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2010 Brokerage Promotions

BudgetBoy — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:20:23 +0000

Now that the new year has begun a lot of new brokerage promotions have popped up to get people to open a new account. The Dow Jones is hovering around 10,000 so we are still a little off of the high from 2 years ago. If you have some extra cash to invest, now is the time to get it working for you.

Here are some of the current brokerage promotions that offer some kind of cash bonus or free trades:

OptionsXpress Promo- OptionsXpress is offering a $100 bonus when you open a new account with them. (See post for more details)
Tradeking Promo- Get $100 when referring a friend to Tradeking. There is no limit to how many $100 referral bonuses you can get (see post for more details)
Optionshouse Promo- Get 100 free trades when you open a new account, with $2.95 flat rate stock trade commisions. They have one of the lowest stock trading commissions out there. (see post for more details)
ETrade IRA Promo- Open an ETrade IRA and get 100 free trades. (See post for more details). Open that 2009 IRA by April 15th, 2010.
Zecco Promo- Zeccobrokerage gives you Get 10 free stock trades every monthif you $25,000 balance or make 25 paid trades each month. Otherwise the commission is only $4.50 / trade which is one of the lowest out there. (See more details here)
Firstrade Promo- Firstrade is giving away 5 free trade when you open a new account. (See post for more details). Firstrade offers a low $6.95 commission per trade.

If you know of any others, please add them in the comments and I will add to this post.

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Fidelity.com Cuts Trading Commissions To $7.95

BudgetBoy — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 18:29:49 +0000

That picture says it all. Starting February 3rd, Fidelity.com has slashed their trading rates down to $7.95 for stock and options trades. Prior to this you fell either into the Silver, Bronze or Gold groups based on trading history and dollars on deposit with them, and even in that case the best tier received trades for $9.95.

This is huge when you compare them to other full service brokers. And even better when you line them up against discount brokers. I imagine that this will help Fidelity pull in a large amount of new clients. I have a Fidelity account but didn’t use them much for trading since I was in the $14.95 / trade tier. And with my measly little investments, a $28 charge to buy and sell one commodity was really cutting into my bottom line. Their new pricing cuts that in half.

Sure you can still pay less at some other discount brokers such as Optionshouse.com where it is only $2.95 / trade, but when you look at all the features Fidelity has, it is going to be a tough matchup. Look for new brokerage account bonuses to pop up all over the place to keep Fidelity from stealing their potential customers.

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Incredible Bank 2.02% High Yield Checking Account

BudgetBoy — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:56:34 +0000

Incredible Bank, a division of River Valley Bank, is offering a high yield checking account with a pretty decent 2.02% APY for balances up to $250,000.

There are no minimum balances required to earn the 2.02% APY, but they do require that you open your account with a minimum of $1000.

This account is set up as an electronic checking accounts similiar to ING’s Electric Orange Account where you do not receive paper checks. All payments can be done with their free online bill pay. A paper check is generated to anyone that cannot receive electronic payments, but there is no check book issued to you. It all has to be done online.

When you open an account you will receive an ATM card. Incredible Bank also rebates you the ATM surchages on the firs 3 ATM usages per day.This is pretty good since I don’t use the ATM more than 3 times a week!

They also have an ACH feature where you can link other accounts to them so you can transfer money in and out of your high yield checking account. From what I have read their transfers only take 1 day, which is extremely fast compared to other online banks. Incredible Bank, a division of River Valley Bank based in Michigan has been FCID insured since 1967. (FDIC Certificate # 19772)

If you can handle not having a paper check book, this account is a pretty good deal. Most high yield checking accounts force you to use your debit card so many times a month to qualify for the high interest and ATM rebates, but here you get it all for free. There is some speculation that this is a teaser rate which they will lower once enough people sign up. Their website does not refer to the 2.02% as anything other than their current fixed rate, but you may want to keep that in mind before you decide to jump on board.

Check out IncredibleBank.com for more details on the account.

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Hooked on Cheap Costco Gas

BudgetBoy — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:19:12 +0000

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!

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Free HTC Drois Eris Cell Phone From Wirefly.com

BudgetBoy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:18:42 +0000

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.

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Sharebuilder IRA Promo – Free Trades For All Of 2010

BudgetBoy — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 11:03:07 +0000

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

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$50 Bonus When Opening ING Electric Orange Checking Account

BudgetBoy — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 11:23:50 +0000

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.

Link to Application Page

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New Online Checking Account from Ally Bank

BudgetBoy — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:45:52 +0000

Ally Bank, which has always been known for their best savings account, has a new online 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 1.15% APY. (Rate as of 02/04/2010) 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 Ally.com for more details.

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State Farm To Offer Free TurboTax for 2009 Taxes

BudgetBoy — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:49:49 +0000

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.

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20% Cashback on Pampers from Bing Cashback

BudgetBoy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:00:57 +0000

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.

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