycle or "new to you" website that have been getting a lot of attention lately. I can't wait to share these in my next post, so stay tuned.

What's your favorite site that you can't do without? Share with us in the comments below!