Birthday Month Deals: 2023 Edition

🎂 It's that time of year again—for me and all us July birthday peoples, at least. About to rock the annual day of first appearance, and the inbox starts flooding with corporate well wishes from all sorts of preferred establishments hoping to entice me their way. And, unsurprisingly, some of these "deals" are more potentially advantageous than others.

So, without further ado, here are all the birthday offers I've received this year, with some bonus tips and pointers on maximization:

• Bristol Seafood Grill - Complementary entrée up to $25 with purchase of second entree.
I'm a bit surprised to see this one, since we were told last year that Landry's had acquired Bristol as a property. At that time, when we used the Bristol BOGO first, it seemed to affect the Landry's offer below. Thankfully, despite some confusion, Landry's was still willing to honor their offer as well.

• Landry's Select Club - $25 Reward.
Best Deal: No additional purchase required. It also extends into the next month, allowing us more time to use. This one's a winner!
Bonus Local Tip: If you stop by Landry's at St. Louis Union Station, be sure to ask the restaurant to validate your parking as well.

• IKEA Family - $10 off in-store purchase / Free slice of cake with adult entrée purchase at participating locations.
Maximize It: In several states, including Missouri, if there's no minimum price and you choose an item for a coupon's face value or less ($10, in this case), tax is excluded and the item price is fully covered. We learned this offer cannot be paired with the new 5% off every day discount for IKEA Family members.

• Jake's On Main (a local Life is Good shop) - $5 off $30.
I rarely take advantage of this annual offer unless there's something I specifically want, especially since there may be better deals at other times of year or on the sales rack. This one can't be combined with other sales, so always check that fine print.

• AMC Stubs - Free large popcorn.
Maximize It: This one makes the most sense to pair with a discounted matinee before 4 p.m., although movie prices are now fairly high at most locations. It's often best to purchase tickets at the box office to avoid online "convenience" fees.

• Red Robin Royalty - Free burger when you spend a minimum of $4.99, dine in only.
This is a switch, since previously take out was also allowed with no minimum. Years back, when we were still dining in, they might also sneak you an ice cream dessert, so that may still be a way to level it up a bit.

• Logan's Roadhouse - Free dessert until seven days after your birthday, no strings mentioned.
Maximize It: If you can handle the sugar, or share with a friend, this was always a fun deal, especially if you can pair with another discount or points from their app, should you plan to make it a meal. Sadly, our local Logan's shut down a while ago and the closest are a few hours away, so we won't be imbibing unless the mileage makes sense.

• CVS Pharmacy ExtraCare - $3 ExtraBucks Rewards.
Maximize It: We mastered the art of shopping with ExtraBucks the past few years, as they just kept sending $4 rewards nearly weekly for months. Since ExtraBucks work exactly like cash, it became an adventure to find a variety of items as close to the penny as possible, which you can really rock along with seasonal savings. (Four fleece blankets at $.99 each, but, like, for free? Yes, please!) We've even run into fellow ExtraBucks enthusiasts enjoying their own adventures. As with IKEA, we learned our state doesn't charge tax unless you end up over total face value. These rewards tend pair best with other ExtraBucks Rewards, sales items and some dollars off coupons. Percentage off coupons may readjust pricing structure.

EXTRA BONUS TIP: In all cases, check those expiration dates. If you're planning to use more than one deal, it helps to stagger and time them well. Also, you don't want to let the best ones pass you by!

Admittedly, birthday offers are often not what they once were. While, for me, some of this is due to favorite establishments having closed down, we also used to run around receiving more straight up, no catch freebies. This year alone, we've lost IKEA's free yogurt cone and Red Robin's totally free burger, which were favorite staples for years. Instead, we're now seeing more BOGOs and coupons, as shown above. Therefore, keeping an eye on a particular establishment's offers throughout the year might help you determine if your birthday month is actually the best time to visit. Some of the more beneficial rewards now may be point earning programs that add birthday points to your account to exchange for gift cards or items, so watch for those as well.

We certainly won't try to tackle all of these offers, since that would be both wallet and waist prohibitive, but it can be fun to do a little something different at a more affordable rate. Given the high cost of dining or takeout, we rarely do so these days, so this can be a great time to take advantage especially of the Landry's deal. And we usually have some fun roaming the aisles at IKEA, using the $10 deal the past couple years to score both a very practical cutting board and a very fun geometric hummingbird to enhance the decor. Both were covered by the coupon in full.

So, whatever month it's in, happy birthday to you! Hopefully you can find some birthday offers in your neck of the woods to help enhance your celebration too.


Found a solid birthday month deal everyone should know about? Let us know with a comment below.