Entries Tagged 'General' ↓
November 13th, 2008 — General
Coinstar had a holiday promotion last year and brings it back again for this holiday season. Same offer, new dates. Take your coins to a Coinstar Center, convert them into a gift certificate (Amazon is my favorite), and you’ll get a free $10 gift certificate in the mail as long as you convert at least $40. A receipt will be printed with the form you’ll need to send in. Just do it by December 7th, 2008 and you’re all set!
I took advantage of this promotion last year and had no problems. More details here.
November 6th, 2008 — General
Quicken Online recently joined the online money management tool revolution by offering it’s flagship tool to users absolutely free. What was once $2.99/month is now $0/month and it lets you aggregate data from all of your financial accounts, from banks to investments to credit cards. It pulls your data from your accounts automatically using 128-bit encryption, which should alleviate some security concerns, but lets you review them all in a handy fashion. Over 5000 institutions can be linked in.
It’s not a bad system if you want to check it out.
October 24th, 2008 — General
Did you know that Panera Bread offers free Wi-Fi? Or that McDonald’s does as well? They’re just two of many potential places you can get free Wi-Fi if you’re hankering to get your news or stock tickers and your phone is on the fritz. Free Wi-Fi is becoming more and more popular as stores and restaurants try to differentiate themselves. Locally, the Hard Times Cafe, a chili joint, offers free Wi-Fi to patrons as well.
Other options? Starbucks offers you 2 hours but you have to have a registered gift card that you use at least once a month.
October 22nd, 2008 — General
Every year, Taco Bell does their Steal a Base, Steal a Taco Promotion where they give away a free taco if someone steals a base in the WOrld Series. This year, the Tampa Bay Rays face the Philadelphia Phillies in what probably will result in at least a base being stolen.
Terms & Conditions:
If an eligible base was stolen during the Games, Taco Bell will make an announcement through selected media channels, including a press release and its Web site (www.tacobell.com), that eligible consumers can obtain their free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco on Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (if base is stolen in Games 1-4 on October 22, 23, 25 or 26), OR Monday, November 3, 2008 (if base is stolen in Games 5-7, October 27, 29 or 30), (”Redemption Date”) only. To obtain the Free Taco, consumers must visit any participating Taco Bell® restaurant in one of the fifty (50) United States or the District of Columbia between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. (local time) on the Redemption Date only and request a Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco. Free Tacos will not be offered on any other date or time, regardless of circumstance. Limit one (1) Free Crunchy Seasoned Beef Taco per person.
First game is tonight!
October 15th, 2008 — General
Are you getting confused which airlines are now charging you for your first checked bag? I know I am, that’s why I try to fly Southwest whenever I can because they don’t charge any of this mumbo jumbo. If you’re not sure who will charge you for the benefit of checking the first bag, check out this chart at FareCompare. It includes how much it costs to buy a reservation by phone, your first and second bags, seat selections, beverage/snack packet costs, meals, alcohol, oversized bags, overweight bags, pe travel, unaccompanied minors fees, curbside check-in, and .
As of October 15th, the only airlines that won’t charge you for the 1st Checked Bag are Delta, AirTran, Alaska Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest, Midwest, ExpressJet, Virgin America, and Sun Country. Southwest an ExpressJet are the only airlines listed that won’t charge you for a second bag.
October 13th, 2008 — General
If you’re a college kid and just starting out in the first phase of the real world, here are 40 money tips for college students that will give you a head start versus your peers. While you won’t have a lot of money, it’s always important to lay down a solid foundation.
Remember this, the most important of all the tips:
Money Tip To Rule All Other Tips
Graduate college with as little debt as you can. If you follow this one tip and ignore all others, you will find yourself ahead of the pack by far. For many, myself included, this means graduating with some student loan debt (I had and still have over $20k in student loans) but that’s OK. Avoid credit card debt at all costs.
Consider this, if you owe $1,000 to your credit card at 18.90% interest, you will pay $211 in interest over the course of 25 months if you make only the minimum payment of $50 (typical minimum payments are 5% of the balance). It may not seem like a lot right now but it’s a significant drag on your finances. You don’t want to be paying for a six pack of beer for the next two years.
October 10th, 2008 — Frugality, General
Rather than paying for songs on iTunes or buying CDs from the store, here’s a popular option for those of you who always have an internet connection - online radio stations. You can save a lot of money just by pointing your browser over to sites like Pandora and Last.fm. There’s an added bonus of the sites recommending new artists (or new songs from old artists) so you can get exposed to newer things. All of it is for free!
September 2nd, 2008 — General
If you live in New York, Los Angeles or Chicago, you can participate in a special Hyundai VIP test drive that lets you keep a Hyundai Genesis 375 HP luxury sedan for a week and get a $200 gas card.
CAR AND DRIVER and ROAD & TRACK invite you to be the first to drive, the first to be envied, and the first to experience the all new Hyundai Genesis 375 HP luxury sedan. Not only will you be the first on your block to drive it, you get to keep it for a week and you get a free $200 gas card. Put your CAR AND DRIVER and ROAD & TRACK knowledge to the test and don’t miss this chance to sign up for the Hyundai Genesis VIP Test Drive and give us your opinions of Hyundai’s ground breaking new entry into the luxury sedan market.
September 2nd, 2008 — General, Taxes
Several of the banks have increased their CD yields but for the month, every bank stood pat on their high yield savings account interest rates. The Fed kept rates constant, which gave banks little incentive to increase their rates. However, on the other hand, liquidity pressures have been forcing some banks to increase their rates. Just recently, ING Direct increased their CD rates twice in August and ING Direct’s 12-month CD now yields a healthy 4.00% APY.
If you’re still wary of online banks or aren’t sure how to pick one, there was recently a good article on Dumb Little Man on how to choose an online bank.
September 1st, 2008 — General
Are you a fan of Quicken? Quicken 2009 is being released next week but they’ve already released some hot coupon codes that will help reduce the cost of getting one of the most well known and most versatile personal finance management programs out there. The minimum discount coupon is for 20% off the regular price, so you can save some big bucks here.
Quicken 2009 Coupons Codes
