5 Faves: Birthday Freebies (That Are Actually Free)

Have I ever mentioned that I'm a freebie-hunter? (Um, most likely.) A motto from my days in AmeriCorps was, "If it's free, it's for me!"

So of course I sign up for the inbox freebies from every company under the sun. I have a 'spam' email account set up specifically for all this junk. My birthday was the beginning of this month, and here are my top 5 birthday freebies that DON'T require you to make a purchase. Just walk in and receive!

ProTip: Don't let them guilt you into buying extras. That's what the other 364 days of the year are for. Just go by yourself (or with your twin?), leave the wallet in the car, and enjoy!

1.

Firehouse Subs

This is the only one that doesn't require a coupon, but it's the only one you HAVE to do on your actual birthday. Just walk in and show your ID, and get a free sub! Hooray!

2.

Baskin Robbins

Free ice cream. Cone or a cup (I always go cone.) Yum! Sign up for the Birthday Club here.

3.

Noodles & Co.

I decided on Pad Thai with shrimp this year, but I highly recommend the Mac & Cheese!

I hadn't heard of this place before we moved to Indiana, but turns out it's an actual chain, and it's quickly becoming a favorite of mine. And it's probably one of my fave birthday freebies because it's a free meal (up to $9 worth!) that easily feeds me for TWO meals. Join the EClub here.

4.

IHOP

Free Rooty Tooty Fresh n' Fruity pancakes. I learned from my stingy husband that the best way to do this is as a to-go order. Feel free to tip if you want, but I didn't. You can even check this one out early since they send you the same offer just for signing up! Join the eClub here

5.

CVS

Okay, this one is a little wonky, but bear with me. It's not good enough to just sign up for CVS ExtraCare. You have to sign up for the CVS Beauty Club as well. But once you do, you get a birthday coupon in your email for $3 off $3 for anything in the store. I usually buy candy, but this year I did popsicles. In the interest of full disclosure, I usually do pay a few cents toward my purchase on this deal. 50 cents for this year, but I think that's been my biggest. Join the ExtraCare Beauty Club here.

Honorable mentions: 

• Culver's - free sundae (wasn't sure how large this chain was since I had never seen it before we moved north, but looks like it's in about 22 states now!). Sign up for the eClub here. 
• Starbucks - free drink; have to register a gift card online, so it technically costs money. Register a card here.
• Moe's - free entree requires drink purchase ($2.15 here incl. tax), but I love Moe's and that giant burrito served me 2 meals. Join the Moe's eWorld here.

Linking up with #5Faves at Call Her Happy

5 Favorites: Free Printables

I'll be back with the birth story for Miss Audrey later, but the tl;dr version is: 41+5, induction, epidural, standard delivery. Overall, it was good, and we're doing good.

I yanked this one out of my posts drafts that I hadn't gotten around to. A themed 5 Favorites. I do love me some free printables.

1.

Recipe card

And by 'card,' I mean an entire sheet of paper that goes in a sheet protector in my recipe binder. I love that these are editable pdf's so you can copy/paste and don't even have to wade through rushed handwriting.

This one from DomestiFluff is what I used 5 years ago for my sister's bridal shower cookbook.

I think this one here can actually hold more text on it for those longer recipes.

2.

Notes for the babysitter

You can find all sorts of these all over Pinterest, but I found 3 faves.

The one shown is from here. Another nice one is over here. And lastly, this one. Oh wait, there's also this adorable one that is specifically for infants. So. Many. Options.

3.

Yearly kid's birthday interview

Also an editable pdf, which I started this year at age 3. I'm sure my daughter's answers changed the next day, but I tucked what I got into her baby book anyway.

There's also a blue/green version, and both can be found right here.

4.

Anything from Kendra at CatholicAllYear

Especially these lovelies:

I highly recommend reading the blog post that goes along with the Solemnities one, as well as her 10 Baby Steps to Living the Liturgical Year post. Both are full of win.

For all of Kendra's printables, check out her Pinterest board

5.

Handwriting practice sheets

Full confession: if it weren't for Cora's daycare, I would have never known about this one. But to watch your 3-year-old write her name? Jaw-droppingly awesome.

This was all her, no help.

Fully customizable and free at handwritingpractice.net


For some other awesome free printables that may or may not fit your life, check out freeprintablesonline.com and Thirty Handmade Days and Real Life at Home

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Linking this one up with Call Her Happy's 5 Faves, hosted this week at Efficient Momma

Sign Up for Swagbucks and Win at Life

I recently decided to partner with one of my favorite make-money-online sites--Swagbucks! I am now a Swagbucks Influencer. All that means is if you sign up within the next week you benefit from a special code, and that I might mention it around this blog if they're doing something cool.

And guess what? They're doing something cool right now.

I know I've talked about Swagbucks before, and it's pretty awesome especially in regard to making gift cards. Specifically Amazon gift cards, although they have other ones available. (I actually bought half our Christmas gifts last year, worth over $100, with Amazon gift cards earned through Swagbucks.) Well now I have exciting news and a great opportunity for all of you to earn bonus SB -- enough to get a free $5 gift card!  

Anyone who signs up for Swagbucks.com through my link here between now and June 30th is eligible to get a 500 SB bonus! Click on the part that says "I have a sign up code" and enter WINDMILLS for an instant 70 Swagbucks! (Code expires June 13 so get to gettin' already.)

In order to get the bonus automatically*, you must also earn 1500 SB by July 14th. Note that since this is an exclusive offer, you must sign up through this link and earn 1500 SB in order to get your 500 SB bonus. If you sign up elsewhere, or only do one of the two steps, the bonus unfortunately will not be available to you.  

So how do you get that 500 SB bonus? Simple: you can earn SB from any of the earning activities found on the homepage or top bar of Swagbucks.com (Shop, Search, Watch, Play, Answer, Discover, Daily Crave, NOSO & Daily Poll).  In the meantime, if you haven't started earning with Swagbucks yet, now is a great time to sign up and check out all the different ways to earn Bucks -- all so you can get a bunch of free gift cards.  

One of the best ways I have found to earn SB is by downloading the SBTV Mobile App (on Android, iPhone, and even on Kindle!) and running the videos on there. You can get up to 50 SB per day from that, and it can be pretty passive. (Check out the 10 Second Tip videos in the Home and Garden section--favorite them by dragging to the left.) So if you just do that every day, you will have your 1500 SB in 30 days! $5 Amazon cards cost 450 SB, so after the bonus, you will have made at least $20 without ever leaving your couch.


Too much words? Here's the tl;dr step-by-step version:
1. Sign up for Swagbucks using this link here and use the code WINDMILLS (through 6/13) for a free 70 SB.
2. Earn 1500 SB by July 14th. Download SBTV Mobile app to earn 50 per day. Multiply by 30. Boom, 1500.
3. ??? (Do other awesome Swagbucks-y tasks.)
4. Profit! 500 extra SB thrown into your lap.

* Please note that it may take up to 14 business days to credit your account once you have earned 1500 SB. 

Five Favorites: Birthday Freebies

For the past few years, I have gone on a "freebie spree" for my birthday. Just call me Mrs. Frugality. Here are my favorites from this year, with links to all of the companies so you can sign up and get your own!

No actual dollars were spent on this spree (nope, no BOGO or any nonsense like that, just 100% FREE!)

Favoritism, 5 things at a time

1.

Firehouse Subs

This "Club on a Sub" was devoured before I even thought of taking a pic of the inside.

Firehouse is the only one that doesn't have a coupon and that you only have one day to redeem. Just bring a valid ID in on your actual birthday, and you get a free sub!

2.

Noodles & Company

Wisconsin Mac & Cheese with Meatballs

Where has this place been all my life? I had never even heard of Noodles & Company before we moved to Fort Wayne. Since I passed one all the time, I signed up for their birthday club. This was my first time ever in there, and I got a big ol' bowl of anything I wanted for free. (Seriously, I had enough left over that I took some home.) It's counter-service, so I didn't even have to leave a tip! (Sign up here.)

3.

Baskin-Robbins

Always nice having a June birthday for this one.

A free scoop from Baskin-Robbins. Do I really need to say more? Yes, the cone was free, too. (Sign up here.)

4.

CVS

CVS $3 off $3

If you're a CVS ExtraCare member, check your email! This is the 3rd year in a row I have gotten a coupon for $3 off $3. And my favorite candy just so happened to be $3. Zero dolla, make me holla. (Sign up in store for ExtraCare then do the online part here.)

5.

Giving Back

Since you're getting a bunch of freebies for yourself, you should probably give something away. Be it your time as a volunteer, a meal for a friend or acquaintance in need, or as I did this year, a pint of my own blood.

There was a poster on the wall that encouraged selfies.

I just love the look of that full bag of blood.

I used to donate a lot in college and haven't since then. (I got screened out back in the early days of this blog) The process is so easy now--I just signed up online and went to the hospital down the street that has a full-time donation center. Unbeknownst to me when at sign-up, I also got a coupon for a free pint of frozen custard. (Give a pint, get a pint--get it??)

Two other freebies I haven't even gotten to yet are a free sundae from Culver's and a free gift from Sephora (ours is a counter in JCPenney). Never done those before, so I can't review them! IHOP also gave me a free meal, but I tipped and also paid for Cora and my BIL's meal. Not counting that one as "free."

If your birthday isn't any time soon and you are fortunate enough to live within a reasonable distance of the wonderful institution known as Krispy Kreme, you can get a free doughnut on Friday in celebration of National Doughnut Day. Enjoy it for me, since I miss that place more than I miss my own momma. Sometimes.

5 Favorites

1.

Parenting: Illustrated With Crappy Pictures

I have loved this blog for a while, and I just devoured her book in a weekend (and I'm one of the slowest readers ever). It's weird because I seriously haven't even had most of the issues the author complains about (yet?). Still, the MS Paint-style pictures are hilarious, Amber's writing is hilarious, and Crappy Baby is adorbs.

2.

Birthday Freebies

This was some of last year's since I'm too lazy to take a pic of this year's

Ah, I love my birthday. Mostly because of the influx of coupons, freebies, and good deals that hit my inbox in the week leading up to it. I got a free sub at Firehouse Subs, a free (kid-size) scoop at Baskin Robbins, a free $3 to spend on whatever at CVS, and a free burrito (with purchase of drink) at Moe's. I still have a free breakfast at IHOP that has so far gone un-used, along with a couple other 'buy something get something' offers that I'm not always so keen on because there is actual money involved. (But I did want that burrito on Sunday night, so that worked out well.) I think I just ate more fast food in one weekend than I have in a few months. Happy 29th to moi!

3.

the Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV)

Yeah, this is a weird one, but they do a great job with this here! They have good hours that can appeal to people in almost all shifts --open Tuesday through Saturday with certain days of the week open until 7pm. This is totally awesome because it meant I didn't have to lug the child with me to get my car registered here. (I did take her to get my license, and it was a huge mistake because she whined the whole time I was attempting my computer test. Doable, but not ideal.) They also have perfected speediness and short wait times. There were actually a lot of people there when I went to do my plates this week, but there were 10 workers, and each could handle anything. And there were another two 'floaters' who did things like checking my car's VIN number while we handled the rest of the paperwork. I got my number at 4:51 and walked out of there with my car registered in Indiana at 5:10. Less than 20 minutes, start to finish!

The only weird thing is that I only got a temporary plate, and they'll mail me the real one. The other states I've lived in just grabbed one from the pile and handed it over. Also, I've heard that IN plates are crappy plastic, but my others are pretty metal. I'm planning to hang my 3 former plates in our garage when we buy a house, so this kind of matters.

4.
this house that we didn't buy

I probably shouldn't think about it any more, but we saw this house last Thursday with our realtor, and it was fabulous. It was also at the top of our budget so we decided to wait a few days. Someone else put an offer on it the next day, and there is now a big "Sold in 7 Days!" sign next to the other one on the lawn. If you want to see more pics, here is the trulia listing. (Yes, it even included the swing set!) Things I've learned: we (actually, it's just me) are totally gun-shy about making an offer, especially this early in our search, and the good houses around here go fast. I'm also probably going to compare every house we see from here on out to this one.

5.

Maximum Cuteness

In the Crappy Pictures book, Amber Dusick introduced me to the phase called "Maximum Cuteness" which goes from about 16 months until 3 years. (I guess kids get mean and nasty about then, or at least that's what Crappy Mama says.) Anyway, Cora has hit this stage, and I am loving it. She had never shown much interest in her stuffed animals before, but now she has started carrying them around and hugging them and such. Then, there was this:

Let's take a closer look at that: 

And last night she fell asleep with her stuffed cat under one arm and her mousey under the other. I can't even handle the cute.

A Letter From the White House

Yep, a letter from The White House, not to The White House.  Well, I did have to send them a baby announcement, but then I got this in return!

I really don't care what your political stance is, nor does your baby. I will be getting one of these for each child of mine regardless of who is in office. This is just. plain. cool.

To get yours, send a birth announcement to:
White House Greetings Office

Room 39

1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Please include the following in your request:

• name and home address of honoree(s)
• form of address (Mr., Ms., Mrs., Dr., Miss, etc.)
• exact date of occasion (month, day, year)
• your (the requestor's) name and daytime phone number
• any specific mailing instructions if other than to honoree's address

I sent an extra birth announcement and then typed up a little slip with her name, birth date, and our names and address (mostly because my handwriting is awful).  I probably didn't even need to include the actual birth announcement, but it had pictures!  You can make an email birth announcement for free on pingg.com and print it out if you didn't do formal announcments.  Also, I didn't send this until she was 6 months old!  It took a few months after that to get a reply.

You can also get greetings from the White House for a variety of other celebrations, including weddings and retirement.  (I have one from when I got my Gold Award.) Check here to see what qualifies.

This is now in her baby book!

a little Christmas music

This past weekend, B and I had the privilege to attend a performance of Handel's Messiah by the Choral Society of Pensacola.  I actually had hoped to be singing with the group we saw, but decided not to push it with the pregnancy.  I also purposely didn't join the other (less-involved) choir I had sang with in the spring because their only concert for the fall was on the same night as this one!  (I really think the directors need to get together to plan around each other.)

Anyway, the concert was being held our our beautiful church, and we showed up ready to buy some general admission tickets.  The ticket gal asked, "Do you want some reserved section tickets?  These were just returned and are already paid for, so you can have them for free."  Sweet!  So we sat 8 rows back and listened to beautiful music for the next 2 hours.

They actually did the ENTIRE Messiah oratorio (all 3 parts), not just the traditional Christmas section with the "Hallelujah" chorus tacked on like I was expecting.  The soloists and choir were fantastic, and I loved hearing the other parts that I wasn't as familiar with.  I was so jealous that I wasn't up there singing myself!  But at the "Hallelujah" Chorus part (end of the Easter section, of course), you stand up (it's tradition!), and at this concert, the conductor turned around and conducted the audience so it was okay to sing along.  I sorta sang, but I was exhausted, making me realize that I made the right call about pregnancy vs. singing.

Here is the Atlanta Symphony and Chorus performing the first choral part of the Messiah, "And the Glory of the Lord":

I must sing with a symphony orchestra once again!  I miss it.
p.s. If you want to hear the "Hallelujah" chorus, check out this post I did at Eastertime.

the re-introduction of Victorian calling cards

Last week, I needed to get someone's address. I see this woman on a regular basis (we volunteer together). I was about to write it down on a scrap of paper, but before I could she just whipped out a "business" card and handed it to me.  She's retired and doesn't have a side business or whatever, so it was totally unexpected.

The card simply had her name, email, phone, and address.  She had printed it herself on her own computer.  I threw it in my wallet and went on my merry way, thinking it was the coolest thing ever!  It actually reminded me of the calling cards you hear about them using in the Victorian days (except now with a lot more information).

Old style: just a name

I knew that you can get a free sample pack (with free shipping) of 10 business cards from moo.com, so I decided to make my own!  We have less than a year left at this address, so I think 10 will be plenty.  I'm excited to get my cards in upcoming week!

What I ordered: I put my phone number in black instead of a title or industry

By the way, this may be only news to me, but apparently Shutterfly has a decent selection of calling cards (a lot geared toward moms) if you want to get fancy.  I found a few other sites have them referred to as "mommy cards," which I can definitely see being useful when you meet other moms and want to set up play dates and such.

*Neither moo.com nor Shutterfly gave me jack squat to write this post.  But if you're out there lurking, feel free to get in touch.
 

my first giveaway!

So I've been kinda lucky lately and have been winning stuff from blog giveaways. It's mostly baby stuff, which is awesome for me. I have been wanting to pay it forward to my small following here, and now is the time. No, I'm not giving away baby stuff! I don't think even half my readers have kids.

 No, no, this is much more practical.

You could use that, right??

Awesome.  And lucky for you, I don't have that many followers.

I get these a lot thanks to a little thing called Swagbucks.  If you've been living under a rock and don't know what Swagbucks is, it's basically a free site where you can accumulate points by doing searches, surveys, playing games, and other stuff.  Then you can exchange your points for stuff--all of mine go to getting these awesome Amazon.com gift cards.

The winner of the giveaway will be emailed the gift card code, and then they can just put it in their Amazon account.  Amazon keeps a tab for you, so you can just apply it to your next purchase.

How to enter (leave a comment for each, and make sure I have some way of contacting you):

• One entry:  Follow my blog in some way.  Leave a comment telling me how (GFC, Google reader, RSS, my Twitter feed, etc.).  I would love to know how people are reading me (or if they are at all!).
• FOUR entries:  Sign up for Swagbucks under my referral link (also found in my sidebar).  Leave a comment with your Swagbucks username.  Since this is worth 4 entries, just leave extra comments if you do this.  ALSO, I just found out that you can use the code BIGTIMEBUCKS when you sign up right now and get an extra 70 Swagbucks!  You already get 30 for signing up, so that's 100 total.  That will put you well on your way to many awesome prizes!  The code is good until 10/3, which is coincidentally when I chose to end this giveaway.
• One entry:  For those of you already on Swagbucks, I'll give you an entry just for being cool.  Just tell me in a comment.  Leave your Swagbucks username and I might just find you and add you as a friend on there because I have absolutely no idea what that feature does.

Winner will be selected via random.org or maybe pulling numbers out of a hat.  Giveaway will close at noon CDT on Monday, Oct. 3 (also our anniversary!), and winner will be announced shortly thereafter.

AND if you're still reading, here's a bonus that hopefully still works (it did yesterday!).  Go to Amazon's site here and log in, then use the promo code FALLMP3S and you'll get a $2 credit to buy MP3s in Amazon's store.  You can probably get two songs with it!  See, a giveaway you didn't even have to win.  Totally sharing the love today.


IF YOU ARE HAVING ISSUES COMMENTING ON THIS POST FOR ENTRIES, PLEASE EMAIL ME AT CATHERINEANN61 AT YAHOO DOT COM.  I'M SORRY THAT BLOGGER IS NOT COOPERATING, AND I AM DOING MY BEST TO ADDRESS THE ISSUE.

Disclaimer: Swagbucks and Amazon.com in no way sponsored this giveaway, and they have no idea I'm doing it.  The opinions here are my own.  Yes, I do get a fair amount of points from Swagbucks referrals, so it is in my interest to advertise.
 

best. week. ever.

I am seriously having an amazing week!

Sunday morning I got a text from MWR that I won 2 passes to cosmic bowling on base!  Our MWR has a text club, and they just randomly do giveaways where everyone is entered.  (I've been hoping to win a free pizza, but bowling is pretty neat, too!)

Sunday night, I got an email that I won another blog giveaway, this one from Take It From Me.  I won a Pretty Pushers labor gown--I've had this on my Amazon wish list since I found out I was pregnant.  So I'm really excited I got one!

I put in for the free Chick-Fil-A breakfast the other week, so I got to partake of that on Wednesday morning.  It's up by the mall, which I hadn't been to in a while.  I decided to try on some maternity clothes and see if I could score some deals.  I didn't do so well on the deals (or the maternity clothes, since they didn't have what I wanted in my size), but I did get a completely FREE necklace from Charlotte Russe.  By the end of Wednesday, my freebie haul looked like this:

I paid 6¢ tax on the candy bar; the Suave stuff was in my mailbox

And the number one reason I'm having the best week ever is that B and I get to go on a CREDO Marriage Enrichment Retreat sponsored (and paid for in full) by the Navy this weekend.  We had been on the waiting list, and I just got the call this morning that a spot opened.  This thing is at the Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama (about a 20 minute drive from us).  It is right on the beach, and the picture on the website looks beautiful!  I'll be sure to bring my camera and let y'all know how awesome it is in person. 

The only rain on my parade this week is that B has a cold, but he can suck it up and deal with it during the retreat.  I've been wanting to do one of these for over a year, and they don't come our way very often!  I'm such a nice wife, huh?

Well, I hope everyone else is having as fantastic a week as I am!