RedBox Instant by Verizon Free Trial Sign-Up

Posted on August 15, 2013 // 5 Comments

(Updated: Added details about newly-available Roku app.)

Redbox, famous for their $1 DVD rental kiosks ($1.20 now), recently launched a movie streaming service called RedBox Instant by Verizon. We like their kiosks and the fact that you can browse DVDs first and reserve them online before going to pick them up. There is currently a 1-month free trial that includes 4 free DVD rentals, so we paused our Netflix subscription (easy to pause, skip a month or more, and reactivate later) and signed up to try it out.

Redbox Movie Streaming Review

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Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living //

Rewards Program Lessons from Perkstreet Financial Shutdown

Posted on August 13, 2013 // 14 Comments

Perkstreet Financial started in 2010 as a plucky internet bank start-up that told us credit cards were dangerous and unethical, and you should use a trusty debit card instead. They offered attractive features like 2% cash back on all purchases and 5% cash back on special categories. But then new laws were enacted that limited debit card merchant fees, and Perkstreet took a hit to their main revenue source. On August 12th, they announced that they were shutting down. Oh, and all that cash back “Perks” that their customers earned? Gone with zero prior notice. *Poof*

Consistent with the terms of our Rewards Program Agreement, we have discontinued our perks program and cancelled all perks balances as of today, August 12, 2013.

Consistent with what terms? Wait, I thought you said you were trustworthy? They meant this part:

The Rewards Program and its benefits are offered at our sole discretion. We reserve the right to cancel, terminate, change or temporarily suspend the Rewards Program and to amend this agreement at any time without notice.

Translation: We can do whatever the %(#& we want. But you can’t.

I never had an account with Perkstreet and didn’t lose anything, but many people did. This is a good opportunity to talk about rewards programs in general. Some thoughts:

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Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Amazon Student $10 Referral Credit Promotion

Posted on August 7, 2013 // 1 Comment

Back to School time is here again, and Amazon has a promotion where you get can $10 free credit for each new Amazon Student member that you refer to sign up. If you’ve got some social media influence in college or just met 100 new friends in your dorm, this would be a pretty easy way to rack up some pizza money as it’s completely free to sign up and you get 6 months of free Amazon Prime 2-day shipping. “All Amazon customers can invite friends to join Amazon Student via email, Facebook post or by sharing a personal invitation link on social media sites.”

Students are verified by providing a working .edu e-mail address, although you can use another e-mail for your account. After the first 6 months, new sign-ups can continue Amazon Student at 50% off ($49 a year) and keep the 2-day free shipping as well as get access to the Amazon Prime streaming movie and TV library, as well as the Amazon Prime Kindle free borrowing service. You have to provide a credit card for the trial I believe, but you can cancel at any time, even immediately and you can still keep the free 6 months and it’ll just stop when time is up without charging your card.

Fine print:

Residents of AR, MN, NC, and RI are ineligible to receive Student referral credit. Credits may take 7 days or longer to appear in your account after new member signup. Credits expire one year from date of issuance, are one-time use, are non-refundable, and can be redeemed only on items sold by Amazon on www.amazon.com.

Sign up for Amazon Student here. Get your own referral links here.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Capital One Quicksilver Cash Rewards Card Review – Simple 1.5% Cash Back

Posted on August 4, 2013 // 16 Comments

card_name

The card_name is a cash back credit card that earns unlimited 1.5% cash back on all purchases.

  • $200 Cash Back after you spend $500 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. For a limited time, also enjoy a $100 credit to use towards flights, stays and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel during your first cardholder year.
  • Earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase, every day
  • 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months; reg_apr,reg_apr_type APR after that; balance transfer fee applies
  • $0 annual fee and no foreign transaction fees.
  • Earn unlimited 5% cash back on hotels, vacation rentals and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.
  • No rotating categories or sign-ups needed to earn cash rewards; plus, cash back won’t expire for the life of the account and there’s no limit to how much you can earn

Bottom line. The card_name is all about simple cash rewards with no gimmicks. No points, no miles, no travel credit, no rotating categories. No annual fee. You can cash out for any amount, at any time. Your rewards never expire and you can redeem for straight cash via check or statement credit.

Filed Under: Credit Cards, Deals & Offers //

Satellite TV Retention Department Employee On Haggling Discounts

Posted on August 1, 2013 // 13 Comments

One of my more popular posts is about Haggling To Lower Your Cable or Direct TV Satellite Bill. Looking at the stats, I would confidently estimate that hundreds of people have saved hundreds of dollars each after reading it and taking some action. Today, a call center worker in the Retention Department of a satellite TV company (Dish? DirecTV?) left some interesting thoughts that I didn’t want to get lost in the 135+ comments. I’ve quoted it below, unedited except for a few spaces to break things up.

I work for a satellite company, I wont say which one. and might I just say that if you are going to call in and do all this just to get money off of your bill at least be up front about it. The worst is when people call in and try to give some sob story about not being able to afford it when they have like the highest package but wont go down to a more affordable one. We have done this long enough to know who is “blowing smoke” so if you want the best deal just be nice (we in the retention department deal with mostly escalated situations as well as customer retention)

If you call in and just say “hey, I know you guys have a lot of good deals going on for different customers, is there anything you can do for me” I PROMISE You you will get the best deal.

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Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Free eBook on Small Business Tax Deductions (Expired)

Posted on July 24, 2013 // 6 Comments

(Update: Free promo is expired, it’s back at $9.99.) Just a quick note that there is a Kindle eBook about tax deductions for small businesses, including self-employed people, that is currently free called Small Business Tax Deduction Secrets by Stephen Nelson, CPA. The author participates in the Bogleheads investment forum under the username SeattleCPA.

I downloaded and skimmed the book briefly, and it does have helpful information for those looking to maximize qualified business expenses and deductions (as you should!). Free for a limited time, so as usual my advice is download now and read later! You can download software to read Kindle books on PC, Mac, smartphones, and tablets.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Optimize Your Cell Phone Plan: The Wireless Efficient Frontier

Posted on July 17, 2013 // 30 Comments

The other day while I was trying to help someone find a cheaper cell phone plan, I realized two things:

  1. There are way too many different options these days. Most are MVNOs that buy bulk minutes and data from the major providers, and many of those are simply clones of each other.
  2. Trying to find the best cell phone plan is similar to the efficient frontier concept in investing. There, you try to achieve the highest return for a given amount of risk, or you try to minimize the risk you have to take in order to get a given return. Anything else is sub-optimal; here’s a quick chart illustration.

In the case of cell phone plans, you’re either trying to maximize features (coverage, phone selection, minutes, texts, data allowance) for a given budget, or more often you’re trying to minimize the cost for the features that you “need”/want.

I’ve mentioned several good deals from various providers, covering everything from a $2.50 a month basic plan to simply saving $10 a month on your “name brand” major provider plan via corporate or student discounts. Below, I’ve placed them all on a single chart of cost vs. features. This is a work-in-progress, but hopefully this will help folks find better alternatives and save some serious money over time.

The Details

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Filed Under: Deals & Offers, Frugal Living //

Apple App Store: 5 Top Paid Apps & Games For Free

Posted on July 8, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Apple is celebrating the 5th anniversary of Apple’s App Store by making 5 top apps and 5 top games free for a limited time. Some other developers have also made their apps free as well. here is the official iTunes page, and below are some direct download links as well. I’m not sure if they will rotate these out. I went ahead and downloaded a few now to try out later.

Apps

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Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Capital One 360 Financial Independence Day Promo 2013

Posted on July 2, 2013 // 5 Comments

Update – This promotion is now EXPIRED

Capital One Consumer Bank has their annual Financial Independence Day promotion which boosts the usual bonus for their Consumer Bank Savings and 360 Checking accounts. (Artist formerly known as ING Direct.) Offers good until Wednesday, July 3rd 11:59PM ET.

Consumer Bank Savings $76 Bonus

  • Open a no-fee 360 Savings account between July 1st and 3rd ($500 minimum deposit) and snag $76.
  • This has to be your first Consumer Bank Savings account (includes Orange Savings Account).
  • The bonus starts earning interest on day 1, but you can’t take it out for at least 30 days.
  • 0.75% variable Annual Percentage Yield (APY) effective 6/30/2013.
  • For more, check out my Capital One 360 Savings Account Review.

Consumer Bank Checking $100 Bonus

  • Open a fee-free 360 Checking account between July 1st and 3rd (with a deposit of $500 or more) and grab $100.
  • This has to be your first Consumer Bank Checking account.
  • Make a total of 5 purchases (either signature of PIN-based) using your 360 Checking Debit Card, make 5 CheckMate deposits or any combination of the two within 45 days. Your $100 bonus will be automatically deposited into your account on day 50.
  • Variable APYs effective 6/30/2013: 0.20% Balances under $50,000 / 0.80% Balances between $50,000 and $99,999 / 0.85% $100,000+.
Filed Under: Banking, Deals & Offers //

1,000 Bonus Citi ThankYou Points for Linking to Amazon.com

Posted on June 27, 2013 // 11 Comments

If you have a Citi credit card that earns ThankYou points, you can get a 1,000 free ThankYou points for linking your Citi card with Amazon.com for future redemptions. Simply log into your account at ThankYou.com and go to Overview > My Account > Enter a Promotional Code and type in TYAMCAZON2 into the *bottom* Bonus Registration Code form field. You should see the following text:

Thank you. Your code has been submitted. You are ALMOST DONE! Now just click on “Continue” below (or go to amazon.com/citi) to link your ThankYou® and Amazon.com accounts. Offer expires at 11:59 PM ET on 6/30/2013 or until the first 20,000 members have linked-whichever comes first. Once you link, bonus points will be posted to your ThankYou account by July 10th 2013.

I’ll take the bonus points, but I won’t be using this rewards option as it only yields 0.8 cents per point. See previous post on the Best Value for Citi ThankYou Points Redemptions.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Fandango $6 Movie Tickets, $5 for $10 at Target

Posted on June 27, 2013 // Leave a Comment

Quickly, here are some limited-time Groupon deals:

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //

Home Depot Coupon Code: $10 off $100+ Purchase

Posted on June 17, 2013 // 7 Comments

HomeDepot.com has a coupon code JUNEHD that will take $10 off any purchase of $100 or more. Expires 6/23/13. You can have the item shipped or pick up in-store.

Get another 3% or so rebate via a cashback shopping portal like eBates ($5 new customer bonus), Mr. Rebates ($5 bonus), and BigCrumbs.

Stack the discounts even more with the 5% rotating cash back available currently on home improvement stores from the Citi Dividend and new Discover It card. Or, buy a Home Depot gift card at a grocery store using the Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express which offers 6% cash back at US supermarkets, or buy a Home Depot gift card for 7% off at a secondary market like Raise.com.

Filed Under: Deals & Offers //
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