Birthdays are a day when friends and family gather to celebrate (and lavish gifts upon) the special birthday boy or girl. It's also a day to get free stuff besides gifts — a day when it's not rude to go to a store or restaurant and expect a little something extra.

Lina and Steven Zussino are the co-founders of GroceryAlerts.ca, a website based in Victoria, B.C. that lists weekly deals at major grocery stores across Canada. They've also created an ebook, Free Stuff On Your Birthday For Canadians, and it doesn't have to be your birthday to download it — it's available to everyone for free on their website.

"Steven and I are big fans of celebrating our birthdays," explained Lina. When she lived in New Zealand, she remembered making a big deal about people's birthdays. "When I moved to Canada, they didn't have that," she said. "I quite often complained that 'Jeez, it's someone's birthday, they don't do anything, nobody has any fun.'" Lina and Steven started a tradition to do something fun on their birthdays, but being frugal people, they also wanted to save money. "We came up with all these free things that you can do on your birthday. This was just in Victoria (where we live), but then Steve said, 'Why don't we do an ebook right across Canada and let everyone enjoy freebies on their birthday?'"

The resulting ebook is over 140 pages long, and lists free birthday deals from over 180 merchants across Canada. The book is divided into deals provincially and nationally and — lucky for us — Lina said there's plenty of free birthday fun to be had right here in Ontario. Some birthday freebies include rounds of golf, spa services, desserts, coffees and even a birthday greeting from the Queen.

Even if your birthday isn't for a few months, it might be smart to check out the book as soon as possible. "Some of the things are good to know in advance," explained Lina, such as when you have to sign up for newsletters in order to access a birthday coupon.

Download the book at tinyurl.com/bdayfreebieebook, and be sure to check out the GroceryAlerts.ca for more great deals. Have a happy (and freebieful) birthday!