May is my birthday month so I thought for this month’s money challenge it might be fun to see just how much I can save by taking advantage of birthday discounts.

Most of the time when we think of birthday discounts we limit ourselves to our actual birthdays. But a lot of places offer discounts throughout the month!

The Goal

My goal with this challenge is to see just how much savings I can squeeze out of my birthday month.

The Risk

It might not seem like a particularly risky challenge, but as someone who has a weakness for eating out, the risk of overspending in the name of savings is real.

It would be easy to hit up any place that offers a freebie or a discount, but if I'm not already planning on eating out, that free dessert may end up costing me more by having to buy the lunch to go with it.

The Reward

Because family normally comes to visit during our birthdays, we tend to eat out and indulge in more entertainment around that time. I try to budget accordingly, but overspending always happens.

I'm hoping by being more strategic and planning our splurges around discount offers we can not only avoid overspending, but maybe even keep things below budget.

Apart from financial savings, I also want to use this as an opportunity to explore new places.

We seem to frequent the same places either out of convenience or habit so I'm excited to use my birthday as an excuse to venture out and try some new things.

The Offers

I've decided to track the offers I'm aware of below and note the savings as I go along.

This isn't meant to be an all-inclusive list of birthday savings since many offers are local. Instead, this is a place for me to document and track the offers available and the ones I take advantage of.

Since I’m not sure what the terms will be for each offer, I’ll update them as I receive/redeem them.

*Note: in order to get these offers, I subscribed to each company's respective newsletter. If you don't want to give out your personal information you can still try calling around for discounts, but your mileage may vary.

Discounted Food

• First Watch

• IHOP

• Red Robin

• Rubio's

• Cheesecake Factory

• Chili's

• Firehouse Subs

• Olive Garden

• Blanco Tacos & Tequila

• Arby’s

• BJs Brewhouse

• Buffalo Wild Wings

• Cheesecake Factory

• Chili’s

• Chipotle

• Dunkin Donuts

• Red Robin - Free burger, good for the month

• Jason’s Deli

• On The Border - free bowl of queso or brownie sundae

• Chick-fil-A

• Jersey Mike’s

• Krispy Kreme - free doughnut and a coffee

• Nothing Bundt Cakes - Free Bundtlet, good for 2 weeks

Discounted Activities

• Cinemark

• Dave and Busters - $10 Free game play with purchase of $10 Power card, good for the month

• Harkins Theater

Other Product Discounts

• The Bra Spa - $10 off

• Redbox - Free 1-night DVD rental

• Best Buy

• The Container Store - 15% off, good for the month