Birthday offers!

Okay, so part of this is just me pointing out that my 26th birthday is one week from today.  Woohoo!!

BUT......

My bigger point here is that I know I've mentioned signing up for email lists at your favorite stores, restaurants, etc; getting on their snail mail lists, text offers, etc.  Some people find it to be a huge pain because suddenly their email is being "spammed" with all these advertisements and things that you  might not always be interested in.  I get that, I really do. 

This is why I also recommend having a separate email address for deals/email lists.  You can get a free email account from Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmal, etc., and just filter all those emails through there.  This way you can do a mass delete of your inbox (if you don't feel like looking at any of it) without deleting some important personal/business email.  It doesn't hurt for those in-store email sign-ups that I seem to be encountering lately.  You know, those ones where you're checking out and they ask for your email at the end of the transaction; they're basically signing you up for their email list so that you can get information about their sales and coupons. 

Not to mention......:ahem:.....when you give your email or mailing address to a lot of these stores you can get awesome deals when it's time for your birthday.   And these are usually pretty high value deals that you can get just for turning another year older.  Honestly, my birthday is still a week away and I've gotten more emails and snail mail with birthday offers than I have ever gotten before (definitely not complaining!) and they are all pretty awesome deals. 

For example these are the deals that I've gotten so far:

Snail Mail/Regular mail:
* $20 off a purchase of $20 or more at Vera Bradley (FREE ITEM! and I don't really shop at Vera Bradley but I have a ton of friends that do, so I could even pick up a gift for someone else!)
* $5 off any purchase at DSW - Must be a DSW Rewards member (which I am, they also send other $$$ off coupons throughout the year to your mailing address)
* $15 off a purchase of $15 or more at JCPenney - you do have to have their credit card for this one.
* 20% off your entire purchase at American Eagle - again cardholders only.
* 15% off your total store purchase during your birth month (August, obviously) at Anthropologie. - have to be on their email list.
* $10 off a/any purchase from Victoria's Secret. - you can get this by entering your email on their keypad when you complete your transaction at VS stores.

Email Offers:
* Free Cinnamon Sticks or Bread Sticks with any online purchase from Pizza Hut (might make a nice quick dinner one night this month) - you can sign up for their email just by ordering from them online, if it's available in your area.
* Free FRESH Mini Lip Balm (no purchase required) from Sephora - this comes from signing up for their Beauty Insider card, you can also earn a ton of other rewards with this card including free items/samples if you're someone who shops for higher end personal/beauty items
* Free 12oz Shake with any purchase at Arby's (and any purchase does include value menu items) - signing up for their email list
* 15% off any online order from BananaRepublic.com.  - also an email list sign-up.
* BOGO Free Pretzels from Auntie Anne's - This is from being a Pretzel Perks member, they also send various coupons throughout the year. 
* BOGO Free Creation Sundae's from Coldstone - these are usually restricted to a certain store (like I can only use this at the Coldstone near my house) but still very  nice!
* Free Handcrafted Burger of your Choice from Ruby Tuesday. - being on their "So Connected" email list will get you this as well as other coupons throughout the year, such as free apps or desserts.


Not to mention, expiration dates on all of these vary.  Some of them have to be used by my actual birthday on the 8th, a couple are good until the 15th, some are good for the whole birthday  month, so make sure you check the fine print.  Just because they're all for your birthday doesn't mean they all have to be used the day of or they become invalid.  Seriously, there's no way I'd be able to eat that much food in a day...no way...but I can redeem most of those throughout the month to get some great food deals throughout the month of August.

So get a free, separate email address and sign up for some of your favorite retailers emails.  These listed above are just for birthdays, this doesn't include emails that I get from most of them regularly with sales and other coupons that could save you a ton of money.