10 Useful Tips for the BEST Birthday Freebies Day!
What is a Birthday Freebies Day?
A birthday freebies day is like completing a scavenger hunt full of great deals, bargains, and freebies from companies that want to celebrate your next successful trip around the sun.
Anyone can go with you! Bonus points if you bring a friend whose birthday is also that month. Or, you can choose to spoil yourself alone!
My Top 10 Tips for a Successful Birthday Freebies Day!
1. Create a Separate Email Address Only for Rewards Programs
Everyone can agree that we get far too many emails. By signing up for all of these (albeit exciting) birthday rewards, your inbox will likely double, triple, or even quadruple the messages it receives.
Sure, you could send it all to the spam folder. But that would be a mistake. Sending emails from companies to spam could prevent you from finding your birthday reward coupons.
Create a new email address to avoid spam and shopping advertisements filling your current email account.
You can sign up for a new gmail account here.
2. Sign Up for Rewards 1-2 Weeks Before Your Birthday
I started signing up for rewards a month before my birthday. What can I say? I like preparation. However, if your birthday is already rapidly approaching, you could still get some rewards if you sign up around one to two weeks prior.
Some companies even allow you to get the reward if you sign up 24 hours before your birthday.
A quick side note on signing up for rewards- always remember to put your birthday in the profile! I forgot to put my birthday into the Crumbl Cookie app and missed a yummy free cookie. Don’t make the same mistake on your birthday freebies day.
Another quick note: Signing up for rewards online may mean your account is incomplete in-store. You’ll still get all the rewards and coupons, but some cashiers may have trouble finding your account. If a phone number doesn’t work at the registers, try giving them your email address instead to help find your rewards account!
3. Organize Apps in a Folder on Your Phone
Organization is key when it comes to planning out how to get multiple birthday freebies- and, let’s be honest, we all have so many apps on our phones. I like to organize my apps by type (a page for food and shopping apps, a page for games, etc.). Folders keep things nice and tidy and make everything quick to find.
I wanted to make sure I could easily find and access all of the apps for my birthday freebies. So, I placed them in two separate folders. One folder was titled Birthday Apps for retailers, and the other was titled Birthday Food Apps. I kept these two folders right next to each other, which made them easy to find.
Organizing my apps in folders was a great visual reminder of the freebies I had already gotten and those still left to get.
4. Map Out Plans
Do you want to hit all the freebies on the same day? Are they at different locations? Is there a mall nearby with the majority of the freebies you want to hit?
Going in with a plan will help you focus on the prize(s). It will also prevent you from spending time (and money) elsewhere.
I made a list of all the freebies I was hoping to get, then started googling the closest location for each reward. The local mall was where I could find most of the deals. That's when I truly started mapping out my plans.
I listed the stores and floors they were on in the mall that had freebies and deals. The list went to the mall with me to cross spots off and keep myself a little more focused.
5. Split the Birthday Freebies into Different Days
Don’t let yourself get burnt out all in one day. Take it at a nice pace, and treat yourself throughout the month!
So, maybe not all of the freebies you want are in the mall near you. Some may be in the opposite direction 20 minutes away from you- or further.
This fact does not mean you have to forego these deals. Getting some of the deals on different days is an excellent way to treat yourself throughout the month!
The bulk of my birthday freebies day was spent at the mall. But I went to Ulta at the start of the month to ensure I got that freebie. I also got a little dessert freebie a week after my birthday.
Or maybe some freebies are things you want to get online (such as the amazing Madewell deal you can read about in my shopping birthday deal article here!).
6. Plan Out a Budget
Most birthday food freebies are what they say are: free. Some, however, require a purchase. There are also a lot of great shopping deals that you can take advantage of during your birthday month! To avoid going overboard, set a target budget to remain inside while shopping with your coupons. My planned budget was $30- but I needed running shoes for marathon training and found a great pair on sale at DSW.
After all of my shopping, my total was around $105, but I got over $500 worth of stuff between the freebies and epic deals. The result was not too shabby, but anyone could do a birthday freebie day while spending less.
7. Screenshot All Birthday Freebies Coupons
This tip is a lifesaver. While some rewards are available for the cashier to access on their registers, others are not. You can’t rely on them to have the coupon- and you definitely cannot rely on a store’s WIFI or cell service… take this from a recovering retail worker.
The best way to ensure you have all your coupons available when you need them is to take a screenshot of them on your phone.
Pro-tip: Some freebie emails do not come with actual coupons/barcodes. For example, I got an email from Yankee Candle about my free birthday candle and how to show up in-store or apply an online code to redeem). Take a screenshot of the email- just in case. Cashiers will likely ask to see the email, and it is best to prepare for that.
8. Be Nice to Cashiers
Following up on my Yankee Candle comment from the last tip, it is always good to be kind, patient, and courteous to cashiers. Ultimately, a good experience with a cashier can make or break their day and yours. People are more likely to help you with anything you need (if they can do anything about it) if you’re nice to them.
At Yankee Candle, the cashier was suspicious about me coming in for a free candle. She couldn’t find my account information and promptly asked to see my email- which I easily pulled up thanks to taking a screenshot. I was as polite as possible and told her that I had created my account online. She eased up after asking me when my birthday was (which was the day before) and told me happy birthday. She then wrapped my candle up for me and informed me of future deals.
Retail workers are trying to do their jobs. Sadly, people often snap at them for it. So, if a similar interaction happens to you just be patient and try to be the bright spot in their day. These are only birthday freebies and are not worth getting upset about or making someone else upset.
9. Bring a Large Tote Bag
This was a brilliant idea my mom had before we went on the birthday freebies scavenger hunt- and I am SO thankful she thought of it.
Bringing a large tote bag you can carry on your shoulder can help free up your hands while browsing! Your hands will get full quickly if you get even just half of the freebies listed in my birthday deals and food freebies articles. My mom brought a foldable canvas tote bag that fit in her purse. She pulled it out after we got our second bag. After that, we placed all of the bags inside the big tote. It was so much less hassle than regular.
10. Have Fun!
Sure, a great deal is worth smiling about- but it isn’t worth stressing yourself out about either. The whole point of this day is to celebrate and have fun!
Whether you're going out alone or with friends, a birthday freebies day is an excellent way to party.
Final Thoughts on Planning the Best Birthday Freebies Day
These ideas helped me get the most out of my birthday freebies day. So, I hope that by following these tips, you can make the most of your birthday outing, too!
For more information on the best birthday deals, check out my other posts about free food for your birthday and the best birthday shopping deals!
