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30 Birthday Freebies!

Posted in Life Hacks, Parenting, Works for me, tagged , , on July 29, 2025| 1 Comment »

Here’s some birthday math for you: I have 3 kids ages 25, 22, and 21. That’s 68 birthdays so far, not including me and Benny, of course. I have been signing them up for birthday clubs at our favorite restaurants since they learned how to hold their own forks. It used to be a fun family tradition, collecting their birthday freebies. It was an inexpensive way to get them little extra treats. Max and Zoe’s birthdays are 2 weeks apart, and we took advantage of that for dining out as a family. Now that they’re adults, they’re in charge of signing up for their own freebies, aaaaaand they don’t. WHY? I taught them better than that! šŸ˜‰

Today is MY birthday, so I’ll be collecting a few of MY freebies. We were in the middle of a move last year on my birthday (it sucked), but this year I took the day off work and I’m going to play, and shop, and eat too much sugar! Because I’m a planner and have been doing this for over 25 years, I have some tips for you if you’d like to get in on the birthday freebie action:

  1. Sign up for the loyalty emails from your favorite restaurants and stores. I know, I know, you don’t want a bunch of “spam” clogging up your inbox. I get it. You have a couple of options here – You can create an email filter to collect loyalty program emails in one place, then browse through and delete them every once in a while, or you can set up a junk email and use that address to sign up for things. Both options give you control over how often you sift through these emails for coupons and of course, your birthday freebies that come around once a year. Some restaurants allow you to sign up your family members too.
  2. Sign up BEFORE your birthday month. This ensures you qualify for whatever that particular company offers to its loyalty members.
  3. Download their apps. If you’re an app person, this makes redemption of your coupons and rewards fast and easy. You can print them off and take them with you, which may seem like an unneccessary step since many of us have our phones glued to our person most of the time anyway, but you do you!
  4. Pay attention to expiration dates. Some rewards are only usable on your actual birthday, while others might be good the whole month, or for a week or two after your special day. If you’re printing your freebies, write the expiration date on a top corner of the page and stack them accordingly so you use them in the order of their expiration. If you’re redeeming freebies with the apps, create a note in your phone with a list of your freebies, including when they expire.
  5. Invite a friend to tag along. I often ask friends to meet me at the places I’m a loyalty member so I can collect my freebies while connecting with my friends. BONUS!

I live in a metro area and have a lot of options near me, but I don’t redeem all of my rewards every year. Some years are busier than others, so I prioritize my favorites in case I can’t get them all in before they expire. Here’s a list of my 30 birthday freebies this year. If you do this too, I’d love to hear your favorites!

AMC Theatres – Free Large Popcorn & Large Drink
Chick-fil-a – Free Dessert
Chili’s – Free Dessert
Chipotle – Free Guacamole (which is why I prefer Qdoba – it’s always free)
Cold Stone Creamery – $5 off your purchase
Crumbl – Free Single Cookie
Culver’s – Free Frozen Treat
Denny’s – Free Everyday Value Slam Breakfast
Einstein Bros. Bagels – Free Egg Sandwich w/ purchase
Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers – Free Mini Sundae or Concrete (specialty or 1 topping)
Jersey Mike’s – Free Regular Sub
Menchie’s – $5 off your purchase
MOD Pizza – Free No Name Cake
Nothing Bundt Cakes – Free Bundlet
Old Spaghetti Factory – Free Pasta Classic
Panera Bread – Free Birthday Pastry
Piccino Wood Oven Pizza – Free Dessert
Qdoba – Free Queso & Chips
Red Robin – Free Burger w/ $4.99 purchase
Smashburger – Free Birthday Shake
Sonic – Free Small Shake w/purchase
Starbucks – Free Drink (Only on your birthday)
Steak N Shake – Free Specialty Shake
Subway – Free Cookie
Taco Bell – Free Baja Blast Freeze
Torrid – $20 Birthday Reward
Waffle House – Free Classic Waffle w/purchase
Wendy’s – Free Small Classic Chocolate or Vanilla Frosty w/purchase
Ziggi’s Coffee – Free 16 oz. drink

Keep in mind that this list is for adults, so check out kid offers near you. If you’d like more details about the rewards and expiration dates, I created a Google Sheet you can copy here, accessible to anyone with the link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Da1mb4v9im4Xy7PFSDA839nqtfkn_t0cAd1E4UFQd_0/edit?usp=sharing

Enjoy your birthday freebies! I know I will! šŸ˜‰

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It’s Planner Time!

Posted in Blogging365, Free to be me, Life Hacks on January 2, 2019| Leave a Comment »

Day 2

Iā€™ve been working on my 2019 planner. Like an office supply junkie needing a fix, Iā€™m surrounded by my stickers, rubber stamps, washi tape, bold colored pens, and my favorite pencil. This is my toolbox for coping with the chaos of life. Planning calms me. Making lists and highlighting important dates to look forward to helps me breathe easier. Itā€™s one of my best brain dump practices. Paper and pens are my thing.

nerdy girl

My friend Don has been showing me his bullet journal pages for a couple of years now and I hate to admit it, but Iā€™m a bit jealous. Iā€™ve purchased 157 blank books in my life, give or take a few, and Iā€™ve filled about 4 of them. But Iā€™ve filled a planner every year for as long as I can remember. Don makes his own planner, and heā€™s amazing at it. I think it calms his brain too.

Mary, another dear friend, special orders an Erin Condren planner every year with her name on it! Yeah, they do that. Iā€™m a little jealous of that too. Yes, I know I can order one, but we are in different planner tax brackets for the moment. I dream of owning a planner with my name engraved on the cover. *sigh* (Iā€™m kidding about the sigh.)

That may be one of my goals for 2020. That seems like a good goal, right? Or maybe I shouldnā€™t jump ahead a whole year. I should tackle this one first. Baby steps.

Are you a planner or a pantser? (Do you fly by the seat of your pants?) Iā€™m a planner that sometimes embraces spontaneity. I’m off to brain dump before bed, but here’s a picture of my two planners. The tall one is for work. The spiral shorty is my personal planner and fits perfectly in my purse. The lighting isn’t great, but you get idea.

2019planners

What’s in your toolbox?

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Works for Me! Life Hacks: 5 Minute Journal

Posted in Free to be me, Life Hacks, Works for me, tagged , , , , , , on January 3, 2017| Leave a Comment »

Iā€™m not embracing a single word to focus on for 2017, but if I was, it would probably be GRATITUDE. Even in my darkest nights of the soul, my life is filled with people and things I am so grateful for. I know there are many tools available to help me focus on those things. I was even gifted a gratitude journal. Thereā€™s only one teensy weensy problemā€¦I hate journaling. Really. I hate it.

I love writing, but journaling and writing are completely different beasts! I fill my blank books with lists and story ideas and writing ā€œNiki loves Bennyā€ in my best penmanship. I donā€™t journal.

Butā€¦

On a melancholy, wintry day in 2015, I sought solace in a cup of chai at Starbucks. While I was chatting up the barista, I grabbed one of those little freebie cards for iTunes apps they used to give out. My eyes were drawn to the big number 5 on it. If I had looked close enough to see the word ā€œjournalā€ I probably would have left it on the counter. When I finally checked it out, I was impressed, and it was FREE. Bonus! Thank you, Starbucks! *bats eyelashes*

5-minute-journal-logo

I love this app so much, I had my kids download it on their phones too. The simple format is appealing – Iā€™m not sitting down to a blank page wondering what to write, I just follow the prompt, answering the same questions every day in the morning and evening. It helps me think through my goals for the day and reflect on the little amazing moments that add up to my life.

You can add daily pictures, set up notifications, and share their inspirational quotes to social media. It takes less than 5 minutes yet it’s had a profound impact on my attitude over the past year. Even on my bad days, it helps to focus on what went well and who I am. The daily affirmation might be my favorite part. It gave me a new perspective and I’m happier for it.

As for my kids, I’m helping them form habits that will serve them (and others) well and I get the added bonus of happier, healthier kids. We’re usually together when our phones light up with our journal prompts, which is fun.

notification

Need a celebrity endorsement? Tim Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Work Week, is a big fan.

The Five Minute Journal is one of the simplest ways that I have found to consistently ensure improving my well being and happiness. Both in terms of achievement and actual measurable, quantifiable results.

Tim Ferriss, NY Times Best Selling Author

Sadly, the app is not free anymore, itā€™s $4.99 in the app store for my fellow IOS users. It is worth every penny!

Android users: Iā€™ve read you can use the same principles with a journaling app like Dario, or 5 Minute Journal is also available in book form from the makers at Intelligent ChangeĀ and onĀ Amazon.

Try it risk-free! If you subscribe to the newsletter at Intelligent Change, they will send you a free quick start pdf for you to try 5 Minute Journal for five days. You can always unsubscribe to the newsletter if itā€™s just not your thing, but why not give it a try?

Do you journal? How do you motivate yourself and stay focused on positivity?Ā 

Update: If the video isn’t working, here’s the YouTube link:Ā 5 Minute Journal on YouTube

I’m kicking off 2017 by sharing some of my life hacks! Next up: LastPass!

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Works for Me! Life Hacks: Calendar/Planner

Posted in Free to be me, Life Hacks, Works for me, tagged , , , , , on January 3, 2017| 6 Comments »

Itā€™s Sunday night on the first day of the first month of 2017, and the eve of the first Monday of the year. Iā€™m doing what I do most Sunday nights, planning for the week.

Iā€™m snuggled in my bed, sipping something sweet, and poring over my calendars. Plural. I love my phoneā€™s Google Calendar that syncs up with those of the rest of my family, but I canā€™t live without a paper version too.

Though my own brain and habits havenā€™t been studied and tracked, I know there is Scientific evidence that suggests by physically writing things down, we process the information better by creating spatial connections in our brains and we have an easier time remembering the important stuff.

Iā€™ve always been a writer-downer. It is one of the tools that allows me to be a high-capacity woman. Iā€™m a big fan of lists and I create them for everything: Grocery shopping, names I might like to use in the stories Iā€™m writing, funny things my kids say, special information about friends I donā€™t want to forget, books I want to read, etc. All of this gets jotted down in the different sections of my paper planner, then some of it gets entered into my phone, and on the big family calendar on the side of our refrigerator.

cover-pic

I prefer to see the whole month-at-a-glance, so I like the large flexi-planner. Mine is dated August 2016 ā€“ December 2017. My phone calendar is set to see the day-at-a-glance. Do what works for you!

calendar-pic

Each month I begin by filling in the squares with standing commitments like meeting times, food bank days, fieldtrips, and my kidsā€™ work schedules and babysitting dates.

I use the extra blank squares on the calendar to record notes about the kids and that monthā€™s book releases Iā€™m excitedly awaiting. This month theyā€™re on the bottom. My teenagers pay for their own phones, so this is where I record what they owe us and I cross it off when they pay it. Any other loans and notes about the kids get recorded here as well.

I use the side column to list birthdays and anniversaries of family and friends, and section off the bottom for our list of bills so I have a visual of what we need to pay for the month.

The top margin gets filled in with quotes, questions, observations, and other notes.

The circled dates are my paydays for my part-time jobs.

week-pic

The week-at-a-glance section in my planner is where I record notes as I think of them. Kind of like a daily sticky note of what happened or things I want to remember.

What Iā€™m adding this year:

  • Book List ā€“ Books Iā€™ve read will be recorded on the day I finish them.
  • Movie List ā€“ Movies watched will be recorded on the day I watch them.
  • Moving List ā€“ Daily recording of the steps I take. I plan to add a lot more of them.

Do you use a planner or calendar? More than one? How do you stay organized? 

I’m kicking off 2017 by sharing some of my life hacks! Next up: The 5 Minute Journal!

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