I always get a cold around the same time each year. could this be allergies?

Absolutely: Nobody gets their "yearly" cold. And it never should come at the same time. What you believe to be a cold is almost certainly your allergies manifesting as plugged nose, runny nose, cough, headaches, fatigue, aches and pains. Unless you have fevers/chills, this is almost certainly your allergy symptoms. It would be best to see an allergy specialist for testing to know exactly what u r allergic to.

Possibly: If your 'cold' occurs when pollen counts are high in your region, this could be indicative of allergies.