ZipCar is a membership-based car-sharing company that lets you rent cars by the hour (gas + insurance included) in many metro areas and college campuses. It can be good deal for those thinking about having one less car in your household (or who don’t have a car but occasionally want one). Right now, you can get $25 in free driving credit when you join. You’ll need a driver’s license and credit card. Plan prices vary by location.

If you don’t drive your car very much, adding up the total cost of depreciation + car insurance + maintenance + parking + gas can actually make ZipCar a much cheaper alternative (ZipCar savings calculator). Also, we were selling an old bookshelf on Craiglist once and the buyer rented a Honda Odyssey via Zipcar to pick it up.

Here are a few short surveys that offer some free Priority Club hotel rewards points. They may not all work for everyone, but if they do work the points will post instantly to your account. You’ll need to provide your Priority Club number and last name.

Survey #1 (100 points)
Answers: 15, AOTA, Silver

Survey #2 (100 points)
Answers: AOTA, Anytime, AOTA

Survey #3 (300 points)
Answers: AOTA, AOTA, AOTA, 4,300+, and 50/60,000

Link a Visa card with United Mobile Offers and you’ll get 500 free United miles. You’ll need to receive a few text messages (max of 3 per week ongoing) and the 500 miles posts in 4-6 weeks. I have no idea if these special offers will be any good, I hope at least in the beginning they have some good ones. You can cancel the service at any time, but I’d wait until after the miles post.

Any ole’ Visa card works, but I’m sure they would love for you to link up their new Chase United MileagePlus Explorer Visa card targeted at regular United fliers that offers you 30k bonus points, free checked bags, priority boarding, primary rental car insurance, and more.

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Rewardsgold is offering a free 2-year subscription to SmartMoney magazine for a limited time. You have to fill out a brief one-page survey as well as “tell” two friends about the offer. Your friends don’t actually have to sign up for the offer or actually do anything at all. No credit card required. Arrives in 8-10 weeks.

These free subscription promos are usually done to boost subscriber counts for the magazines so they can sell more ads, and most times actually do arrive in my experience.

Citi is trying to learn more about the needs of small business owners and believes that many MyMoneyBlog.com readers might fit their desired profile. They are looking for primary banking decision-makers of small businesses (titles will include but not limited to: owner, principal, partner, CFO) to join the Business Advisory Board for Citibank.

In the Business Advisory Board for Citibank, an online community created by Citibank, you will have the rare opportunity to “Learn, Do, and Connect” with other business owners and decision-makers who share your goals and challenges, as well as get an advance look into and impact the creation of new products and services aimed at businesses like yours, as well as the chance to impact the development process.

Community members will receive a $10 welcome gift as well as around $20/month for participating an average of 5-15 minutes per week at a time of your convenience. The sign-up period and the spots are limited (update 5/30 still live), so please apply promptly below if interested.

Citibank Business Advisory Board application page

Here’s another potentially useful bookmark. MySettlementClaims.com is a database of class action settlements so that you can quickly determine if you’re are eligible for a claim. It appears to be run privately by an individual, so I don’t know how extensive or well-updated it will be in the future, but for now it does include a lot of settlements that I wasn’t aware of. AT&T DSL, Apple iTunes gift cards, Skechers shoes, Vita Coco water, etc. In the end, you’re given the link to the appropriate official claim form.

It reminds me of sites that help you find unclaimed money, which I never really trusted until it actually worked for me. There are still many scammy unclaimed money sites, though, so I’d never pay money for any such services.

Update: There is now an official website at grouponvouchersettlement.com. The court hasn’t approved an official settlement breakdown yet, the claim form is available to submit by e-mail.

What, Groupon already has a class action settlement? Yup. Bloomberg reports that Groupon has agreed to pay $8.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the expiration dates on its coupons are illegal. Part of the lawsuit alleged that Groupon should be treated like gift cards, which in many states are not allowed to expire. However, like with most settlements, Groupon denies that and doesn’t admit any fault, yada, yada.
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Food on the Table is a meal planning service that tries to link the foods on sale at your local grocery store with recipe ideas to help you plan your shopping and cooking. They have a free trial, but right now if you sign up with promo code MAYFREE you’ll get their “premium” service free for life. There is a free iPhone/Android companion app so you’ll have a shopping list while you’re in the store. The main complaint seems to be that some stores aren’t covered, but my local Safeway store was. The site seems like a work in progress, but it’s an interesting idea.