Questions to answer before writing a New Year's resolution

WHAT kind of questions do we ask when we get a free haircut in conjunction with a $15 annual due in a membership shopping club, for instance? Or, they give you a gas discount provided you spend at least $60 worth of grocery items per visit. The quid pro quo can go on and on. You can't get it free.

My recent experience about this is with an upscale mall barber shop that charges $8 for a simple haircut with a complimentary one-minute head and shoulder massage. What's intriguing is that such free massage is elaborately advertised in a three feet by four feet poster pasted on the shop's glass window as if it's their greatest campaign ever.