Greg is right, it is not beyond me to blog about my own birthday. So here goes.

I am a marketers worst nightmare. I watch commercials with skepticism and am not easily swayed. I will use a less effective more annoying product if it saves me a couple of bucks. I am an off brand kind of girl and I only eat out at places that offer coupons. Which brings me to my next point. My birthday.

I spent the last few months scouring the internet for companies that provide birthday promotions. Several websites provide comprehensive lists for this very purpose. When my birthday finally rolled around, my inbox was flooded with offers and discounts from several restaurants hoping I would partake of their free offer and then some. What they do not know is that I always take the free offer, and never then some.

My birthday celebration began at Noodles & Company where I enjoyed a free Chicken Pad Thai. It was our date night (a few days before my birthday) so we would have gone out to eat anyway. When I signed up they also sent me a buy one get one free coupon for joining (which we also took part of). Savings $14.00


Then I continued the festivities by taking Jackson and Bennett out on the town for a Culver's ice cream sundae. Jackson thought he died and went to heaven and Bennett had his first taste of ice cream and by the way he scarfed it down, it will not be his last. We ordered nothing other than the free ice cream (which we split). Savings $2.50.


On my actual birthday we (as a family) split a free appetizer sampler at Famous Daves. With chicken, ribs, catfish, onion rings, and wings, it was more than enough to feed all 3 of us (Bennett dined on cheerios). We ordered waters, and nothing else. Savings $14.99.


Then we all headed over for my free birthday ice cream at Cold Stone. I ordered my absolute favorite (cake batter ice cream with apple pie filling, honestly I was salivating as I ordered it) and Greg and Jackson shared another ice cream as well. But there was a little mix up in the ordering so Greg's ice cream was discounted a dollar. Total Savings $2.50.

Tomorrow we are going to the zoo (it's a free zoo) and then off to Red Robin for my free burger. I anticipate that Greg will probably order something small and fill up on bottomless fries and half my burger. Savings $8.50.


Our last stop next week will be Flat Top Grill, a place that I have wanted to go to for a long time, but have been waiting for my free meal to enjoy it, because I can never really enjoy it unless I'm saving $12.99 by getting a free meal. Savings: $12.99.


There you have it folks. Call me cheap, call me a tightwad, call me classless. Just for the record, we always tip well (unless Greg doesn't get his water refilled promptly, that is where he draws the line). I hope this inspires you on your next birthday. If you weren't inspired, I hope you were at least entertained.

Total Birthday Savings: $55.48

Here's to 26 years of frugality.