Free directory assistance – Lifehacker
1-800-FREE-411
The price for avoiding the $1.80 to $3.49 charge of a 411 call is hearing an ad based on your information request – so you hear about the competitors to the business you’re asking about.
Now this is pretty cool. I will have to try and remember this next time I need to look up a number. Just ask my girlfriend anyways, I am quite good at not listening to things I don’t want to hear sometimes. 
Wandering the Interwebs 