Christian Financial Advice

Free Birthday Meals - One Man's Pilgrimage

I love free stuff.  For me it is more about the challenge than even the actual saving of the money.  I decided this year for my birthday to see how many free meals I could cash in on.

Breakfast

Most people already know about the free Denny's breakfast on your birthday, that is how I started my day in search of free meals.  The 'Breakfast Slam' is still free and there is nothing more involved than simply showing up and displaying  your driver's license.

Lunch

This is where my research began paying off.  I was off to Firehouse Subs for my free submarine sandwich.  I was supposed to be able to get one medium Celebrity Sub just for showing my driver's license.  The deal was even better than that, I could order any medium sub I wanted from the menu.  No hassle, and it was exactly as advertised.

Dinner

Moe's Southwestern Grill offered a free birthday entree but you must get the coupon from their website by joining their e mail list (free).  So, this step had to be done the day before to get my coupon.  The great thing about these dinner coupons (and I have more to share with you) is that you don't have to use them right on your birthday. For example, the Moe's birthday entree was good for up to one week.

Meals For Later This Week:

Ruby Tuesday's sent me a free birthday burger and fries coupon good for 2 weeks.  All I had to do was to sign up for their e mail list.

IHOP sent me a free breakfast coupon good for two weeks.  This is a complete breakfast with pancakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs!  Yep, totally free.  I simply joined their e mail list.

Benihana sent me a $30 gift certificate that is good for about 3 weeks.  The only restriction on this is that it must be used on a Monday through Thursday and can not be used on a holiday.  Again, all I had to do was to sign up for their e Mail list.

I am still waiting on my Steak 'N Shake birthday coupon for a cheeseburger and fries. For some reason that one has not shown up and am I quite upset about it as I love this place.  Oh, well... I signed up for their e mail list but still have not received anything (even checked my spam folder and still nothing).

Free Medieval Times Ticket

Medieval Times will give you a free adult ticket to their dinner show on your birthday. Just join their e mail list.  After my day of overeating I simply could not sit through a jousting match so I passed on this one.

Finding Other Deals

It takes a little bit of research as there are plenty of deals out there. Doing a few Google searches will get you to quite a few great sites with lists.  The problem that I found is that many of these lists are not really up to date. You should get the details from the corporate websites directly and it doesn't hurt to call to the actual location to be sure they will honor the coupon.  There a a lot of what I consider to be tiny birthday deals, such as a free scoop of ice cream with the purchase of a dinner, etc...  I did not consider any of those worth listing here or pursuing.  My advice to corporate America is to think big when it comes to free stuff for birthdays (my inner child speaking here).

iPhone App

There must be an app for this right?  This was exactly my thought and I did find one called Birthday Freebies.  It did not help me very much at all, but that may be due to the fact that I live in a small town.  I changed the location to Chicago and Dallas and it lit up like a Christmas tree with tons of birthday freebies.  So, if you live in a major city the 99 cents for this app may be worth it.

I really had a lot of fun on my birthday in search of free birthday meals.  Let's make this the official web page of record for those looking for birthday freebies.   Please use the comments section below to share your own favorites.  Be sure and bookmark this page and send out the link to your friends and family on their birthdays as well.

Helping you make the most of God’s money (even on my birthday)!

James L. Paris Editor-In-Chief www.Christianmoney.com 
Follow Me on Christian Chirp www.ChristianChirp.com/jameslparis 
Christian Financial Advice 

Save Money Making Your Own Soda

I have written a number of articles on how I personally save money in my daily life.  These articles tend to be the most popular articles I have posted to my blog.  Today, I will add a new money-saver to your arsenal, the SodaStream.

 

The SodaStream is a home version of a restaurant soda fountain.  The SodaStream goes for about $90.  I purchased a SodaStream a month ago and have been very happy with it.  One of my bad habits is drinking a lot of Diet Coke.  When I read the reviews that I could make my own soda at home and save money I was hooked.  What made this even more appealing to me was the ability to make soda that did not contain Aspartame.  I have read and understand the risks of Aspartame and this has been a concern to me.  In fact, it was a major reason that I decided to give up Diet Coke a couple of times. 

The SodaStream is not only a way to save money but it provides a great convenience.  For example, my daughter had some friends over during the holidays and I asked what type of soda they wanted and they asked for orange.  I was able to make  a bottle of orange soda in about 2 minutes for them and I did not have to make a run up to the grocery store. 

The ongoing costs are the soda mix (syrup) and C02 bottles.  The diet soda mix tastes exactly the same to me as Diet Coke.  I also really enjoy the diet root beer mix.  The cost of a bottle of syrup mix is about $5 (makes 50 1 liter bottles).  The cost for a C02 cannister refill is about $22 (makes 60 liters of soda).  Although I have not tried them, there are also energy drink mixes that are available.  Many people carbonate a bottle of water and then mix in a fruit juice such as cranberry or orange juice providing even more healthy options.  The variatons are really limitless.

My kids laughed when I said we were going to make our own soda.  They thought this was just another one of my 'gadgets' which would not pan out.  In only a month we have made the transition to 100 percent homemade soda.  Another side benefit is not having to carry all of those soda bottles home from the grocery store!  The manufacturer suggests that the savings should be about half vs. buying your soda in the grocery store. I have not used it long enough to be able to really calculate what my personal savings are, but I would still likely go this route,  if only for the convenience and the ability to make soda without the Aspartame.  

Overall I would give this gadget a high rating and something I intend to use going forward in place of buying soda at the store.

Helping you make the most of God’s money!

James L. Paris Editor-In-Chief www.Christianmoney.com
Follow Me on Christian Chirp www.ChristianChirp.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice

$2 Billion In Gift Cards To Go Unused This Year & How You Can Cash In

An article estimating that $2 billion in gift card credit will go unused this year really caught our attention.  After doing a little digging we learned of an even more staggering number.  It turns out that since 2005 more than $41 billion in gift card credit has gone unused.  This is one that I absolutely don't understand.  Like most people I receive gift cards on occasion but I always use them.  A relative from California sent me an Amazon gift card for Christmas and I used it within twenty minutes of taking it out of the envelope.  I am not sure who these people are that receive gift cards and let them go unused, but it appears that they are out there in large number.

What Happens To Unused Gift Cards?

Unused gift cards are sometimes  subject to the same laws as abandoned bank accounts, unclaimed utility refunds, and other so called 'lost money.'  In state with these laws this money ends up in the state treasurers abandoned property account.  List of rules state by state for unused gift cards.  Here is a link to the new 2010 federal law governing gift cards.

How your Best Buy gift card ends up in New York’s bank account

From Wonkblog -

The Securities and Exchange Commission allows companies to take unused gift-card money as income once they can reasonably say the card won’t be redeemed, but there’s no set time limit. Best Buy, for example, sets that level at about two years. In fiscal 2011, the electronics company recorded $53 million in income from gift-card “breakage,” or cards that are unlikely ever to be redeemed, up from $43 million a year earlier.

The Host Of This Show Admits He does Not Use Most Gift Cards He Receives

 

How To Sell A Gift Card You Don't Want 

There are quite a large number of websites that provide a marketplace for buying and selling gift cards in online secondary markets.  One such site, Plastic Jungle, will pay up to 92% of the value of your card and deposit the money directly into your PayPal account.  The amount you will receive for your card is based on the overall demand for it from buyers on their site. 

Other major gift card resale sites:

CardCash

CardWoo

Gift Cards.com

Gift Card Castle

Card Pool

Buying Gift Cards In The Secondary Market Can Be A Really Great Deal

As the pool of gift cards continues to grow it appears that significant discounts can be found on these sites.

Current Discounts -

Olive Garden 9%

Lowe's 7%

Home Depot 9%

The Cheesecake Factory 11%

Aeropostle 14%

Kohl's 12%

Plastic Jungle offers free shipping and guarantees the value of the gift card (as do most resellers), so it really seems like a can't lose proposition.  The takeaway here is don't just sit on your unused gift cards.  You can cash them in for real money.  Also, these sites should be on everyone's list throughout the year as a way to really save some serious money at your favorite retail establishments.

Helping you make the most of God’s money!

James L. Paris Editor-In-Chief www.Christianmoney.com
Follow Me on Christian Chirp www.ChristianChirp.com/jameslparis
Christian Financial Advice