SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE LATEST POSTS VIA EMAIL!Hooked on Cheap Costco Gas
January 25, 2010
Has anyone noticed that Costco gas prices still seem to be lower then most everywhere else? Well maybe it is only in my area, but their gas prices are around $.15 less than the other big franchises and about $.07 less then Sam’s Club. I have now conditioned the wife that she is no longer allowed to buy gas anywhere else!
You say that a $.10 difference doesn’t mean anything? Well say your car takes 20 gallons. That is a $2.00 difference and carry that over 10 fillups, that is a $20 savings. Add in the 3% savings you get when using the Costco American Express Card ($25 Bonus when signing up) and you can really see the money you save add up.
It’s funny, we have had a Costco card for a few years now, and we really only shop there for things like paper towel and toilet paper since they are things we can buy in bulk that can last forever. The lion share of the Costco Amex Card use is for the gas.
I still get a lot of crap from people telling me that cheap gas at places like Costco can ruin your engine. Well let me say that if that was the case there wouldn’t be a line of 40 cars there everytime I go to fill up. Remeber that there are only a select number of refineries out there. All the gas comes from one of them and certain companies add things like additives and detergents which they say helps your engine, but also increases the price.
Right now gas purchases are one of our biggest expenses in my household so anything we can do to lower it is huge for us and right now Costco helps us with that!
Free HTC Drois Eris Cell Phone From Wirefly.com
January 22, 2010
Until midnight on Sunday you can score a free HTC Drois Eris from Wirefily.com when you sign up for a new Verizon Wireless account. This offer is also available to those that have Verizon that upgrade to a Family Plan or Add a New line to their account with a 2-year agreement.
Considering that the Droid will cost you $80 after rebate going through VerizonWirless.com this seems to be a pretty good deal if you are in the market for a smartphone. The HTC Driod Eris phone runs Google’s new Android operating system. You also have access to the Andriod Applications store where you can purchase new apps for the phone.
Get more details on the Free Motorola Droid here.
Sharebuilder IRA Promo – Free Trades For All Of 2010
January 22, 2010
If you are looking to move that old 401k to an IRA, you may think about moving it to a Sharebuilder IRA as they are offering free trades for all of 2010. They are offering 1500 automatic investment plan credits if you open a new IRA before tax day (4/15/10) this year.
Sharebuilder, which is owned by ING Direct, allows you to invest on a regular investment schedule. They offer over 7,000 stocks and ETF’s. It is also important to know that not all stocks can be purchased through them, but they do off the most of the common ones. Every Tuesday your trades are executed and they need to be set by 5PM Eastern the previous day.
I have used Sharebuilder before as a regular brokerage account, however I have never had an IRA with them. This is a pretty good deal if you are thinking about focusing a little bit on your retirement as avoiding stock trading commissions just helps your investments grow that much faster. Another nice feature about Sharebuilder is that you can easily transfer money through their ACH feature, but even better, if you have an ING Direct Savings or Checking account the money moves the same day, so it is very easy to move money in and get trading.
Details:
- Open a Sharebuilder IRA by 4/15/10 to receive 1,500 Automatic Investment Plan credits.
- The trade credits will be posted to your account the next business day and will expire on 12/31/10
- AIP credits for mutual fund purchases apply only after the minimum investment has been met
- This offer applies to Individual Retirement Accounts only
$50 Bonus When Opening ING Electric Orange Checking Account
January 20, 2010
ING is giving out a $50 bonus when you open a new Electric Orange Checking Account and making 3 signature based purchases with your debit card in the first 45 days of opening the account. Note that signature based purchases are not the same as when you enter your PIN during a transaction. In most cases you just treat this as a credit card and swipe and sign.
Open an Electric Orange high-yield checking account and enter the code EM423 into the Reference Code box in the application.
After applying you will receive an Electric Orange MasterCard Debit Card. Activate it and use it for 3 signature-based purchases within the first 45 of opening your account.
Your $50 bonus will be deposited into your checking account 50 days after you have completed your 3 purchases.
I can’t seem to find an expiration date on this offer, so get in while you still can as they just tend to disappear after a while.
New Online Checking Account from Ally Bank
January 16, 2010
Ally Bank, which has always been known for their best savings account, has a new Ally Bank Interest Checking Account which offers unlimited ATM rebates. So not only do you not get charged by Ally bank when using an ATM, but Ally also rebates you the fees charged by the ATM.
In addition to the free ATM usage, you get free checks and unlimited check writing. The interest rate is dependant on the amount of money you have on deposit, for balances less than $15,000 you will earn .05% APY and for balances $15,000 and greater you will earn 1.05% APY. (Rate as of 03/19/2010) The account also offers free Online banking and Bill Pay as well as free overdraft protection. Ally Bank has an ACH feature where you can transfer money in and out of your linked accounts for free and you can also set up direct deposit if this is going to be your main checking account.
All of this with absolutely no fees or minimum balances. This isn’t even an Ally Bank Promo! The ATM rebates alone can save you quite a bit of money if you tend to use ATM’s often throughout the month. For those of you that are sick and tired of being gouged by fees from other banks and the dismal interest rates that they offer, this is definitely an account that can help you save.
Check out the Ally Bank Interest Checking Account page for more details.
State Farm To Offer Free TurboTax for 2009 Taxes
January 13, 2010
As it has done for the past 2 years, State Farm is giving away Intuit’s Online TurboTax Free to its customers. Like last year, must have a banking product with them such as a credit card or checking/savings account. Just having insurance isn’t good enough to have access to the free Turbo Tax.
They are giving you free access to TurboTax Basic and Deluxe along with free eFilie. If you need to use the Premeri of Home & Business version you must pay $20 and $40 respectively.
To get access to the free versions, you need to log into your StateFarm.com account. Once you are on your account summary page, you should see the following icon below:
Click on it and it will then take you to the TurboTax.com home page.
Since the discount is based on the URL that you use to get to TurboTax.com I beleive you only need to click on that link the day you are actually filing, but to be sure, I reccomend you go through the State Farm link each time you need to access your returns just in case.
Since I have a State Farm Visa card, I qualify for this. I really think this is a nice perk since filing my taxes would have cost around $45 normally, so this can be considered a State Farm Visa Bonus that keeps giving every year!!
If you are not a State Farm customer, check out TurboTax.com to file your taxes as their prices are still very reasonable.
