SIGN UP TO RECEIVE THE LATEST POSTS VIA EMAIL!Discover Bank High Yield Savings
April 28, 2010
One account that tends to go unnoticed these days is the High Yield Savings Account from Discover Bank. The yield, currently 1.35% is higher than that of INGDirect’s Orange Savings and Ally Bank’s High Yield Savings account. To receive that high rate, you need a minimum balance of $500 in the account.
Discover Bank is the same institution that issues the Discover credit card, so they have been around for a while. In addition, they are FDIC insured up to $250,000 per account.
One interesting thing about Discover Bank is that you rarely see advertisements like the other banks. I am not quite sure why with such a high rate you think that they would steal away the competition. The High Yield Savings Account also has been been the Bankrate.com Top Tier Winner for consistently high yields.
There is an ETF feature that lets you move money in and out of the account to a linked checking account that you set up. There is also live 24/7 customer service in case you need to call them for any reason.
If you are looking for a safe bank with a high rate and great customer service, you should take a look at the High Yield Savings Account from Discover Bank.
Another Woot Off Going On Now
February 25, 2010
Woot.com is having another of its Woot Offs right now. It started around midnight central time and will go until they run out of stuff. If you are unfamiliar with Woot.com, they are a site that offers items at a discount. Usually only one item is listed per day starting at 12am Central Time and is listed until it is sold out or 11:59PM Central Time.
A Woot Off, which happens rarely, is a number of products that are for sale on a particular day or successive days. One product follows another as soon as it has been sold out. The number of Woot-Off items, sequence, and quantity will not be announced so an item could take a while to sell out or sell out immediately. Don’t miss a chance to score some items at a steal if you have some money to blow! But remember, that I prefer you really think about saving it. 
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!
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.
20% Cashback on Pampers from Bing Cashback
January 11, 2010
I noticed another nice little cash back bonus for you parents out there. Is you use Bing cashback and purchase Pampers from Drugstore.com, you will get a 20% cashback bonus. For those of you that are unfamiliar with Bing cashback, it is a way to earn cashback on your online purchases using Microsoft’s Bing Search engine. There is nothing special to do other than sign up for free then start shopping. If you don’t already have an account of want more info, check out the Bing cashback site.
In addition to the 20% cashback, If you purchase $50 worth of Pampers your order will ship for free. This shipping credit is automatic once your shopping cart hits more than $50 before taxes. You don’t have to spend $50, but hey you know you are going to use those diapers anyway, so why not get them delivered for free!
Steps to get 20% cash back on Pampers Diapers:
- Go to www.bing.com
- type “pampers” (without quotes) into the search box and hit enter or click the search icom
- The first result should say “Buy Pampers Diapers & Get 20% Cashback” (If it isn’t try hitting the search button again until it appears)
- Click on the “Bing cashback” link. This will take you directly to Drugstore.com’s Pampers Diapers page. Add items to your cart and check out.
That is it. It’s that easy. Your 20% should be credited back to your Bing cashback account within 3 days.
For all of you wondering how great a deal this is, lets do an example. My child wears Pamper’s Cruisers Size 4. I purchased 2 boxes from Drugstore.com to get the free shipping. Here is the breakdown:
- Cruisers 4 Jumbo – 27 count
- Cruisers 4 Exonomy Plus – 140 count
The total: $54.98 – 20% cashback = $43.99 for 167 Diapers = $.26 per diaper (note this is the cost of the diapers only, no sales tax or shipping, since there insn’t any!)
Those same 2 boxes on Amazon.com would cost you $53.88 which works out to .32 per diaper (Amazon.com also has free shipping and no sales tax). So you can see that there is some savings here, now compare to your local supermarket or Walgreens and then count salex tax, and I guarantee this is the best deal on diapers around right now.
I am stocking up since I have no idea how long the 20% casback will be around.
$64.62 LendingClub Bonus
December 9, 2009
If you are looking to start getting into the P2P (person to person) lending game, LendingClub is offering a $64.62 bonus when you open a new account and start investing. They came up with that amount since they say that banks made $6.462 billion last quarter, so they are offering you a piece of that.
If you have read my previous posts I have been burned doing p2p loans through Prosper.com.
LendingClub has always prided themselves in having a stronger review process. I have a few loans with LendingClub and believe it or not they are all current with no charge offs. I am currently earning a 9.86% return from what they tell me, which if those loans stay current isn’t that bad considering how low interest rates are. I have been debating throwing a little more money into LendingClub but Prosper has left such a bad taste in my mouth I am still on the fence.
Regardless, just remember that if you start p2p lending you are doing so at your own risk. I imagine now that the economy is turing around a bit the chance of defaults is probably much lower than what I went through.
To qualify for the $64.62 you need to open a new account through this promotion link and link a bank account. Once that is complete the bonus will be deposited into your account. You must invest that bonus into lending club loans and cannot withdraw it.
Unfortunetly the link they gave me doesn’t talk about the bonus, but here is the small print I was sent:
** The special referral bonus program begins December 3, 2009. Referrals must use your special link between 12.03.09 and 12.31.09 at midnight in order to qualify for the $64.62 bonus. The referral must complete registration as a Lending Club investor and link a bank account in order to receive the bonus funds. Bonus funds may not be withdrawn and must be invested in Lending Club notes. Funds received may be taxable, please consult with your tax advisor. Recipient is responsible for all taxes, if any, due.
And here is a screenshot of the promo info when I log into my account. Click on it for a larger photo…
