ETrade Complete Savings Up To 3.30%

ETrader raised their interest rates on their complete savings account from 3.15% to 3.30% yesterday. This isn’t a huge increase, but it is good to see an upward trend in interest rates on high yield savings and checking accounts

I currently use this account for my emergency fund. I recommend it to those of you that need a place to store some cash at a good interest rate. The account links to your checking accounts via ACH and it is very easy to move money back and forth.

You can still get a $25 bonus for openening the account with one dollar. See my bonus post for details.

Xbox 360 Price Cut

If you are like me and are waiting for the Xbox 360 to approach a more reasonable price before you buy, July 6th might be a good day for you.

According to this photo that was released, K-Mart already is starting to advertise the price drop. The photo, of a K-Mart newspaper circular, shows the Xbox 360 20GB console with a $299.99 price. That is a $50 drop of the current price of $349.99 for that console.

The thought is that they will be dropping the price of the Arcade and Elite consoles, but nothing has been seen in the wild yet.

Is $50 enought to get me to buy? Not sure yet, but after hearing about the new Deadliest Catch Xbox 360 Game, I may have to do it!

IRS Mileage Rates Going Up

With the freakish increase in gas prices, it only makes sense that the IRS gets moving and ups irs mileage allowance

They are increasing the irs mileage rate from 50.5 cents per mile to 58.5 cents per mile. The increased irs mileage rates covers miles driven from July 1, 2008, through Dec. 31, 2008. That looks to be a 16% increase. And gas prices have increased over 50%, what a great deal! Yes that is sarcasm you are reading. This just looks to be one more way that we have to carry cost increases on our shoulder while the government provides little help.

Obviously the Mileage Reimbursement is only for people that drive for work or use their vehicle for things other than personal driving, but please make a note of it since you can be losing out on a couple of bucks if you are still expenseing at the 50.5 cents rate.

And due to the great idea to have a .005 on milage, make sure you always drive an even number of miles to get that extra .005 back! These days, you should take everything you can get!

Get Paid By Yahoo User Research

Yahoo User Research is calling for people to sign up and help them out with some research projects.

It looks as if Yahoo is working to make its sites and search engine more user friendly and as a result will attract more users. To do this they are looking for feedback from people like you.

According to the Sign Up Page they will be paying out $75 or more depending on the project that you participate in.

Yahoo will choose you for a project based on the criteria for the research project, so it is possible that you can apply but not be selected.

Here are a list of rates based on the project:

Not a bad way to make some extra cash for a few hours. Plus you get to help shape the new future of Yahoo! if you like that sort of thing.

High Yield Checking Accounts

In hopes of getting people to add more money in their accounts, you are seeing an increasing trend of local banks creating High Yield Checking Accounts, also referred to as Reward Checking Accounts.

A High Yield Checking Account is pretty much the same as a regular checking account, but it tends to offer a very high interest rate if you meet certain criteria each month.

For example, I currently have a High Yield Checking Account with my local bank. I am earning 5% interest on my balance (up to $100,000) if I do the following every month:

• Use my debit card for 10 purchases (not ATM withdrawals)
• Have at least 1 direct deposit
• Receive my statement electronically

If I don’t meet those requirements the APY becomes .05%. So you can see that it is important that each month I don’t miss out on the 5%.

Since I have direct deposit of my paycheck and get my statement via their online banking interface. The only real challenge for me to meet the requirements is the 10 debit card purchases a month. There are many ways to do this easily, such as pay your cell phone bill online 10 times for small amounts. By 10 $.99 MP3’s from Itunes or Amazon.com

The thought behind all of this is that it is cheaper for the banks if you use your debit card rather then checks. You can still use checks but I think they think they you will tend to use the debit card more once you get used to it. It also saves the banks quite a bit by not having to mail out statements to everyone as well.

Since I opened this account, I don’t even use my savings account anymore since 5% APY is higher than any savings account that I can find. Most large banks like Chase, Bank of America, etc do not offer these. They still trap you in with the $50 bonuses then just give you < 1% on your money. If you are interested, check with the small local banks in your area, these accounts are popping up all over and you are bound to find one.

Here is a good resource for a list of banks that offer High Yield Checking Accounts. It is a little out of date so you may need to call the bank to get the full details.

Make Money With the US Mint

The US Mint has begun circulating the new John Quincy Adams dollar coins. The coins are being sold at face value and are shipped for free.

There are a few ways to make a few bucks here. One way is that you can use a credit card with a zero percent APR for purchases to buy the coins. Then payoff the balance when the balance transfer is due. So you would have the coins in your possesion and have not had to pay for them yet and any interest you have earned is a bonus. Or you could use a rewards credit card to purchase the coins to get the reward specific to your card.

The $1 coins, wrapped in rolls of 25, are available in quantities of $250 (1 box) or $500 (2 boxes). Each order is limited to $500, but there is no where that says you can’t place multiple orders. Your credit card rewards or interest deferral can add up if you were to place many orders. Just remember you are gonna have tons of $1 coins. But hey, it is still real money.

Link To US Mint Ordering Page

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