Archive for the 'Deals & Offers' Category
Thursday, December 8th, 2011
I just wanted to spread the word about a new program Connect to Compete which is a “private and nonprofit sector partnership to promote broadband adoption and improve outcomes in disadvantaged communities” that offers broadband internet access for $9.95 a month as well as discounted computers and digital literacy classes. Partners include Cox, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cablevision, and more.
The discounts are available to households with at least one child eligible for the free National School Lunch Program (offering millions of lunches and growing). According to the income guidelines, a family of 4 within the lower 48 states can’t make more than $29,055 a year to qualify. Also, you must not have outstanding balances with the service provider. The program will not go nationwide until September 2012, but there is a sign-up form on the website to be notified when is arrives in your area.
If you are served by Comcast, this is very similar to Comcast Internet Essentials, which appears to be live already.
Posted in Deals & Offers, Frugal Living | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Foursquare is a location-aware smartphone app that is working with American Express on another small business promotion called Spend $10 Get $10. First, connect your foursquare account to any eligible American Express Card using the website sync.americanexpress.com. Then follow the quoted directions below on your smartphone. Limited-time offer. I just did it today and it worked quite smoothly at many local restaurants and other retailers.
Check in at a merchant with a Special (more details below), load the Special to your card, and then pay for your over $10 purchase with your American Express ® Card. No need to show your phone to a cashier or anything – you’ll receive the credit on your Amex statement within 5 business days. You can find dozens of deals in your area just by hitting ‘Specials’ on the ‘Explore’ tab on your foursquare app (there are hundreds of thousands of participating businesses).
Posted in Deals & Offers | 7 Comments »
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
I like to keep track of the rotating categories of the 5% cash back cards out there, but one of the more disappointing areas was always Discover’s low purchase limits of only a few hundred bucks. From October 1st to December 31st, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $300 spent in the following categories: department stores, clothing stores, and restaurants. Not bad for gift-giving purchases, but Chase Freedom even had a commercial specifically about it, as their quarterly limits were $1,500.
The Discover More Card
From January 1 to March 31, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:
- Gas Stations
- Museums
- Movies
You must enroll online to activate the rewards each quarter. Discover card has a tiered cashback rate on other purchases (1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3000; purchases that are part of your first $3000 earn .25%.).
Essentially, for any quarter you can now earn $75 in cashback at 5% for certain categories ($300 annually), and usually one of them is useful like gas or groceries. These are also areas that you should be able to not spend more subconsciously just because it’s 5% cashback.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 9 Comments »
Saturday, December 3rd, 2011
I already mentioned checking out library books on the Kindle eReader, but here are also some handy bookmarks to check regularly to find free content on the Amazon.com website:
- Top 100 Free – Quick and easy, this just lists the popular free eBooks being downloaded at the moment. However, for business and finance books you may have to dig a bit.
- Limited Time Free eBooks – List of books that are free for a limited time, and then often go back up in price. Grab ‘em right away if they look interesting now, and decide whether or not to read them later.
- Free Classics – List of books that are permanently free due to being old enough to be out-of-copyright, including several well-known classics
Want some suggestions? Here are my recent free downloads.
Reminder: You can read Kindle eBooks in almost any web browser, plus apps for PC, Mac, iPad, iPod Touch, and all major smartphones.
Posted in Deals & Offers, Frugal Living | 6 Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
LivingSocial.com and McDonald’s are selling a coupon booklet good for 5 Big Macs and 5 Large Fries for $13 – that’s $2.60 for each burger/fry combo. Over 200,000 sold already. Supposedly they want to sell a million vouchers like they did earlier this year with Whole Foods. Nutritional facts because I was curious:
Big Mac = 540 Calories, 29g Fat
Large French Fries = 500 Calories, 25g Fat
The means you’re getting 5,200 Calories for the bargain price of $13. 
Are Cheap Calories The Reason We’re Unhealthy? Perhaps, but I’m of the crowd that really doesn’t expect wholesome food when buying fried beef and fried potatoes. I think it’s quite possible to eat well and cheap, but frankly some people prefer the taste of fast food.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 5 Comments »
Thursday, December 1st, 2011
OptionsHouse has a new promotion where you can get a free Amazon Kindle Fire
if you open a new account with $10,000 and make 15 trades within 90 days of funding. Use the promotional code FIRE. You must keep the $10k there for 180 days after original funding date. Expires December 31, 2012.
Trades are cheap at $3.95 per trade, so 15 trades would cost less than $60. The Kindle Fire costs $199. Assuming you did everything in a timely manner and ignoring any trading profits or losses, you’d be netting $140 or so on a $10,000 investment in 6 months, much more than the 1% a savings account is paying right now for an entire year. This is not a crazy-hot bonus, but is a good one if you’re already in the market for a new discount broker. I have an account at OptionsHouse and it satisfies all my requirements of a broker.
Read the rest of this entry…
Posted in Deals & Offers | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, November 30th, 2011
American Express really wants you to use your AmEx for shopping this season! They have thought up another creative promotion called the Gift Chain where if you register your AmEx first, then every time you spend $25 or more at a participating online store between November 28 and December 21, 2011, you’ll be eligible for a surprise gift worth between $2 and $500 each time (up to 10 gifts max). Thanks to reader Michelle for the tip. Update: Another reader tip is to buy gift cards of $25 from a participating store such as Walmart.com, and repeat as needed. Make sure you can use the gift cards at some point later, perhaps for a single larger item.
Here are the eligible retailers:
Read the rest of this entry…
Posted in Deals & Offers | 42 Comments »
Tuesday, November 29th, 2011
Groupon-like site Eversave has $20 to spend at Overstock.com for $10. If you are a new user, you’ll also get $3 credit instantly when signing up, but you can’t use it on this offer. Overstock.com has free shipping as well until 12/25/2011. Limit 1 per person. I think I bought some nice bed sheets from them at a good price a while back.
Posted in Deals & Offers | No Comments »
Monday, November 28th, 2011
Gift cards. Even though they are far from perfect – let’s face it, there’s a reason they have become so popular. They are convenient to buy, require minimal decision-making, and you get to spend exactly what you budgeted. While you may fall back upon a gift card, that doesn’t mean you have to spend full price on them!
Grocery Stores
You can now find gift cards from every store imaginable at your neighborhood supermarket, and certain credit cards give increased rewards at grocery stores. Specifically, I have in mind the Blue Cash Preferred from American Express which offers 6% cash back on purchases at supermarkets, 3% cash back on gas and department store purchases, and 1% cash back on everything else. In addition, there is a $100 welcome bonus when you spend $500 or more within your first 90 days. The card has a $75 annual fee, but keep in mind that spending $25 a week on groceries, that 6% back will earn enough cash ($78) to pay for the annual fee by itself.
Otherwise, the Blue Cash Everyday card offers 3% back at supermarkets, 2% back at gas stations and department stores, and 1% on everything else with no annual fee.
Also, check for specific deals by your local chain stores. Safeway is popular in my area, and they are offering $10 towards your next purchase if you buy $100 in select gift cards from 11/24-12/6. In addition, through December 10th, Safeway also has 4x gas rewards points on all gift card purchases.
Gift Card Reseller Sites
A secondhand market for gift cards has sprung up on sites like PlasticJungle, Cardpool, GiftCards.com, and GiftCardRescue. You can buy both physical gift cards and electronic gift card codes. You might feel weird about giving a gift card for $48.44 instead of $50, but if you keep looking you can usually find a nice round number. Wrap that “used” gift card in a nice handmade card and envelope, or print electronic codes directly on the card. The good thing about these websites is that the transactions are guaranteed by the site and not some random person. I’ve bought a few cards from Plastic Jungle with no issues, usually Home Depot cards at 7% off.
eBay
The world’s biggest garage sale is another good source of discounted gift cards, although I would stick with sellers with excellent feedback ratings. Even as a former Powerseller, I haven’t been overly impressed with eBay’s customer service of late. Using a bid sniping service if you’re not using Buy It Now. You could even try Craigslist if you’re brave.
eBillme
These guys are trying to be the next PayPal payment service, and part of their business is selling discounted gift cards. However, read their terms and conditions carefully. New users can get 10% off a $100 Amazon gift certificate for a $10 credit, but you need $50 of credit to actually get a check mailed to you. Otherwise, you have buy something using eBillMe as the payment method from a participating merchant (like Sears or Buy.com) and apply that $10 credit to your purchase. Rather convoluted in my opinion, but may work out for you.
Cash Back Shopping Portals
When shopping online in general, there are now a bajillion cashback shopping portals that will get you cash, points, or miles of some kind. I usually prefer cash from eBates ($10 new user bonus), Mr. Rebates ($5 new user bonus), or BigCrumbs. You can use Evreward.com to compare them, however it doesn’t always keep up with the quickly-changing payouts during the holiday season.
Please note that for many merchants, purchases of gift cards are not eligible for cash back. You can always give it a try, but don’t include anything else in your cart because it might negate cash back on the entire purchase. One known exception: American Express Gift Cards. These are pretty close to cash, and BigCrumbs offers 1.6% cash back and there is a promotion code to waive the $3.95 purchase fee.
Posted in Deals & Offers | 8 Comments »
Monday, November 28th, 2011
(Update: This offer has been updated. The 50,000 point bonus is still here, but now there is no foreign transaction feed as well as 5X points per dollar on the first $50,000 spent annually on certain categories (see below for details). The card also includes a 1-year Priority Pass membership, which gives you 2 free lounge access passes. Chase seems to be pretty serious about making this a top tier business card to compete with American Express.z
This card is essentially the small business version of the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card, a consumer card which also offers 50,000 Ultimate Rewards points = $500 cash = $625 in airfare.)
Here’s another bonus worth $500+ for all you freelancers and small business owners out there (even if you don’t even know it). The Chase Ink Bold with Ultimate Rewards is offering 50,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months your account is open.
50,000 points is worth $500 cash (real money, via statement credit or check) or two free airline tickets worth up to $312.50 each ($625 total value). You can buy a more expensive ticket and simply pay the difference. If you prefer, you can also transfer to British Airways, Continental/United Airlines, Hyatt Hotels, Marriott Hotels, and Amtrak. 1 Sapphire point = 1 mile/hotel point for these transfers, so that’s 50,000 miles. There is no annual fee for the first year, $95 after that.
This is at least double their normal offer, and probably in response to the also-juicy AMEX Gold Business 50k offer. Along the same lines, the Chase Ink Bold card is a business charge card where you must pay in full each month after a 30-day grace period with no interest.
You’ll also earn up to 5 points per $1 spent on the first $50,000 spent annually on eligible business purchases:
- Earn a total of 2 points for each $1 of airfare and hotel net purchases made online through the Chase booking tool.
- Earn a total of 2 points for each $1 of net purchases made at merchants that classify themselves the following categories: gas stations, hotels and motels, travel agencies.
- Earn a total of 5 points for each $1 of net purchases made at merchants that classify themselves the following categories: wireless/telecommunications services (excluding equipment such as phones and fax machines), cable and satellite television and radio services, office supply stores and wholesale distributors of office supplies.
- All other purchases will earn 1 point for each $1 of net purchases.
Business Credit Card Eligibility
Many people aren’t aware of the fact that they can apply for business credit cards, even if they are not a corporation or LLC. Why? Because any individual can be a business as well. The business type is called a sole proprietorship. Perhaps you sell items on eBay, Craiglist, or Etsy. Maybe you do some freelancing and/or consulting. You might have gotten a 1099 tax form and filled out a Schedule C. Boom! You’re a sole proprietorship. This is the simplest business entity, but it is fully legit and recognized by the IRS. On a business credit card application, you should use your own legal name as the business name, and your Social Security Number as the Tax ID.
In addition, the card itself is a business card so it won’t show up on your personal credit report. Now, this card will require you to personally guarantee that you’ll pay them back what you charge on the card, which means they’ll check your personal credit score like any other consumer card. However, it won’t affect your credit score otherwise, since it doesn’t change things like your credit limits, average account age, or credit utilization ratio.
Compare with the other $500+ Bonus credit card promotions currently available.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 28 Comments »
Friday, November 25th, 2011
ING Direct has a few Black Friday weekend deals for their Electric Orange checking account, their Kids Savings Account, and their MONEY payment system. This lasts 3 days only, until Sunday at midnight Eastern.
$107 Electric Orange account opening bonus
Open Electric Orange November 25th – 27th and make a total of 5 purchases (either signature or PIN-based) using your Electric Orange Card or Person2Person Payments (or any combination of the two) within 45 days. Your $107 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 50. Bonus only available for new Electric Orange checking. Only one bonus will be provided per household.
$27 Kids Savings Account opening bonus
Open a Kids Savings Account November 25th – 27th and we’ll put a $27 bonus into your new account. Only available when you open a new account with at least one new Customer (either you or the kiddo must be a new Customer to ING DIRECT). $27 bonus starts earning interest upon account opening, and is available for withdrawal after 30 days. There’s no minimum deposit amount required. 0.90% Variable Annual Percentage Yield effective as of 10/21/2011.
$32 MONEY account opening bonus
Open MONEY November 25th – 27th and make 1 Card transaction (either signature, PIN-based or with PayPassTM) using your MONEY Card within 30 days we’ll put a $32 bonus into your new account. (Keep in mind, the teen gets the Card.) Your $32 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 35. There’s no minimum deposit amount required. 0.25% Variable Annual Percentage Yield effective as of 7/13/2011.
Posted in Banking, Deals & Offers | 11 Comments »
Thursday, November 24th, 2011
Rewards credit cards are very popular, with more folks trying to stretch every dollar. Besides, who doesn’t like cash back? The following credit cards offer a hefty 5% back, but only in certain categories that rotate each quarter. Even though this may not seem like much, by keeping track of their promotions and using different cards smartly, I can easily rack up hundreds of dollars in additional rewards per year without otherwise changing my spending habits. None of these have an annual fee.
Here’s an update for the offers during the fourth quarter of 2011. It’s the holiday season, so the focus is on department and electronics stores and dining out. I do like the 5% back on charitable giving from the Chase Freedom below card a lot, I’ll be taking advantage on that for sure on top of the tax deduction! New cardholders can also get up to $200 cash back on only $500 in purchases as a sign-up bonus.
Chase Freedom Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back
Reward categories change quarterly.
From January 1 to March 31, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:
You must enroll each quarter at ChaseBonus.com, but it’s very quick. All other purchases earn 1% back, with no tiers or expiration of rewards. Currently, the Chase Freedom Visa – $200 Bonus Cash Back has a promotion offering a $200 bonus cashback if you sign up and make just $500 in purchases in your first three months.
Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back
Reward categories change quarterly. From October 1st to December 31st, you can earn 5% cash back on
- Department Stores
- Clothing Stores
- Electronics Stores
- Toy Stores
After you get your card, you must enroll by logging into your account online or calling 1-800-231-0891. There is no cap on the 5% back, except for the $300 overall cap on all dividend rewards annually. All other purchases do earn a standard 1% with no tiers, and rewards do not expire as long as you have activity once every 12 months. Currently, the Citi® Dividend Platinum Select® Visa® Card – $100 Cash Back card has a promotion offering a $100 bonus cashback if you sign up and make just $500 in purchases in your first three months.
The Discover More Card
Reward categories change quarterly. From January 1 to March 31, you can earn 5% cash back on up to $1,500 spent in the following categories:
- Gas Stations
- Museums
- Movies
You must enroll online to activate the rewards each quarter. Discover card has a tiered cashback rate on other purchases (1% unlimited Cashback Bonus on purchases after your total annual purchases exceed $3000; purchases that are part of your first $3000 earn .25%.).
There are a few different offers available right now with the Discover More card. For the holidays, the Discover More Card Limited Time Holiday Offer has a $150 Cashback Bonus when you spend $1,000 in the first 90 days. See the offer tab on the application page.
PenFed Platinum Cashback Rewards Card
Bonus categories appear and change regularly for this card, but currently I don’t see anything available. However, the best feature remains – the year-round rewards structure of 5% cash back on gas purchases paid at pump), and 1% cash back on everything else. Rewards are credited monthly on your next statement.
Note: To get this card, you must also have membership to the Pentagon Federal Credit Union (you can apply for both at the same time). In general, membership is open to the military, US government employees, or the family or household of existing members. However, anyone can become eligible by joining the Voices for America’s Troops for a $15 one-time fee or by being a Red Cross donor.
Posted in Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 8 Comments »
