Wishing Big with Free Birthday Celebrations

Penny-pinching when it comes to celebrating your own birthday. Let retailers show you some birthday love by celebrate your next birthday with a free perk! Several restaurants and retailers offer a free item (e.g., meal, appetizer, ice cream, etc.) or discount. Make sure to double check before you go as "free" is always subject to change. In several instances, you'll need to sign up online to get the qualifying deal. Here's a few examples:


Food
Applebee's - free dessert

AuntieAnne's Free Pretzel(sign up online for twisted news)


Baskin-Robbins — free scoop of ice cream

California Pizza Kitchen - free kids meal during the birthday month (signup online)


Cold Stone Creamery - Get a free Love it Size Ice Cream (sign up online)

Cracker Barrel - Free Ice Cream

Black Olive (Tewksbury) - Buy one dinner, get one free ($15 value, advanced registration required)


Hard Rock Cafe - Free dessert

Outback Steakhouse - Free dessert or appetizer

TGI Friday’s - Free birthday dessert plus free appetizer (sign up online)


Merchants
AutoZone - Free Oil Change at participating dealers


Borders Rewards - You'll get two coupons emailed to you on your birthday: one for 15% off the regular price of one item, and one for a free dessert at the store cafe.

Crabtree & Evelyn: You'll get two coupons emailed to you on your birthday: one for 15% off the regular price of one item, and one for a free dessert at the store cafe.

DSW: $5 off your next purchase.

Hallmark - 20% off coupon for one item (sign up online)


Hollywood Video - Free video rental (membership required)

Ringling Brothers Circus - Register your newborn for a free ticket to the circus that never expires.

Scrub A Dub - free car wash

Target - Register for the free birthday mailer - full of free gifts, tips, and coupons.

Talbots - 10% of one day's purchases within your birthday month

Know any other great birthday deals, ping me a comment. I'd love to add to the list.

Wish Big!

Don't dump the junk mail

Break your habit of automatically dumping the junk mail into the closest trash can. Spend the five minutes to filter through the offerings. You never know what deals will be appealing to you. Believe me. Its worth the effort. In last 7 days, I've saved over $65 using junk mail offers, creating for myself a day of fun with no dollars spent. Not bad, for five minutes of mindless work.

1. $50 Shell Gas Gift card (won by completing a survey received in the mail)
2. $10 Kohls' Gift Card
3. $2 off Large Pizza at a favorite pizza joint
4. $3.85 - Free Starbucks Latte

Now, if you absolutely loath receiving junkmail, take action and get your name removed from promotional lists. Visit the consumer site for the Direct Marketing Association's website.At this site, you'll learn more on how to manage your communication preferences or remove your name from promotional lists.

Flipping Pages

Looking for a few places to find books cheaply on a regular basis? Check out the places listed below to find good quality used books at a fraction of the full retail price (often for a $1 or $2).

Why go the low cost route for books?
- Cost savings. $1 versus $14 for a trade paperback.
- Low price point of most books will allow you to experiment with new authors or genres that you might otherwise pass on
- Find a book you've been looking for that is no longer carried in a traditional bookstore

So, with these advantages in mind, take a book adventure at one of these bookstores within the Boston Area:

Got Books 104 Glenn St., Lawrence, MA, 01843
(978) 664-6555
Http://www.gotbooks.com
Runs a charity book sale each weekend. Each weekend, the sale benefits a different non-profit organization. Hours are 9AM-6PM on Thursday and Friday) and 9AM - 4PM on Saturday. Most books run $1 each. Store also accepts donation.


Used Book Superstore
256 Cambridge Street, Burlington, MA
http://www.usedbooksuperstore.net
(781) 27 - BOOKS

This superstore is a subsidiary of GotBooks.com. (see above). Larger selection of books generally offered at 90% retail. DVDs and CDs are also sold. Large store, nothing glamorous - just shelves and bins of books.
The hours are: 10AM - 8PM (Tuesday - Saturday); 10AM - 6PM (Sundays)

Wellesley Booksmith Used Book Cellar
82 Central St, Wellesley, ma
http://www.wellesleybooksmith.com/
(781) 431 1160

The Used Book Cellar is open during regular store hours. Purchase "gently used" books at deep discounts. (FYI: excellent inventory of current good reads). Sell books back to the store for additional store credit on the 1st and 3rd Friday and Saturday of each month.

Local Library/Friends of the Library Book Sale.
Your local library

A hidden gem within your own neighborhood. Most libraries offer a bin or shelve of good reads for $1 or less. Books are usually placed near the front door or circulation desk. Donations usually welcomed. Exact change preferred.

Pitch In For Baseball

Step up to The Plate and Give the Gift of Baseball to a Deserving Kid

Want to do good but have no money saved to donate? Did you know that the gloves, bats and other baseball equipment that's sitting in your closet or garage right now can open a whole world of opportunities for an underprivileged kid. Pitch in your gently-used equipment. Donations currently being accepted for new or gently used:

• Gloves and cleats
• Aluminum bats
• Catcher's gear
• Instructional books and videos
• Teaching aids, like batting tees
• Baseballs (new only)
• Softballs (new only)
• Helmets (new only)
• Monetary donations are always welcomed.
  

In support of this effort, now through August 31st, the US Post Office is donating large Flat Priority Mailing boxes for the equipment as well as free pickup for this effort. Go to your local post office for more info

You can also mail the equipment directly to:
Pitch In For Baseball
1901 Pennsylvania Ave
Fort Washington, PA 19304

For more information, you can contact Pitch In For Baseball via the website: http://pitchinforbaseball.org/

Kitchen & Bath Surplus

For anyone looking to do a kitchen or bathroom renovation, I recommend checking out Designer Surplus for potential cost saving deals. Designer Surplus is a sister company of Lumber Liquidators (you know, the guys that donate the flooring on the Extreme Makeover). Find some extraordinary savings on great products. Check out the website (http://www.dsurplus.com/) for the current deals and visit a warehouse location in Florida, Georgia, or Massachusetts to buy. Where else can you find a claw foot tub for $699?

Happy Shopping!