Day 5 - Cotton Swab Holder/Freebie

Sometimes it is the small things in life that teach us the big lessons! This little blue box was a promotional giveaway for a national brand that sells a LOT of cotton swabs! Wink, wink!

I did try to make the best use out of it, but noticed that my cotton swabs usually looked they had the cotton stretched from the tops when I would use one. It turns out that the design of this product was quite poor. The way the lid locked on created friction on the swabs, thus pulling the cotton apart. This company paid to put their logo on some cheap promotional product in order to entice people to buy it at a store, because who doesn't like a freebie! And how many of us fall for it? I know I am definitely guilty. Not shopping as much definitely helps combat this problem. Even when it comes to trade shows or health fairs though, I stopped picking up stuff. Sure it feels good at the time, loading up a bag of schwag that I didn't even have to pay for! Then I have advertisements for restaurants, insurance companies, design firms and so on all vying for my attention in my day to day life. Those are distractions! I choose my own high quality paper, pens and even cotton swab holders now! It may turn out that getting stuff without advertising on it will end up costing more than getting it without, which is sad, but my clarity is worth every cent.