Archive for the 'Deals & Offers' Category
Entenmann’s Bakery is having a “Summer Movie Moments” Giveaway where you have a good chance at winning a free movie ticket. I say a very good chance because my sister, my wife, and I all won free movie tickets on the first try. Perfect for the holiday weekend. Thanks Julie!
One entry per person. You may need to use a different computer and/or different IP address for the 2nd person. You print out a customized gift certificate with your name and 16-digit code. Good for up to $12 at these participating theaters (seems like most Regal and Cinemark theaters qualify). Mine expires 10/31/08. From the fine print:
Upon visiting sweetmoments.com, the customer may register to win a free video camera (make and model to be determined), a free movie ticket coupon (up to $12.00 value), a free concession cash coupon ($2.00 value), or a cents-off coupon for Entenmann’s product ($0.55 value). […] You must be a legal resident of AK, AR, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, KS, LA, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, NV, OK, OR, SD, TX, UT, WA, or WY to be eligible to participate in the Summer Movie Moments promotion.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 18 Comments »
On a recent episode of the Suze Orman TV show, she announced that you can go to her website and get her Online Will & Trust kit for free for a limited time. Via Slickdeals. Here’s how to get it:
- Go to SuzeOrman.com.
- Click on Will & Trust Kit link on upper left menu.
- Click the orange Gift Code button.
- Type in the code “people first”.
I signed up for the initial profile successfully, but haven’t finished the questionnaires. The software includes the ability to create a will, a revocable trust, Financial Power of Attorney, and an Advanced Directive / Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare. One less reason for putting off doing one of these if it’s free! 
I’m not sure how this compares to a more established legal service like LegalZoom which I had considered using up until now (I used them to incorporate my home business), but they charge about $100. I suppose I must add that if you have substantial assets an estate attorney might be worth the extra cost.
Posted in Deals & Offers, Insurance | 23 Comments »
Y’all know how much I like them free razors. And this one comes with a trimmer! Via SlickDeals.
- If you’re at work, turn the sound down. Although not obscene, this involves is a pillow fight with lots of girls squealing. My wife was very curious as to what I was doing online…
- Now go to TrimFlixx.com and enter your birthdate (must be 18 years old to get the free razor).
- Upload an image when asked, any will do. If you need one, try downloading this to your Desktop first for some laughs at the expense of the world’s richest man.
- Finish and play the movie, and then click on the Save button on the bottom. Check the box “Throw in a Free Sample while you’re at it.” and fill out your info. Hope it comes!
Posted in Deals & Offers | 8 Comments »
ZipCar is a company that lets you rent cars in urban areas by the hour. Right now, they have a promotion called the Low-Car Diet to encourage people to try using a combination of public transit and occasional ZipCar rentals instead of their own car. You get a “loaded” public transit pass, one free year of ZipCar membership, and between $100-$500 of credit towards hourly rental fees. In exchange, you promise to give regular feedback and make a good effort not to drive your own car from July 21st through August 15th. Via SlickDeals.
Eligible cities include Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Portland, Seattle, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington DC. Some examples are Pittsburgh which offers $500 in credit good for 1 month, and Portland which offers $100 credit with no indicated expiration date (I assume it’s at least good for a year).
Who should participate in the Low-Car Diet Challenge?
* Be willing to make a month-long commitment to reduce their personal vehicle use. It takes a little extra time, some lifestyle adjustments and enthusiasm to complete the Low-Car Diet.
* Share their experiences (positive or negative) by emailing LCD@zipcar.com. We asking folks to email us at least three times during the challenge.
* Start out the diet with a positive attitude. After all, dieting (even low-car dieting) can be difficult, and a starting out on the right foot will be a big help!
* Have viable transportation alternatives. Before you commit to the challenge, assess your work and home transportation options. For example, if you live in the city and drive to work everyday to a location that doesn’t have public transit, then it will be difficult to make the challenge work for you.
This would be a pretty cool experiment if you ever really wanted to see if downsizing by one car was possible. ZipCars cost roughly $10 an hour. But if you add up all the costs of your car like depreciation, gas, insurance, parking stall costs, and maintenance, you might be surprised by the hourly rate you’re already paying. Sometimes I wish I could do this myself.
But I’ve ran the numbers before, and in the end it really depends if you can depend on public transit for the vast majority of your transportation needs. This really depends on where you live and work. Coincidentally, I sold an extra bookshelf on Craiglist recently and the buyer had rented a ZipCar (Honda Odyssey minivan) to pick it up.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 15 Comments »
Here are a few more tidbits that may be of interest:
E-Rewards Signup Links
E-Rewards is a paid survey site that is only open via invitation. It is often linked to an airline, so that you can can redeem your rewards for frequent flier points. Here are two open links for Continental and Northwest airlines, must have a frequent flier account number. I am a member; they aren’t the best in my opinion, nor are they the worst. I get a lot of survey opportunities, but they don’t pay as well as others. More information about other paid surveys here.
$10 from Costco American Express Card
If you have a Costco American Express card, they are offering a promotion where you can earn a free $10 Costco Cash card for paying your wireless phone plan automatically with the card. This card is one of the better gas rebate credit cards.
9 Months of Free Credit Monitoring
One of the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, apparently lost a class-action lawsuit and the settlement involves offering up to 9 months of free credit monitoring service to anyone who has ever held a credit card over the last 20 years (i.e. lots of people). This includes free access to your credit score in addition to the report, as well as e-mail alerts when something changes. There is also a “potential cash payment” option, but it doesn’t very tempting given the number of eligible claimants (small pie, millions of slices).
They are supposed to allow claims starting today, June 16th, on the official settlement website. You don’t need to supply your full Social Security number (needs last 4 digits) or a credit card number, and you won’t be automatically signed up for any paid subscriptions after the free period.
Posted in Bored Money, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 5 Comments »
The NY Times reports that Starbucks has a new rewards program where you can get free soy milk/syrup, free same-visit refills on drip coffee (hot or iced), and two free hours of WiFi per day. It’s free to sign up, but you will need a Starbucks gift card to do so. In addition, if you sign up by July 14th you’ll get a coupon for a “free handcrafted beverage”. Might be worth buying a $5 gift card next time and turning this into a buy one get one free offer.
This isn’t bad for me. I usually use the Starbucks as a place for reading/studying and often drink the house coffee anyway, so now a $2.50 coffee also gives me free refills and internet access.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 11 Comments »
Still more proof that recession is upon us… Sports car maker Saleen is offering folks a $25 gift card for test-driving one of their speedy but expensive cars. Pictured above is a Saleen-modified Ford Mustang S281 RF with 465 horsepower, 425 lb-ft. of torque, and an MSRP of $50,000. Not a bad weekend idea if you are vehicularly-inclined and have a dealer near you. Via Slickdeals.
I still had a fun time when we got paid $50 worth of steaks to test drive a $150,000 Maserati, now I’m just waiting for someone to pay me to test drive a Ferrari!
Posted in Deals & Offers | 16 Comments »
More free ThankYou points! Visit this link, log in, and then type in “DPR1CDW408WK” as the promotional code. You may get an error of some sort, but check your points history and you should see 100 free points credited. If you missed the last one, also try code “CITICCI508IN” for another 100 free points. Remember, ThankYou points can be used to pay back student loans as well. Via FW.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 37 Comments »
The new promotion from the Discover Business Card has some nice features… First, you can earn a $100 Cashback Bonus when you make $1000 in purchases within 3 months after your account is opened. You can get 5% back on office supplies, 2% on gas, up to 1% on all other purchases.
On top of that, it has 0% APR for 12 months for both purchases and balance transfers for 12 months. Since the purchases are also at 0%, there is no hurry to pay that initial $1,000 off. For balance transfers, there is 3% fee for each balance transfer, with a minimum of $5 and a maximum of $75. This is not bad in the current credit card environment. Even if you do not have a higher interest balance to transfer here, this might be worth making some free money off of, especially since the $100 incentive basically negates the balance transfer fee and then some.
Another interesting feature is the advertised “Fee-free Purchasechecks that earn Cashback Bonus®. to pay merchants who don’t accept credit cards”. I was excited by the prospect of earning rewards by simply writing a check, but then I saw this in the fine print: “APR for PurchaseCheck Purchases: 13.99%”. Ouch.
As with all these business cards, individuals can apply as sole proprietors by simply using their name as the business name. You just need to put your Social Security number as requested, and leave the Federal Tax ID blank for this application (it will use your SSN). More details here. More $100 bonuses listed here.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9 Comments »
Yes, it’s only worth about $1 to most people, but I’d bend over to pick up a dollar bill. Visit this link, log in, and then type in “CITICCI508IN” as the promotional code. Worked for me, but may not last long. I’m now 100 points closer to the 20,000 points needed for a $400 plane ticket. Via Fatwallet.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 49 Comments »
I think the two most effective ways for most people to reduce gas costs is to simply (1) consciously attempt to drive less and (2) use a credit card that offer rebates on gas purchases. Getting 5% back is like saving nearly 20 cents per gallon (more in some places), much easier than to looking for a gas station with a lower price by a few cents or sweating profusely with no air conditioning on. Here are some good ones…
Discover Open Road
The Discover Open Road Card offers a 5% back on gas from any station and auto maintenance purchases on your first $100 spent each billing period, and up to 1% tiered on all other purchases. No annual fee.
BP Visa Card
The BP Visa Card from Chase offers 5% back on BP gas, 2% rebates on restaurant and travel, and 1% back on everything else. You also get double rebates for the first 60 days as a sign-up bonus… that’s 10% back on gas, 4% on restaurant and travel, and 2% on everything else. No annual fee.
PenFed Platinum Rewards
The PenFed Platinum Rewards card offers 5% back on gas purchases paid at the pump, 2% back at the supermarket, and 1.25% on all other purchases. No annual fee. To apply you must first join the Pentagon Federal credit union, where you must either have the appropriate military affiliation or join the National Military Family Association (NMFA) for a fee.
Chase Freedom Visa
The Chase Freedom Visa Card actually offers a 3% cashback rebate on your top 3 “Everyday Spending Categories” (on the first $600 of purchases each month), where gas and groceries are two popular options. In addition, if you wait and redeem $200 in rewards, you can get a $250 check. This makes it up to 3.75% back on gas. No annual fee. In addition, there is currently a $50 sign-up bonus after your first purchase.
Business Cards
Here are some business cards with good cash back. Most individuals (sole proprietors) can simply use their Social Security number for the Business Tax ID number, and their name as the business name if asked.
American Express SimplyCash
The American Express SimplyCash Business Card offers 5% cash back on gas bought anywhere. 5% back on office supplies and your wireless telephone bill as well, and 1% back on everything else. No annual fee.
American Express Costco TrueEarnings
The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express offers 5% back on gas bought anywhere, including at Costco gas stations. You also get 3% on all restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else. No annual fee. (The regular (non-business) version of the card gets 3% back on gas, 3% on restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else.)
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 32 Comments »
Here’s an updated list of companies willing to pay you to try out their services. None of these listed require a credit check. See links for more info.
RevolutionMoneyExchange $25 Bonus. Offer extended to May 15th, so get in by then if you haven’t already. Just sign-up with this PayPal alternative and grab your $25. You don’t even have to make a deposit or buy anything. More details here.
eBates $10 Bonus (+$18 possible). eBates offers rebates on online store purchases. After your first transactoin, you’ll get a $10 bonus. Just sign-up with your e-mail and you’ll see the $10 in your account. One suggestion: sign-up for a free trial of Netflix through eBates and get another $18, and they’ll send you $28 during their next cycle. (Looks like you have to become a paying member, cheapest plan is $4.99/month.) Just remember to cancel in time. More details here.
Prosper $25 Bonus. Peer-to-peer lending means you get to earn interest by lending to people you choose. Make a loan of $50, and you’ll receive a $25 bonus on top of your interest rate. More details here.
ING Direct $25 Bonus. One of the earliest online-only savings accounts, ING Direct will pay you $25 immediately if your initial deposit is at least $250. The account currently earns 3.0% APY.
ShareBuilder $50 Bonus. If you open an account with this brokerage and make any one trade, you will earn $50. In the application, say you are responding to a promotion and use the promo code “50GO28“. More info based on a previous similar offer.
I have applied and received all of the bonuses above successfully except for the Prosper one, as I had signed up before the promotion started. You can also get $100 all at once by applying for one of these credit cards, although applying will require a credit check (and some spending restraint, I suppose).
Posted in Banking, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 16 Comments »
The economic stimulus checks are coming! Before depositing your tax rebate at the bank, it might be a good idea to see what retailers will offer you for it. While I don’t necessarily like the idea of treating this extra money as different from any other money (a dollar is a dollar), you might as well take advantage of the promotions if it doesn’t change your intended spending patterns. Although some of these require an economic stimulus check, others work with any tax refund check.
Even if the big names like Kroger and Albertson’s don’t ring a bell, read the lists below carefully for a store that is near you. For example, in Portland, Oregon there is the popular Fred Meyer chain, which I didn’t know was part of the Kroger family.
Supervalue Inc. Supermarkets - 10% Bonus
Including Acme, Albertsons, bigg’s, Cub Foods, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, Jewel-Osco, Lucky, Shaw’s/Star Market, Shop ‘n Save and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy. From their press release:
Customers who are interested in growing their refunds should bring their government-issued economic stimulus or tax refund checks, along with government-issued identification, to customer service counters at their local stores between May 2 and July 31, 2008, to purchase store gift cards in $300 increments, not to exceed $1,200 per household. Each gift card will be loaded with an additional $30, to bring each gift card total to $330.
Kroger Co. Supermarkets - 10% Bonus
Including Kroger, Baker’s, City Market, Dillons, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, Fry’s, Gerbes, Hilander, Jay C, King Soopers, Owen’s, Pay Less, Ralphs, Smith’s and QFC stores. From their press release:
Kroger customers who are interested in exchanging their refunds or economic stimulus checks should present their check and customer loyalty card at their local store’s Customer Service center from May 2, 2008 through July 31, 2008. The program is limited to one offer per household with a limit of $1,200.00.
Sears, K-Mart, and Land’s End - 10% Bonus
I was going to buy a Martha Stewart futon from K-mart just last week… From their press release:
When customers bring their stimulus checks to a Sears or Kmart cash register, they can convert the amount of the check into gift cards, plus receive a bonus gift card worth an additional 10 percent. To be eligible, the amount of gift cards purchased must be equal to the full value of the stimulus check. The gift cards can be redeemed at any Sears, Kmart or Lands’ End retail stores or online at sears.com or landsend.com. The promotion is scheduled to last from May 14 to July 19, 2008.
Radio Shack - 10% off $50+ Purchase
Targeted at the “underbanked”, but if by chance you want something from there… Personally, I’ve only bought a headphone splitter from there in the last 5 years. Their press release.
Customers who use their checks to pay for purchases above $50 between May 4 and July 12, 2008, will receive a 10 percent discount on their purchases. Any amount left over from the purchase will be placed on a Vision Silver Prepaid MasterCard, which can be used at any place that accepts MasterCard.
Via Reuters, Fatwallet, and Consumerist. Oh, Staples has a page of special offers like $50 off $500 spent on computers, but nothing specifically tied to a stimulus check. Anyone else?
Don’t lose those $660 gift cards!!
Posted in Deals & Offers, Taxes | 39 Comments »
If you have a Citibank credit card and are collecting ThankYou points, you are probably familiar with the various gift cards available at approximately a 1 point to 1 cent ratio, or 10,000 points = $100 gift card. You may even be familiar with the Fixed Point redemption option for travel. This not-so-publicized option allows you to redeem 20,000 ThankYou points for any domestic coach flight up to $400 in value (per Expedia.com). That’s nearly twice the value, with no blackout dates, no seat availability issues, no 14-day advance booking requirement. You do have to pay the taxes and fees, however, which can be up to $50 if there are multiple stops. (For details see the FAQ, click on Travel Rewards.)
It’s actually quite nice, and I have booked a ticket before this way before. The problem is, they have been gradually restricting which credit cards are eligible to redeem this options. The list went from virtually all Citi cards to the sad, lonely list below:
As of April 15, 2008, ThankYou Members with Smith Barney Accounts, Citibank Accounts, Expedia® Accounts and the following Card Accounts are eligible for Fixed Flight options: Citi PremierPass® Cards – Elite Level and Citi® ChairmanSM Cards. All ThankYou Members can book variably priced Travel Rewards online.
This only left me with either gift cards or the variable point flight option, which is not horrible but much worse in comparison. Essentially one point = 1 cent, so 20,000 ThankYou points would only cover a $200 ticket on Expedia.com. Double-checking, I see that one way to qualify for the fixed point redemption is to have or open up a bank account at Citibank, specifically the “Citibank Account” which has a minimum balance of $6,000 across your accounts.
However, there is another easier way. I missed the Expedia Account part! What did that mean? Surely this was some sort of special account, and not just that simple free account that tracks my itineraries at Expedia? Well, it was. But merging your Expedia account to your existing ThankYou account was very tricky, until I stumbled across this post at the FlyerTalk forums. Here is my simplified version, which worked great for me:
1. Create a new Expedia account. Unless you really use your Expedia account, this makes it easy. When you are signing up, do not enter your existing ThankYou account number. Have them generate a new one, and write it down.
2. Now log into your ThankYou Network account that you wish to redeem points from. From the menu bars at the top, click on My Account » My Sponsor Accounts » Add a Sponsor Account. Type in your new ThankYou account number from above, and confirm. You should now have merged the two accounts together, with this result:
Voila… now you have an Expedia Account as a sponsor account, and the fixed point redemption option is available to you. I just hope this window stays open long enough for me to use it again.
More Ways To Get ThankYou Points
- Citibank (the actual bank) is offering 40,000 ThankYou points with a new deposit of $26,000 in a new checking/savings account combo (expiration date now 5/18).
- Citi® ProfessionalSM Card with Thank You Network is offering 10,000 ThankYou Points after your first $250 in purchases. You also get 3 ThankYou points per dollar spent on gas and restaurants, 1 TY point on everything else. No annual fee.
- CitiBusiness Card with ThankYou Network is offering 10,000 ThankYou Points after your first $250 in purchases. Also earns rewards on purchases. No annual fee.
- Citi PremierPass Card is offering 10,000 ThankYou Points after your first $300 in purchases made within 3 months of account opening. No annual fee.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 24 Comments »
Here’s another solid all-around rewards credit card that is much better than all those generic 1% back cards out there. The TrueEarnings Card from Costco and American Express offers the following:
- 3% cash back on gasoline (any, including Costco gas)
- 3% cash back at all restaurants
- 2% cash back on travel (airline, lodging, car rental, cruise line, travel agency and tour operators)
- 1% cash back on everything else, including Costco
I’m pretty sure this is also better than their previous offer, I don’t remember there being a gas rebate before (I might be wrong). If eating out and gas are your biggest expenses after housing (like us on many months), then this looks pretty good. There is also no limit on the cash back you can earn. Might go nicely with the 2% cash back from Executive memberships.
There is no annual fee, but you must have a Costco membership to apply. (The TrueEarnings card can also replace your Costco Membership Card. ) Regarding getting the cash back:
“Rebate is awarded annually in the form of an in-store coupon redeemable for cash or merchandise at any U.S. Costco Warehouse.”
Why not cash in the coupon, and then charge your Costco purchase to get another 1% back? 
Business Version
If you have a business, or I guess a Costco Business membership, you should get the Business TrueEarnings American Express card because it offers a higher 5% back on gas in addition the same 3% on restaurants, 2% on travel, and 1% on everything else. Leave the “Business Tax ID” space blank, and they will treat you as a sole proprietorship.
p.s. I got a Wii
While roaming Costco tonight, a lady stacking 8 Wii’s in her cart caught my eye. She seemed pretty excited, but calmed down after I pointed out it was only 1 per person. I grabbed one (figured why not?) from the huge pallet, but I came home to find out the resale values aren’t all that great anymore. So if you want a Wii, Costco might have some.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 33 Comments »
