There’s no such thing as a free lunch – or is there? Students low on cash will do almost anything to get a free meal. Instead of robbing Pita Pit or hijacking a Jimmy John’s delivery bicycle, AMUSE offers an easier way to get your grub for free.

Sam’s Club, 305 Airport Road, provides its members with free samples daily. If you don’t have a membership, find a friend who does and beg them to take you along.

Samples start being served at 11 a.m. and go until 7 p.m. each day. They usually serve a wide variety of samples, making for the ultimate buffet. Samples range from buffalo wings to iced tea to cookies.

Marc Riley, junior in finance, shares a Sam’s Club membership with his roommate. The two frequent Sam’s Club for grocery shopping and are often pleasantly surprised when they go during sample time.

“The pizza bites are my favorite and the chip dips are really good, too,” Riley said.

While you’re munching on freebies, you might even find a new favorite snack food to purchase. Some students’ accommodations could make it difficult to buy food in the bulk quantities that Sam’s Club offers, however. Close living quarters don’t always allow much space for items bought in bulk.

Betty Hutt, demo lead at Sam’s Club in Ames, said, “I fully understand the space situation in dorms.”

She said she gets a chuckle out of the groups of greek students who come in and say they’ll send their house cook down to get stocked up on the item they sampled.

Tips for the most effective sampling

1. Don’t go with more than three people. If you get any more than this you are just drawing attention to yourselves and disturbing other shoppers.

2. Check out what is available before you sample. Your stomach will thank you if you see what your options are before you start indulging in every sample.

3. Be friendly with the employees. If you chat with the workers you might be lucky enough to score an extra scoop of ice cream.

4. Don’t go back for seconds. That’s just being greedy.

If the samples don’t fill you up, Sam’s Club also has a small food court. Some menu items include pizza, pretzels, hot dogs and soft drinks. These make for a very inexpensive meal, with prices starting at 94 cents.