Yes, you can have a free Second Life.

A day in the life of a freebie-loving resident.  

I belong to an inworld chat group.  It's the Virtual Vagabond group chat which is related to the Virtual Vagabond blog written by SpaceCase M.  So I log-inworld and the group chat pops up and one of the members, Toni (aka JC Sundial), posts a tip about free stuff at a store called AlaFolie. Toni includes a slurl-embedded link, so I click on it and land right smack dab in front of the freebies.  

https://my.secondlife.com/leehere.absent/snapshots/51f80f60530d5379dd000001

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/AlaFolie/110/143/39

Six gift boxes containing six different dresses.  100% free.  No group membership requirement.  I snag all six.

Then I head over to the spot where Toni says there is a free pendant.

https://my.secondlife.com/leehere.absent/snapshots/51f811cb2aad643a2c000001

Right there in the red heart-shaped box.  Also 100% free.  I snag that too.

Then I wander around the store and notice that there are Lucky Chairs here.

https://my.secondlife.com/leehere.absent/snapshots/51f81320df463855c8000001

Lucky Chairs give away free stuff when you sit in them at the moment the first letter of your first name appears.  Your Resident name.  So I sit in them when "L" shows up on the board and I get free stuff.

So there you have it.  That's how you get good free stuff in Second Life.  Totally doable. 

http://virtualstreetcorner.yuku.com/topic/52/master/1/?page=3

http://www.virtualvagabond.com/

Second Life. I'm in. Now what? (Part III - Find the Free Stuff)

3.  Find the free stuff.

You can have a completely free and fabulous experience in Second Life and you can do it with good quality stuff.  You just need to know where to find it and that's not as hard as you may think since people love to blog and talk about free goodies.

The best way to get the good stuff is to join the groups of good designers and content-creators and to keep an eye out when good designers and content-creators offer gifts or just go to the Second Life marketplace and sort your searches by cost looking for the freebies.

You need to do some research of your own, but here's a head start:

https://marketplace.secondlife.com/
http://www.scoop.it/t/second-life-freebies-und-mehr
http://fabfree.wordpress.com/
http://www.slfreebies.info/
http://slfreestyle.blogspot.com/
http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Wanted/Best-area-for-free-stuff/td-p/737193
http://secondlife.com/destinations/howto/newbie
http://leeherevw.blogspot.com/2012/01/freebie-fashion-tips-in-sluniverse.html
http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/new-users/67989-show-your-freebie-style.html
http://www.rletc.com/showthread.php?2695-Free-Complete-Avatars-The-Whole-Deal-in-One-Package-for-0L
http://www.rletc.com/showthread.php?911-Midnight-Mania-Link
http://slfreebdollarbluckychairhunts.blogspot.com/
http://secondlife.wikia.com/wiki/Freebie
http://www.virtualvagabond.com/
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/stores/1977

Now take your stuff to a sandbox and rez it, open it, copy it, use it and have fun with it.