Friday, November 30, 2007

Are there still deals out there?

Now that BlackFriday has come and gone, you are probably asking yourself "Are there still good shopping deals out there?"

The answer is yes! You just need to know where to look. My suggestion is to start with the ever popular deal sites. These sites aggregate deals from all over into one place. Here are a few that I visit often:

Ok, so you found what you are going to buy. Now why not check to see if there is a coupon out there. Many sites offer free shipping with coupons. There are many coupon sites out there, the main ones I use are:

So you have the place where you are going to buy the item and a coupon, now check to see if you can get a rebate back from the store you will be shopping at. Here are the rebate sites I use:

There are many ways on the internet to shop and save much more than you would if going to an actual brick and mortar store. I know Christmas is the season of giving, but why not save a little as well!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Looking for a new job?

Are you looking for a new job? Well now is a good time to start looking. I have always heard that companies tend to hire more in Q4 as they are trying to fill the positions that have been approved for the next year since many companys are on a calendar fiscal year.

Another reason is that people tend to travel less for business during the holidays so it is probably easier to get that interview lined up since the hiring manager will likely be around.

Now all this is not to say that you can slack on the resume. Your resume should look professional and be clear and concise. Don't try to dazzle people with a 5 page resume as most will just skip past it. In my hiring experience it is amazing how easy it is just to skip a resume just because you don't like the layout of it. I tend to look for a summary on the first page that describes the skills. Then below that a quick look into your most recent employers.

Many people say that cover letters are important. Personally, I tend to just skip them over. In my experience most cover letters tend to just be 'BS'. I don't care if you think you can do the job, I want to review what you have done and I will make that decision. If you have described your previous jobs well, then I will want more from you which means an interview.

Make sure you have salary expectations in mind. My goal is to get the best qualified candidate for the least amount of money, so tell me what you are worth. Of course I will make the final decision, but it is easier when there is a dollar amount to start at.

Those are just some basic things I look for in a candidate. If you are in the job hunting process don't be afraid to be confident and demand what you want. In my experience the people that tend to move up in the world are the ones that pave their own way.

Earn Airline Miles with Google Checkout



Google Checkout is having a promotion through December 31, where they will give you 2 miles for every dollar spent using Google Checkout.

You can redeem the miles on the following airlines:
Alaska Air, Continental, Delta, Midwest Airlines, Northwest, US Airways and United

For anyone that doesn't know what Google Checkout is, it is an optional way to make a an online payment for goods and services, similiar to that of Paypal. Since this is a Google product, you can expect many stores to accept Google Checkout as a payment method. The list of stores can be found Here.

Sign up for Google Checkout Here!

If you tend to do a lot of online shopping then why not make some miles on the side? Also, if you already have a miles reward credit card, you can essentially double dip and earn miles from the card issueuer as well as getting miles from Google Checkout. Ah don't you love the holidays?

Full Promo Details

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Loanio.com - New Person 2 Person Lending Site


I just stumbled across Loanio.com. They appear to be a pre-launch person to person lending site similair to that of Prosper.com.

There isn't a whole lot of info out there on Loanio, but you can sign up for Loanio's mailing list and they will send out an email to you as their launch approaches.
It will be nice to have some competition here. I am hoping that Loanio builds on some of Prosper's weaknesses. I have had my issues with Prosper early on, but things seem to be looking better lately. Just 2 bankrupicies to deal with at the moment.

Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill


Just when I think that America as a society tends to get smarter over the years, I read this article and I start to lose hope.


Yahoo! News:Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill


AIKEN, S.C. - A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank.

The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said.

The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said.

The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said


If you ask me they should just let this guy go. He is too dumb to actually be a criminal apparently. Hey buddy, next time start with five dollar bills!!!!

Fidelity mySmart Cash High Yield Checking Account


Fidelity has been offering their mySmart Cash High Yield Checking account for a while now, but it still doesn't appear to be listed on their accounts page. It is possible they are still wanting to keep a small amount of customers on it while they iron out issues.

Well that won't stop me from telling you about it!

Account Details:
3.50% APY (FDIC insured up to $100,000 per depositor)
ALL ATM fees refunded (this includes ATM fees charged by the ATM owner)
No minimum balance
Free checkwriting (Free checks as well)
Free Bill Pay
Free Self-funded overdraft protection

I have had this account for 3 months now and love it. The ATM rebates alone make this the greatest account. I travel quite a bit for work and am not always near a local ATM, with this account, I can use an ATM anywhere and not have to pay any fees at all.

Throw in a better than average interest rate and Fidelity's great customer service and this account is a slam dunk.

I did leave my local checking account open so that I can deposit checks there and then use Fidelity's ACH system to move the money into my mySmart Cash account. You can also mail in your deposits to Fidelity if you feel comfortable with that.

One other important feature is the free overdraft. You can have your mySmart Cash account overdraft from a Fidelity Brokerage account anytime your balance dips below zero. Now you no longer need to worry about bouncing a check or overdraft fees.

This account completes my portfolio at Fidelity and allows me to keep all my money in one place. I am very happy with this account this far and have made it my primary checking account.

Sign Up Here

mySmart Cash Checking Account FAQ

Free Digital Camcorder with TCF Bank Accounts

TCF is having a promotion where they are giving away a Free Digital Camcorder when you open a checking and savings account.

TCF has 449 banking offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana and Arizona. Check locations here. This offer requires a visit to a branch to open the accounts.

What you need to do: Open a TCF Checking Account and Savings account at a local branch. Then setup an automatic transfer of $25 from your checking to your savings account
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): Free Digital Camcorder
Money to get started: The checking account has no minimum balance requirement, but you will need to deposit at least $25 so you can set up the automatic transfer
Things to Note: The automatic transfer only needs to be setup for 30 days after that you can stop it. Accounts must be opened by 12/31 and remain open for 30 days.
Deal Small Print:
A new TCF Free Checking and Savings account must be opened between November 1 - December 31, 2007. Available to individuals and small businesses without a TCF Checking account in the past 90 days. New savings account must establish an automatic transfer from a new TCF Checking account of $25 or more to qualify. The savings account and automatic transfer must be opened and established the same day as the new checking account and must remain active for 30 days. Business customers have 30 days to establish online transfer. TCF reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at any time. Customer is responsible for all applicable taxes. See a TCF Representative for additional requirements. Please allow 5 - 8 weeks for processing and delivery of award.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Make $500,000 on a $20,000 Salary

Here is an intersting article from Kiplinger.com. It is about a guy who makes $20,000 per year as a parking attendent but has built a $500,000 stock portfolio over 44 years.

I think this article is the epitimy of long term investing. In today's world everyone wants to get in on the get rich quick scheme when in reality the proven way to make it rich is to save over time.

This guy saved his pennies for forty-four years by budgeting and has done well for himself. He defnielty has more discipline than me, but I also beleive he is someone I can learn from. I guess the real question is: Live life now and pay later or pay now and live life later. It is a personal choice, but I beleive most of us would pay later!!!

Amazon MP3 Music Store Review



Since the URGE Music Store has been purchased by Rhapsody I have been looking for a new outlet to buy my music. URGE was alright, but it required a software install into Windows Media Player. URGE also used DRM (Digital Rights Management), so I could not play the songs anywhere other than my PC I downloaded them on. There might have been a way to do this by copying the licenses but I could never figure it out.

Fast forward to today. I decided that in my next music store, I wasn't going to go with a site that had DRM or that required me to install software. I have 3 pc's and a WindowsMobile Smart phone, I want to play the same song on all 4 devices easily.

After some research I decided to check out the Amazon MP3 Music Store

Bingo! I think I found what I was looking for:
  • No DRM!
  • No software to install (there is an application you can install if you want easier music management, but it is not required. You essentially just download the raw .mp3 file)
  • Most all songs are .89 or .99
  • Large selection of artists (They are not focused on just Pop or Rap)

I have been using the Amazon MP3 Music Store for a few weeks and am very satisfied. Also, since I buy from Amazon regularly I am not concerned with site security and know they have a good customer service team in place to help me with any issues.

This is not really a "Saving Money" post, but I have been able to save time by not having to burn a DRM song to a CD then RIP it back off just to get the song to play on other machines. Hey, didn't someone say TIME=MONEY?

Monday, November 26, 2007

Free Trades at Fidelity with Rollover


Until December 31st, Fidelity is offering free trades when you rollover an IRA or 401k with at least $25,000 in value.

Here are the details:

Value of Rollover   # of Trades   Trades Expire
$25,000 - $99,99960 free trades6 months from day assets received
$100,000 or more100 free trades12 months from day assets received


Sign up and check out further details on Fidelity's Offer Page

This is a great deal if you have any money sitting in an old employer's 401k or another IRA. Especially since there are no maintenance fees on Fidelity Rollover IRA's. Plus once the free trades run out, buying and selling Fidelity's branded mutual funds are always free!

I come from the school of thinking where I like all my money in one place. It is easier to manage and act accordingly if you need to make changes.

I definitely recommend Fidelity as I have a 401k with my employer, ROTH IRA, Rollover IRA, Brokerage Account and Checking account with them. Customer service has always been professional and I like the availability of purchasing many different types of securities, including CD's for free, from them as well.

I do have a brokerage account with Sharebuilder, but I only use that for fractional share investing. All my real money goes into Fidelity as I have had nothing but great service from them thus far.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Ebates Offering $10 Sign Up Bonus


Ebates is offering a $10 signup bonus through the end of the year. If you are unfamiliar with Ebates, it is a shopping portal that give you rebates everytime you buy an item using a site in their network, like Target.com, Drugstore.com, Sears.com, etc. So for example instead of just going to Target.com and buying an item that is $100. You log into your Ebatges account, click Target.com, buy the item for $100 and you will receive $4 (4% of $100) in your account. The % varies by store, and they have almost every major online retailer you can think of. By going through them before making the purchase the store you are buying from pays Ebates a referral fee and Ebates then shares a portion of that with you. It is free to join and use.

Instructions to get the bonus:
When you sign up, you will immediately get $5, to get the other $5, you need to make your first qualifying purchase prior to December 31st using the Ebates site. (Remember this is free, you just pay for the item that you are going to buy)

Sign up for the $10 promo HERE

I use mainly Ebates and Mr Rebates (See my post) for every online purchase I do, since I might as well make some money off of my purchases for very little effort.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Free TurboTax for State Farm Customers

Last year State Farm offered free TurboTax for customers that have business with them. They offered free TurboTax basic and TurboTax deluxe which included both State and Federal filing.

It looks like they are planning on doing this again for the 2007 tax season. According to their terms, you only need to have an account that gives you access to the "My Account" page. If you have insurance or a State Farm Bank account you are all set.

But even better, if you are not a State Farm customer, all you need to do is sign up for their Visa card and you can have access to the Free TurboTax deals.

For current customers, there is a link off of the "My Account Page" that says "FREE Tax Filing"

When I logged into my account today and clicked on the "FREE Tax Filing" I noticed the following message.


I will post again with the details once the 2007 information is available. If you file your taxes using TurboTax, this is definetly worth a look since this could save you around $50 for something that you were going to do anyway.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


I will be back on Friday with more money saving tips and free money ideas, so until then have a great holiday and DON'T BURN THAT TURKEY!!!!!!!


American Express My WishList Deals Start on Nov. 27


American Express is bring back it's My WishList Deals on November 27th. If you don't know what these are, basically American Express offers a limited quantities of items and ridiculously cheap prices. The catch is that you are competing with thousands of other people for a very limited quantity, so it is all up to one mouse click to see of you have won. I have had success here before when last year I won a Slingbox for $70 that retailed for $120. So I am definitely going to try to get in on a WishList deal again this year.




Here is what is in store for this Christmas:

Panasonic 42" 1080p HD Plasma TV
WishList Price: $700
Retail Price: $1,999

BMW K 1200 R Sport Motorcycle
WishList Price: $5,000
Retail Price: $17,000

Xbox Elite Game System
WishList Price: $300
Retail Price: $649.99

2008 Volvo C70
WishList Price: $0
Retail Price $43,205

JetBlue Airways Private Flight
WishList Price: 0$
Retail Price: $171,367

I imagine that these are the highly coveted items and they will be offering others in between as well as the promotion runs from November 27th to December 13th.

Check out the details at the American Express WishList Site for dates and times and sign up for an email reminder when it kicks off on the 27th of this month. Good Luck!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Free $100 from Sony Visa Card


Chase is offering a $100 sign up bonus for their Sony Visa Card after your first purchase.

This card is good for long term use if you buy a lot of Sony items. If you don't, you may just consider signing up for the $100 bonus and keep the card for emergencies. For a long term rewards card, check out my Chase Freedom Rewards Visa post



Here is the earnings breakdown:


  • Earn 5 points per dolar at Sony Style Stores, SonyStyle.com and ImageStation.com
  • Earn 3 points per dollar spent on Sony Products at authorized Sony retailers
  • Earn 1 point per dollar everywhere else


What you need to do: Sign up for the Sony Visa Card
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $100 after first purchase
Money to get started: $0
Things to Note: There will be hard credit inquiry applied to your credit report when applying for the card

ShareBuilder is now part of ING DIRECT

I woke up to this in my email box:



ShareBuilder has some exciting news. As of November 15, ShareBuilder has been acquired by ING DIRECT, the nation's largest direct bank with over 5.5 million customers and $75 billion in U.S. assets (part of Netherlands-based ING, NYSE: ING). ING DIRECT shares our vision of helping Americans increase their savings.

ING DIRECT is widely recognized for offering some of the most popular and easy-to-use financial products. Joining the ING DIRECT family will benefit you by providing simple and innovative products and services that can help you meet your saving and investing goals.

Rest assured there have been no changes made to your Orchard Bank ShareBuilder account. All of the easy account maintenance, trading tools and customer service functions you are accustomed to will remain the same. The only change you will find is an eventual logo and color change as ShareBuilder begins to adopt ING DIRECT's signature Orange color. You can also continue to use the same account number, login and password, and can access your account anytime through the co-branded ShareBuilder website.

We look forward to sharing more information with you over the coming months. If you have any questions, we invite you to contact us at 1-866-SHRBLDR (1-866-747-2537).

The ShareBuilder team is really excited by what this news means for you!

Best regards,

Dan Greenshields
President
ShareBuilder Securities Corporation


Here is a link to the full Press Release

This is interesting news, I wonder how this will effect anything if at all. This acquisition in addition to ING's buying, now defucnt NetBank's assets, must be dramitically increasing ING's customer base.

I currently have an account at both institutions. I don't use my ING account much due to the low interest rate, but I use my Sharebuilder account all the time. I have $200 auto invested each month into 5 different ETF funds. They were doing well until last week, but this is a long term investment so I really just try to not watch it fall.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Free $100 from Chase Freedom Visa Card


Chase is offering a $100 sign up bonus for their Freedom Visa Card after your first purchase.

This card is flexible in the fact that you can switch between cash back and miles whenever you want. So if you are currently getting cash back, but then decided you want to use miles for a vacation, you can switch over to miles, use them for your trip, then switch back to cash back. Also, there is no annual fee with this card.



Here is the earnings breakdown:


  • Earn 3% back at gas stations, grocery stores and quick service restaurants
  • Earn 1% back everywhere else

Don't forget that most grocery stores offer gift cards. So you can earn 3% on more than just gas stations, grocery stores and quick service restaurants. For example, the Dominick's grocery store by me sells Home Depot gift cards, among may others. If I were to use the Chase Freedom Visa at Home Depot I would only receive the 1% back, but if I buy a $100 Home Depot Gift card from the grocery store, I would receive the 3% back. This is another little way to maximize your earnings with this card. Happy Shopping!!

What you need to do: Sign up for the Chase Freedom Visa Card
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $100 after first purchase
Money to get started: $0
Things to Note: There will be hard credit inquiry applied to your credit report when applying for the card

Friday, November 16, 2007

Have you checked your Credit Report?


If you haven't been told by now, It is good practice to keep an eye on your credit report with the increase in identity theft.

Don't be fooled by the many sites out there that offer "Free Credit Reports". Most of them, when you read the small print, are esentially signing you up for a paid credit check service and giving you the first credit report free.

The only site I recommend is AnnualCreditReport.com
This is the only service authorized by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for obtaining free credit reports. I really wish the Government would get involved and give it a ".gov" domain so it is clearer to people that this is not a gimmick or spam site.

You can pull one report free from each of the three bureau's each year through the site. There is no subscription service, no spam email later or anyone trying to call you.

My recommendation is to pull one every for months. Here is the schedule I follow:
  • Experian - April 30
  • Equifax - August 31
  • TransUnion - December 31

That should cover you for the year and should allow you to track any unauthorized activity that could be taking place.

The government passed the law of allowing you free credit reports to help you protect yourself, so why not use it? Just don't pay anyone for it!

Remember:
FreeCreditReport.com BAD
AnnualCreditReport.com GOOD

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Another Woot Off!


Woot.com is having another of its Woot Offs right now. If you are unfamiliar with Woot.com, they are a site that offers items at a discount. Usually only one item is listed per day starting at 12am Central Time and is listed until it is sold out or 11:59PM Central Time. A Woot Off, which happens rarely, is a number of products that are for sale on a particular day or successive days. One product follows another as soon as it has been sold out. The number of Woot-Off items, sequence, and quantity will not be announced so an item could take a while to sell out or sell out immediately. Don't miss a chance to score some items at a steal if you haven't started that Christmas Shopping yet!

Black Friday Deals

Oh, that day after Thanksgiving, dreadful for some, where people line up at 5 am outside stores trying to get their hands on a Furby.

Yes, it is Black Friday which is named for the fact that this is the day where most retailers actually start to make a profit. I stumbled across BlackFriday.info that aggregates Black Friday deals for a bunch of retailers. So if you want to plan your November 23rd shopping day you are all set. They also have an email notification feature where they will email you as Black Friday deals are added.

I hate crowds and traffic, so I will be doing my Black Friday shopping from the comfort of my own home thanks to this site. Shower and clothing optional!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Get $50 Free from Sharebuiler


Sharebuilder once again has a $50 promo going where you can get a $50 bonus paid out after one stock purchase. Just use the promo code SHARE50 when signing up.

Bonus Detail Page

Fine Print to get your bonus:
You must open a new ShareBuilder Account and purchase at least one security to receive this offer. Please note the $50 credit will post to your account approximately 4 weeks after the first transaction executes. Not valid with IRA or Education Savings Accounts. Not valid with any other offers. Valid only for first time account holders with ShareBuilder. ShareBuilder reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time. Offer expires 12/31/07.

If you haven't used sharebuilder, they are great in the fact that you can buy partial shares automatically over time. This is a great way to dollar cost average especially considering the volatility in the market recently. They will automatically take the money out of your account and invest in on a regular basis, it pretty much makes investing easy to do.

Cut Down on Email Spam


I have recently been using Yahoo's Mail Plus email account. Basically it is an uprade from Yahoo's Free Email account.

There are some neat features like larger attachment size, more filters, etc, but the best feature is the Disposable Email Addresses. Disposable Email Addresses are just what they sound like, email addresses that you can throw away when you want.

Say for example my email address is: [username]@yahoo.com. I don't want this to get on any spam lists otherwise I will be receiving spam forever! Yahoo Mail Plus lets you select a keyword, and then create multiple address off of it that forward mail sent to them to your main account.

For example if I choose the keyword [keyword], then I all the address I would create would have that key word as a prefix, you just choose the word after the prefix:

[keyword]-mail@yahoo.com
[keyword]-shopping@yahoo.com
[keyword]-amazon@yahoo.com
[keyword]-[....]@yahoo.com
All of the above would forward to my main account [username]@yahoo.com.

The neat thing about this is once you start seeing spam coming to one of these address, you can just delete it and no more spam. I use a disposable address for each specific account I have do I can easly filter emails and put them in their corresponding folders. You can also send outbound email with a disposable addess as your return address so that you don't have to disclose your real email address.

Currently Yahoo only charges $19,95 per year for Mail Plus, I would be willing to pay up to $100 / year for this feature since it keeps my mailbox clean. (I hope Yahoo doesn't read this!).

I can't tell you how much I love this feature and how it helps me stay organized. I don't think I will be leaving my Yahoo Mail Plus email account anytime soon!

UFBDirect - High Interest Savings Account


As the Fed keeps cutting interest rates, High Yield Savings Accounts such as ING Direct and Citibank are falling fast. One bank that hasn't lowered their rate in a long time is UFB Direct. Their Absolute Savings Account is still sitting at 5.31%. I beleive that is the highest no fee high interest savings account out there.

UFBDirect is the online arm of Huntington National Bank. It is a pure online bank with no branches that keep the overhead low.

The minimum balance to open the account is $1. This account also comes with an ATM card. They resimburse you up to $4.50 per month for foreign ATM fees. That makes for an easy way to access your money fee free.

They send prepaid desposit slips and envelopes so sending in deposits is free as well. There is no ACH feature, but if you have an account like Fidelity or GMAC bank that offeres ACH features, you can deposit money into the Ansolute Savings acoount. There is no fees for inbound or outbound ACH's from the Absolute Savings Account.

I currently have this account and am very happy with it. It currently holds my "Emergency Fund." I had to call their customer service once with a question and was very happy with the service.

While all the rates are falling, why not make some money with an account that doesn't drop its rates everytime the Fed sneezes!!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

20% Off at Kmart




So, with Christmas around the corner, I thought I would share something to help you with your holiday shopping. I found this Kmart coupon while browsing around this morning.
This coupon, which is good only in the store, is good for 20% off 1 item. Notice there are some restrictions on this. Some of the main ones are that it can't be used for appliances, auto service and Sears Home electronics. Even though it says "Sears Home Electronics" is excluded there have been posts that people have used the coupon for an XBox and PS3 as well as dvds and cds.



(Click image for larger version to print)

I will be the first to admit that I don't shop at Kmart, but for 20% of one item, it is definetly worth a walk through the store.


Monday, November 12, 2007

Ridiculously Cheap Sprint Wireless Service


Sprints Employee Referral Plan (SERO) is now open to everyone. Not sure how long this is going to last, but these prices beat anything out there right now.

I recently started telling my friends about this. I signed up a month ago and am loving service, especailly since I am saving around $40 / month from my previous service with Verizon.

Here are the plans:
  • 500 minutes for $30.00 / month
  • 1250 minutes for $49.99 / month
  • 2500 minutes for $99.99 / month

Plans include:
Unlimited Nights & Weekends starting at 7pm!
Domestic long distance
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (Sprint to Sprint calls only)
Unlimited Web/Data Access
Unlimited Picture Mail (with compatible devices)

Don't forget that data plans alone ususally cost around $20 - $30 per month, so if you currently have service with a data plan, this is a no brainer.

They also offer the Unlimited EVDO broadband plan at $49.99 / month. This service is great if you can't get Cable or DSL service at your home, or you always want to be connected.

All plans require a 2 year contract. You can also port your number over to Sprint if you would like to keep it. The phones are shipped out via FedEx 2 Day service.

All Sprints' current phone lineup is available with these plans with most at a discount.

How to sign up:

Like I said earlier, there is no telling how long these deals will last. If you get Sprint coverage in your area, this is definetly worth a look.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

$100 Free @ Fidelity


Ok guys, this bonus is not for the faint at heart! It requires you to have 10k laying around. So why not sell that car you no longer need. Seriousy, if you have 10 grand sitting around in a bank account, Fidelity is willing to give you $100 if you open a Brokerage account with it.
Sure, you say that receiving $100 on $10,000 is only 1%? Well yes, but that is 1% earnings for only 7 days. Most savings account will pay 1% for the whole month if that.

Ok, if you are still with me, here is what you need to do:

This works if you are opening a new Brokerage account, or if you currently have one.

Complete the $100 Bonus Form

If you currently have an account, enter your account number on the form. Then go to your account and deposit the 10k.

If you do not have an account, complete the account opening form and deposit your 10k.

Once the deposit clears (in about 5-7 days) you should receive and email and see the $100 bonus in your account.

You can then decide if you want to keep the money at Fidelity in their 5% money market (FSLXX) or purchase stocks or mutual funds.

This is a great account since purchasing of all Fidelity Branded Mutual Funds commission free.

I know this takes a bit of time, but for $100 in 5 days, I would do just about anything, well almost anything!

Free Money Courtesy of the US Government


A lot of people tend to over look Health Care Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) that are offered as a benefit by their employers.

How this works, is pre-tax money is taken out of your paycheck and placed into an account. As you incur health care related costs, you can then remove the money from this account. The free money effect here is that you have now just avoided paying taxes on that money. You should note that the money in the HRA can only be used for healthcare related items. But that includes, aspirin, cold medicine, copays, band-aids, condoms, etc, so you can go on a Costco shopping spree at the and of the year to make sure you deplete the account by the Dec 31st.

I had never really looked into opening one of these until end of last year when my employer had an info session on how it worked. I was sold. I started out small since I never really tracked how much out of pocket money I spent on health care over 1 year. I started out with $1000. Meaning that $41.66 (thats pretax dollars, so the actual effect on your paycheck is much smaller) would be taken out of my bi-monthly paycheck. I have completely used the $1000 as of last week (11/3/07). But here's the thing, I am in the 23% tax bracket, so on that $1000, I saved $230 in taxes. Not bad huh? Try getting that return in the stock market.

Yes I know this money is spread out over the year, but its free! So put that $1000 into a savings account as you get reimbured and guess what, you just saved some money, which you probably would have spent anyway!!

HRA accounts are not for everyone, but if you tend to have a lot of healthcare expenses, copays, etc, you could end up saving some money. I definitely think you should ask your employer about it!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Tradeking Promo



I have been getting numerous emails asking about any new Tradeking promos. Unfortunetly since the $100 bonus promo has expired there hasn't been anything to write about. However, in the spirit of giving and the holidays being right around the corner, they are now offering a promo where if I refer you, they will donate $100 to Toys for Tots. (Here are the details).

I do not receive anything for referring you, so this is purely out of the kindness of my heart, and yours if you choose to do this. Send me an email and I will get a referral email out to you.

Maybe together we can make Christmas a special day for someone and make some money short selling stocks as we watch the market fall! :)

Another Free $73 from SurveySavvy

Lately, SurveySavvy has been sending me quite a few surveys. I just emptied out my account again, this time getting a check for $73.00.


With this check, that puts me at $669.00 since I joined last year.


For anyone that is not aware of SurveySavvy, it is a paid survey site, meaning they pay you, in cash, for completing surveys. In my experience, this is is the most legit paid survey site, and trust me, I have tried many. They all promise cash, but once you taks surveys, you never actually see the money.


SurveySavvy is defninetly apart from the rest. The cash is paid out to you when you ask for it. There is no minimum needed to withdrawl money. If you take a $1 survey, you can request a check for $1. I definetly recommend this to anyone who wants to make a little cash on the side.


Sign Up today!

Monday, November 05, 2007

Rebate Sites

Another site I reguraly use when shopping online is Mr Rebates. This site pays you a rebate back from shopping at a particular online store.

For example, I love Old Navy T-Shirts as they seem to last forever no matter how many times you wash them. When you click on the "Old Navy" link from Mr Rabates, it takes you to the Old Navy site where you will automatically get back a 4% rebate in your Mr Rebates account on any purchases made at Old Navy. So if I were to spend $100 I would get a $4 rebate in my account.

The rebate %'s vary by store, but they seem to have most of the popular online stores in their list.

It usually takes 90 days for the rebate to be available to withdraw and it comes in the form of a check mailed to your home after you ask for a check.

What is the catch? None. Many websites give rebates back to people that direct shoppers to them. They are usually called associate programs. Mr Rebates just shares part of that rebate with you. If you do a lot of online shopping, this is something you should really take a look at.

What you need to do: Open an account with Mr Rebates
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $2.50 for opening an account
Money to get started: None - but you have to shop online to earn more rebates
WidgetBucks - Trend Watch - WidgetBucks.com

Friday, November 30, 2007

Are there still deals out there?

Now that BlackFriday has come and gone, you are probably asking yourself "Are there still good shopping deals out there?"

The answer is yes! You just need to know where to look. My suggestion is to start with the ever popular deal sites. These sites aggregate deals from all over into one place. Here are a few that I visit often:

Ok, so you found what you are going to buy. Now why not check to see if there is a coupon out there. Many sites offer free shipping with coupons. There are many coupon sites out there, the main ones I use are:

So you have the place where you are going to buy the item and a coupon, now check to see if you can get a rebate back from the store you will be shopping at. Here are the rebate sites I use:

There are many ways on the internet to shop and save much more than you would if going to an actual brick and mortar store. I know Christmas is the season of giving, but why not save a little as well!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Looking for a new job?

Are you looking for a new job? Well now is a good time to start looking. I have always heard that companies tend to hire more in Q4 as they are trying to fill the positions that have been approved for the next year since many companys are on a calendar fiscal year.

Another reason is that people tend to travel less for business during the holidays so it is probably easier to get that interview lined up since the hiring manager will likely be around.

Now all this is not to say that you can slack on the resume. Your resume should look professional and be clear and concise. Don't try to dazzle people with a 5 page resume as most will just skip past it. In my hiring experience it is amazing how easy it is just to skip a resume just because you don't like the layout of it. I tend to look for a summary on the first page that describes the skills. Then below that a quick look into your most recent employers.

Many people say that cover letters are important. Personally, I tend to just skip them over. In my experience most cover letters tend to just be 'BS'. I don't care if you think you can do the job, I want to review what you have done and I will make that decision. If you have described your previous jobs well, then I will want more from you which means an interview.

Make sure you have salary expectations in mind. My goal is to get the best qualified candidate for the least amount of money, so tell me what you are worth. Of course I will make the final decision, but it is easier when there is a dollar amount to start at.

Those are just some basic things I look for in a candidate. If you are in the job hunting process don't be afraid to be confident and demand what you want. In my experience the people that tend to move up in the world are the ones that pave their own way.

Earn Airline Miles with Google Checkout



Google Checkout is having a promotion through December 31, where they will give you 2 miles for every dollar spent using Google Checkout.

You can redeem the miles on the following airlines:
Alaska Air, Continental, Delta, Midwest Airlines, Northwest, US Airways and United

For anyone that doesn't know what Google Checkout is, it is an optional way to make a an online payment for goods and services, similiar to that of Paypal. Since this is a Google product, you can expect many stores to accept Google Checkout as a payment method. The list of stores can be found Here.

Sign up for Google Checkout Here!

If you tend to do a lot of online shopping then why not make some miles on the side? Also, if you already have a miles reward credit card, you can essentially double dip and earn miles from the card issueuer as well as getting miles from Google Checkout. Ah don't you love the holidays?

Full Promo Details

Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Loanio.com - New Person 2 Person Lending Site


I just stumbled across Loanio.com. They appear to be a pre-launch person to person lending site similair to that of Prosper.com.

There isn't a whole lot of info out there on Loanio, but you can sign up for Loanio's mailing list and they will send out an email to you as their launch approaches.
It will be nice to have some competition here. I am hoping that Loanio builds on some of Prosper's weaknesses. I have had my issues with Prosper early on, but things seem to be looking better lately. Just 2 bankrupicies to deal with at the moment.

Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill


Just when I think that America as a society tends to get smarter over the years, I read this article and I start to lose hope.


Yahoo! News:Georgia man tries to deposit fake $1M bill


AIKEN, S.C. - A bank teller in Clearwater had a million reasons not to open an account for an Augusta, Ga., man Monday, authorities said. Alexander D. Smith, 31, was charged with disorderly conduct and two counts of forgery after he walked into the bank and tried to open an account by depositing a fake $1 million bill, said Aiken County Sheriff's spokesman Lt. Michael Frank.

The employee refused to open the account and called police while the man started to curse at bank workers, Frank said.

The second forgery charge came after investigators learned Smith bought several cartons of cigarettes from a nearby grocery store with a stolen check, Frank said.

The federal government has never printed a million-dollar bill, Frank said


If you ask me they should just let this guy go. He is too dumb to actually be a criminal apparently. Hey buddy, next time start with five dollar bills!!!!

Fidelity mySmart Cash High Yield Checking Account


Fidelity has been offering their mySmart Cash High Yield Checking account for a while now, but it still doesn't appear to be listed on their accounts page. It is possible they are still wanting to keep a small amount of customers on it while they iron out issues.

Well that won't stop me from telling you about it!

Account Details:
3.50% APY (FDIC insured up to $100,000 per depositor)
ALL ATM fees refunded (this includes ATM fees charged by the ATM owner)
No minimum balance
Free checkwriting (Free checks as well)
Free Bill Pay
Free Self-funded overdraft protection

I have had this account for 3 months now and love it. The ATM rebates alone make this the greatest account. I travel quite a bit for work and am not always near a local ATM, with this account, I can use an ATM anywhere and not have to pay any fees at all.

Throw in a better than average interest rate and Fidelity's great customer service and this account is a slam dunk.

I did leave my local checking account open so that I can deposit checks there and then use Fidelity's ACH system to move the money into my mySmart Cash account. You can also mail in your deposits to Fidelity if you feel comfortable with that.

One other important feature is the free overdraft. You can have your mySmart Cash account overdraft from a Fidelity Brokerage account anytime your balance dips below zero. Now you no longer need to worry about bouncing a check or overdraft fees.

This account completes my portfolio at Fidelity and allows me to keep all my money in one place. I am very happy with this account this far and have made it my primary checking account.

Sign Up Here

mySmart Cash Checking Account FAQ

Free Digital Camcorder with TCF Bank Accounts

TCF is having a promotion where they are giving away a Free Digital Camcorder when you open a checking and savings account.

TCF has 449 banking offices in Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Colorado, Wisconsin, Indiana and Arizona. Check locations here. This offer requires a visit to a branch to open the accounts.

What you need to do: Open a TCF Checking Account and Savings account at a local branch. Then setup an automatic transfer of $25 from your checking to your savings account
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): Free Digital Camcorder
Money to get started: The checking account has no minimum balance requirement, but you will need to deposit at least $25 so you can set up the automatic transfer
Things to Note: The automatic transfer only needs to be setup for 30 days after that you can stop it. Accounts must be opened by 12/31 and remain open for 30 days.
Deal Small Print:
A new TCF Free Checking and Savings account must be opened between November 1 - December 31, 2007. Available to individuals and small businesses without a TCF Checking account in the past 90 days. New savings account must establish an automatic transfer from a new TCF Checking account of $25 or more to qualify. The savings account and automatic transfer must be opened and established the same day as the new checking account and must remain active for 30 days. Business customers have 30 days to establish online transfer. TCF reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at any time. Customer is responsible for all applicable taxes. See a TCF Representative for additional requirements. Please allow 5 - 8 weeks for processing and delivery of award.

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Make $500,000 on a $20,000 Salary

Here is an intersting article from Kiplinger.com. It is about a guy who makes $20,000 per year as a parking attendent but has built a $500,000 stock portfolio over 44 years.

I think this article is the epitimy of long term investing. In today's world everyone wants to get in on the get rich quick scheme when in reality the proven way to make it rich is to save over time.

This guy saved his pennies for forty-four years by budgeting and has done well for himself. He defnielty has more discipline than me, but I also beleive he is someone I can learn from. I guess the real question is: Live life now and pay later or pay now and live life later. It is a personal choice, but I beleive most of us would pay later!!!

Amazon MP3 Music Store Review



Since the URGE Music Store has been purchased by Rhapsody I have been looking for a new outlet to buy my music. URGE was alright, but it required a software install into Windows Media Player. URGE also used DRM (Digital Rights Management), so I could not play the songs anywhere other than my PC I downloaded them on. There might have been a way to do this by copying the licenses but I could never figure it out.

Fast forward to today. I decided that in my next music store, I wasn't going to go with a site that had DRM or that required me to install software. I have 3 pc's and a WindowsMobile Smart phone, I want to play the same song on all 4 devices easily.

After some research I decided to check out the Amazon MP3 Music Store

Bingo! I think I found what I was looking for:
  • No DRM!
  • No software to install (there is an application you can install if you want easier music management, but it is not required. You essentially just download the raw .mp3 file)
  • Most all songs are .89 or .99
  • Large selection of artists (They are not focused on just Pop or Rap)

I have been using the Amazon MP3 Music Store for a few weeks and am very satisfied. Also, since I buy from Amazon regularly I am not concerned with site security and know they have a good customer service team in place to help me with any issues.

This is not really a "Saving Money" post, but I have been able to save time by not having to burn a DRM song to a CD then RIP it back off just to get the song to play on other machines. Hey, didn't someone say TIME=MONEY?

Monday, November 26, 2007

Free Trades at Fidelity with Rollover


Until December 31st, Fidelity is offering free trades when you rollover an IRA or 401k with at least $25,000 in value.

Here are the details:

Value of Rollover   # of Trades   Trades Expire
$25,000 - $99,99960 free trades6 months from day assets received
$100,000 or more100 free trades12 months from day assets received


Sign up and check out further details on Fidelity's Offer Page

This is a great deal if you have any money sitting in an old employer's 401k or another IRA. Especially since there are no maintenance fees on Fidelity Rollover IRA's. Plus once the free trades run out, buying and selling Fidelity's branded mutual funds are always free!

I come from the school of thinking where I like all my money in one place. It is easier to manage and act accordingly if you need to make changes.

I definitely recommend Fidelity as I have a 401k with my employer, ROTH IRA, Rollover IRA, Brokerage Account and Checking account with them. Customer service has always been professional and I like the availability of purchasing many different types of securities, including CD's for free, from them as well.

I do have a brokerage account with Sharebuilder, but I only use that for fractional share investing. All my real money goes into Fidelity as I have had nothing but great service from them thus far.

Sunday, November 25, 2007

Ebates Offering $10 Sign Up Bonus


Ebates is offering a $10 signup bonus through the end of the year. If you are unfamiliar with Ebates, it is a shopping portal that give you rebates everytime you buy an item using a site in their network, like Target.com, Drugstore.com, Sears.com, etc. So for example instead of just going to Target.com and buying an item that is $100. You log into your Ebatges account, click Target.com, buy the item for $100 and you will receive $4 (4% of $100) in your account. The % varies by store, and they have almost every major online retailer you can think of. By going through them before making the purchase the store you are buying from pays Ebates a referral fee and Ebates then shares a portion of that with you. It is free to join and use.

Instructions to get the bonus:
When you sign up, you will immediately get $5, to get the other $5, you need to make your first qualifying purchase prior to December 31st using the Ebates site. (Remember this is free, you just pay for the item that you are going to buy)

Sign up for the $10 promo HERE

I use mainly Ebates and Mr Rebates (See my post) for every online purchase I do, since I might as well make some money off of my purchases for very little effort.

Friday, November 23, 2007

Free TurboTax for State Farm Customers

Last year State Farm offered free TurboTax for customers that have business with them. They offered free TurboTax basic and TurboTax deluxe which included both State and Federal filing.

It looks like they are planning on doing this again for the 2007 tax season. According to their terms, you only need to have an account that gives you access to the "My Account" page. If you have insurance or a State Farm Bank account you are all set.

But even better, if you are not a State Farm customer, all you need to do is sign up for their Visa card and you can have access to the Free TurboTax deals.

For current customers, there is a link off of the "My Account Page" that says "FREE Tax Filing"

When I logged into my account today and clicked on the "FREE Tax Filing" I noticed the following message.


I will post again with the details once the 2007 information is available. If you file your taxes using TurboTax, this is definetly worth a look since this could save you around $50 for something that you were going to do anyway.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!


I will be back on Friday with more money saving tips and free money ideas, so until then have a great holiday and DON'T BURN THAT TURKEY!!!!!!!


American Express My WishList Deals Start on Nov. 27


American Express is bring back it's My WishList Deals on November 27th. If you don't know what these are, basically American Express offers a limited quantities of items and ridiculously cheap prices. The catch is that you are competing with thousands of other people for a very limited quantity, so it is all up to one mouse click to see of you have won. I have had success here before when last year I won a Slingbox for $70 that retailed for $120. So I am definitely going to try to get in on a WishList deal again this year.




Here is what is in store for this Christmas:

Panasonic 42" 1080p HD Plasma TV
WishList Price: $700
Retail Price: $1,999

BMW K 1200 R Sport Motorcycle
WishList Price: $5,000
Retail Price: $17,000

Xbox Elite Game System
WishList Price: $300
Retail Price: $649.99

2008 Volvo C70
WishList Price: $0
Retail Price $43,205

JetBlue Airways Private Flight
WishList Price: 0$
Retail Price: $171,367

I imagine that these are the highly coveted items and they will be offering others in between as well as the promotion runs from November 27th to December 13th.

Check out the details at the American Express WishList Site for dates and times and sign up for an email reminder when it kicks off on the 27th of this month. Good Luck!

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Free $100 from Sony Visa Card


Chase is offering a $100 sign up bonus for their Sony Visa Card after your first purchase.

This card is good for long term use if you buy a lot of Sony items. If you don't, you may just consider signing up for the $100 bonus and keep the card for emergencies. For a long term rewards card, check out my Chase Freedom Rewards Visa post



Here is the earnings breakdown:


  • Earn 5 points per dolar at Sony Style Stores, SonyStyle.com and ImageStation.com
  • Earn 3 points per dollar spent on Sony Products at authorized Sony retailers
  • Earn 1 point per dollar everywhere else


What you need to do: Sign up for the Sony Visa Card
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $100 after first purchase
Money to get started: $0
Things to Note: There will be hard credit inquiry applied to your credit report when applying for the card

ShareBuilder is now part of ING DIRECT

I woke up to this in my email box:



ShareBuilder has some exciting news. As of November 15, ShareBuilder has been acquired by ING DIRECT, the nation's largest direct bank with over 5.5 million customers and $75 billion in U.S. assets (part of Netherlands-based ING, NYSE: ING). ING DIRECT shares our vision of helping Americans increase their savings.

ING DIRECT is widely recognized for offering some of the most popular and easy-to-use financial products. Joining the ING DIRECT family will benefit you by providing simple and innovative products and services that can help you meet your saving and investing goals.

Rest assured there have been no changes made to your Orchard Bank ShareBuilder account. All of the easy account maintenance, trading tools and customer service functions you are accustomed to will remain the same. The only change you will find is an eventual logo and color change as ShareBuilder begins to adopt ING DIRECT's signature Orange color. You can also continue to use the same account number, login and password, and can access your account anytime through the co-branded ShareBuilder website.

We look forward to sharing more information with you over the coming months. If you have any questions, we invite you to contact us at 1-866-SHRBLDR (1-866-747-2537).

The ShareBuilder team is really excited by what this news means for you!

Best regards,

Dan Greenshields
President
ShareBuilder Securities Corporation


Here is a link to the full Press Release

This is interesting news, I wonder how this will effect anything if at all. This acquisition in addition to ING's buying, now defucnt NetBank's assets, must be dramitically increasing ING's customer base.

I currently have an account at both institutions. I don't use my ING account much due to the low interest rate, but I use my Sharebuilder account all the time. I have $200 auto invested each month into 5 different ETF funds. They were doing well until last week, but this is a long term investment so I really just try to not watch it fall.

Monday, November 19, 2007

Free $100 from Chase Freedom Visa Card


Chase is offering a $100 sign up bonus for their Freedom Visa Card after your first purchase.

This card is flexible in the fact that you can switch between cash back and miles whenever you want. So if you are currently getting cash back, but then decided you want to use miles for a vacation, you can switch over to miles, use them for your trip, then switch back to cash back. Also, there is no annual fee with this card.



Here is the earnings breakdown:


  • Earn 3% back at gas stations, grocery stores and quick service restaurants
  • Earn 1% back everywhere else

Don't forget that most grocery stores offer gift cards. So you can earn 3% on more than just gas stations, grocery stores and quick service restaurants. For example, the Dominick's grocery store by me sells Home Depot gift cards, among may others. If I were to use the Chase Freedom Visa at Home Depot I would only receive the 1% back, but if I buy a $100 Home Depot Gift card from the grocery store, I would receive the 3% back. This is another little way to maximize your earnings with this card. Happy Shopping!!

What you need to do: Sign up for the Chase Freedom Visa Card
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $100 after first purchase
Money to get started: $0
Things to Note: There will be hard credit inquiry applied to your credit report when applying for the card

Friday, November 16, 2007

Have you checked your Credit Report?


If you haven't been told by now, It is good practice to keep an eye on your credit report with the increase in identity theft.

Don't be fooled by the many sites out there that offer "Free Credit Reports". Most of them, when you read the small print, are esentially signing you up for a paid credit check service and giving you the first credit report free.

The only site I recommend is AnnualCreditReport.com
This is the only service authorized by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion for obtaining free credit reports. I really wish the Government would get involved and give it a ".gov" domain so it is clearer to people that this is not a gimmick or spam site.

You can pull one report free from each of the three bureau's each year through the site. There is no subscription service, no spam email later or anyone trying to call you.

My recommendation is to pull one every for months. Here is the schedule I follow:
  • Experian - April 30
  • Equifax - August 31
  • TransUnion - December 31

That should cover you for the year and should allow you to track any unauthorized activity that could be taking place.

The government passed the law of allowing you free credit reports to help you protect yourself, so why not use it? Just don't pay anyone for it!

Remember:
FreeCreditReport.com BAD
AnnualCreditReport.com GOOD

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Another Woot Off!


Woot.com is having another of its Woot Offs right now. If you are unfamiliar with Woot.com, they are a site that offers items at a discount. Usually only one item is listed per day starting at 12am Central Time and is listed until it is sold out or 11:59PM Central Time. A Woot Off, which happens rarely, is a number of products that are for sale on a particular day or successive days. One product follows another as soon as it has been sold out. The number of Woot-Off items, sequence, and quantity will not be announced so an item could take a while to sell out or sell out immediately. Don't miss a chance to score some items at a steal if you haven't started that Christmas Shopping yet!

Black Friday Deals

Oh, that day after Thanksgiving, dreadful for some, where people line up at 5 am outside stores trying to get their hands on a Furby.

Yes, it is Black Friday which is named for the fact that this is the day where most retailers actually start to make a profit. I stumbled across BlackFriday.info that aggregates Black Friday deals for a bunch of retailers. So if you want to plan your November 23rd shopping day you are all set. They also have an email notification feature where they will email you as Black Friday deals are added.

I hate crowds and traffic, so I will be doing my Black Friday shopping from the comfort of my own home thanks to this site. Shower and clothing optional!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Get $50 Free from Sharebuiler


Sharebuilder once again has a $50 promo going where you can get a $50 bonus paid out after one stock purchase. Just use the promo code SHARE50 when signing up.

Bonus Detail Page

Fine Print to get your bonus:
You must open a new ShareBuilder Account and purchase at least one security to receive this offer. Please note the $50 credit will post to your account approximately 4 weeks after the first transaction executes. Not valid with IRA or Education Savings Accounts. Not valid with any other offers. Valid only for first time account holders with ShareBuilder. ShareBuilder reserves the right to terminate this offer at any time. Offer expires 12/31/07.

If you haven't used sharebuilder, they are great in the fact that you can buy partial shares automatically over time. This is a great way to dollar cost average especially considering the volatility in the market recently. They will automatically take the money out of your account and invest in on a regular basis, it pretty much makes investing easy to do.

Cut Down on Email Spam


I have recently been using Yahoo's Mail Plus email account. Basically it is an uprade from Yahoo's Free Email account.

There are some neat features like larger attachment size, more filters, etc, but the best feature is the Disposable Email Addresses. Disposable Email Addresses are just what they sound like, email addresses that you can throw away when you want.

Say for example my email address is: [username]@yahoo.com. I don't want this to get on any spam lists otherwise I will be receiving spam forever! Yahoo Mail Plus lets you select a keyword, and then create multiple address off of it that forward mail sent to them to your main account.

For example if I choose the keyword [keyword], then I all the address I would create would have that key word as a prefix, you just choose the word after the prefix:

[keyword]-mail@yahoo.com
[keyword]-shopping@yahoo.com
[keyword]-amazon@yahoo.com
[keyword]-[....]@yahoo.com
All of the above would forward to my main account [username]@yahoo.com.

The neat thing about this is once you start seeing spam coming to one of these address, you can just delete it and no more spam. I use a disposable address for each specific account I have do I can easly filter emails and put them in their corresponding folders. You can also send outbound email with a disposable addess as your return address so that you don't have to disclose your real email address.

Currently Yahoo only charges $19,95 per year for Mail Plus, I would be willing to pay up to $100 / year for this feature since it keeps my mailbox clean. (I hope Yahoo doesn't read this!).

I can't tell you how much I love this feature and how it helps me stay organized. I don't think I will be leaving my Yahoo Mail Plus email account anytime soon!

UFBDirect - High Interest Savings Account


As the Fed keeps cutting interest rates, High Yield Savings Accounts such as ING Direct and Citibank are falling fast. One bank that hasn't lowered their rate in a long time is UFB Direct. Their Absolute Savings Account is still sitting at 5.31%. I beleive that is the highest no fee high interest savings account out there.

UFBDirect is the online arm of Huntington National Bank. It is a pure online bank with no branches that keep the overhead low.

The minimum balance to open the account is $1. This account also comes with an ATM card. They resimburse you up to $4.50 per month for foreign ATM fees. That makes for an easy way to access your money fee free.

They send prepaid desposit slips and envelopes so sending in deposits is free as well. There is no ACH feature, but if you have an account like Fidelity or GMAC bank that offeres ACH features, you can deposit money into the Ansolute Savings acoount. There is no fees for inbound or outbound ACH's from the Absolute Savings Account.

I currently have this account and am very happy with it. It currently holds my "Emergency Fund." I had to call their customer service once with a question and was very happy with the service.

While all the rates are falling, why not make some money with an account that doesn't drop its rates everytime the Fed sneezes!!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

20% Off at Kmart




So, with Christmas around the corner, I thought I would share something to help you with your holiday shopping. I found this Kmart coupon while browsing around this morning.
This coupon, which is good only in the store, is good for 20% off 1 item. Notice there are some restrictions on this. Some of the main ones are that it can't be used for appliances, auto service and Sears Home electronics. Even though it says "Sears Home Electronics" is excluded there have been posts that people have used the coupon for an XBox and PS3 as well as dvds and cds.



(Click image for larger version to print)

I will be the first to admit that I don't shop at Kmart, but for 20% of one item, it is definetly worth a walk through the store.


Monday, November 12, 2007

Ridiculously Cheap Sprint Wireless Service


Sprints Employee Referral Plan (SERO) is now open to everyone. Not sure how long this is going to last, but these prices beat anything out there right now.

I recently started telling my friends about this. I signed up a month ago and am loving service, especailly since I am saving around $40 / month from my previous service with Verizon.

Here are the plans:
  • 500 minutes for $30.00 / month
  • 1250 minutes for $49.99 / month
  • 2500 minutes for $99.99 / month

Plans include:
Unlimited Nights & Weekends starting at 7pm!
Domestic long distance
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (Sprint to Sprint calls only)
Unlimited Web/Data Access
Unlimited Picture Mail (with compatible devices)

Don't forget that data plans alone ususally cost around $20 - $30 per month, so if you currently have service with a data plan, this is a no brainer.

They also offer the Unlimited EVDO broadband plan at $49.99 / month. This service is great if you can't get Cable or DSL service at your home, or you always want to be connected.

All plans require a 2 year contract. You can also port your number over to Sprint if you would like to keep it. The phones are shipped out via FedEx 2 Day service.

All Sprints' current phone lineup is available with these plans with most at a discount.

How to sign up:

Like I said earlier, there is no telling how long these deals will last. If you get Sprint coverage in your area, this is definetly worth a look.

Saturday, November 10, 2007

$100 Free @ Fidelity


Ok guys, this bonus is not for the faint at heart! It requires you to have 10k laying around. So why not sell that car you no longer need. Seriousy, if you have 10 grand sitting around in a bank account, Fidelity is willing to give you $100 if you open a Brokerage account with it.
Sure, you say that receiving $100 on $10,000 is only 1%? Well yes, but that is 1% earnings for only 7 days. Most savings account will pay 1% for the whole month if that.

Ok, if you are still with me, here is what you need to do:

This works if you are opening a new Brokerage account, or if you currently have one.

Complete the $100 Bonus Form

If you currently have an account, enter your account number on the form. Then go to your account and deposit the 10k.

If you do not have an account, complete the account opening form and deposit your 10k.

Once the deposit clears (in about 5-7 days) you should receive and email and see the $100 bonus in your account.

You can then decide if you want to keep the money at Fidelity in their 5% money market (FSLXX) or purchase stocks or mutual funds.

This is a great account since purchasing of all Fidelity Branded Mutual Funds commission free.

I know this takes a bit of time, but for $100 in 5 days, I would do just about anything, well almost anything!

Free Money Courtesy of the US Government


A lot of people tend to over look Health Care Reimbursement Accounts (HRA) that are offered as a benefit by their employers.

How this works, is pre-tax money is taken out of your paycheck and placed into an account. As you incur health care related costs, you can then remove the money from this account. The free money effect here is that you have now just avoided paying taxes on that money. You should note that the money in the HRA can only be used for healthcare related items. But that includes, aspirin, cold medicine, copays, band-aids, condoms, etc, so you can go on a Costco shopping spree at the and of the year to make sure you deplete the account by the Dec 31st.

I had never really looked into opening one of these until end of last year when my employer had an info session on how it worked. I was sold. I started out small since I never really tracked how much out of pocket money I spent on health care over 1 year. I started out with $1000. Meaning that $41.66 (thats pretax dollars, so the actual effect on your paycheck is much smaller) would be taken out of my bi-monthly paycheck. I have completely used the $1000 as of last week (11/3/07). But here's the thing, I am in the 23% tax bracket, so on that $1000, I saved $230 in taxes. Not bad huh? Try getting that return in the stock market.

Yes I know this money is spread out over the year, but its free! So put that $1000 into a savings account as you get reimbured and guess what, you just saved some money, which you probably would have spent anyway!!

HRA accounts are not for everyone, but if you tend to have a lot of healthcare expenses, copays, etc, you could end up saving some money. I definitely think you should ask your employer about it!

Friday, November 09, 2007

Tradeking Promo



I have been getting numerous emails asking about any new Tradeking promos. Unfortunetly since the $100 bonus promo has expired there hasn't been anything to write about. However, in the spirit of giving and the holidays being right around the corner, they are now offering a promo where if I refer you, they will donate $100 to Toys for Tots. (Here are the details).

I do not receive anything for referring you, so this is purely out of the kindness of my heart, and yours if you choose to do this. Send me an email and I will get a referral email out to you.

Maybe together we can make Christmas a special day for someone and make some money short selling stocks as we watch the market fall! :)

Another Free $73 from SurveySavvy

Lately, SurveySavvy has been sending me quite a few surveys. I just emptied out my account again, this time getting a check for $73.00.


With this check, that puts me at $669.00 since I joined last year.


For anyone that is not aware of SurveySavvy, it is a paid survey site, meaning they pay you, in cash, for completing surveys. In my experience, this is is the most legit paid survey site, and trust me, I have tried many. They all promise cash, but once you taks surveys, you never actually see the money.


SurveySavvy is defninetly apart from the rest. The cash is paid out to you when you ask for it. There is no minimum needed to withdrawl money. If you take a $1 survey, you can request a check for $1. I definetly recommend this to anyone who wants to make a little cash on the side.


Sign Up today!

Monday, November 05, 2007

Rebate Sites

Another site I reguraly use when shopping online is Mr Rebates. This site pays you a rebate back from shopping at a particular online store.

For example, I love Old Navy T-Shirts as they seem to last forever no matter how many times you wash them. When you click on the "Old Navy" link from Mr Rabates, it takes you to the Old Navy site where you will automatically get back a 4% rebate in your Mr Rebates account on any purchases made at Old Navy. So if I were to spend $100 I would get a $4 rebate in my account.

The rebate %'s vary by store, but they seem to have most of the popular online stores in their list.

It usually takes 90 days for the rebate to be available to withdraw and it comes in the form of a check mailed to your home after you ask for a check.

What is the catch? None. Many websites give rebates back to people that direct shoppers to them. They are usually called associate programs. Mr Rebates just shares part of that rebate with you. If you do a lot of online shopping, this is something you should really take a look at.

What you need to do: Open an account with Mr Rebates
Obligation: None
Initial Reward (if any): $2.50 for opening an account
Money to get started: None - but you have to shop online to earn more rebates