Jamba Juice Buy One Get One Free Coupon

Jamba Juice just sent me this buy 1 get 1 free coupon. Expires 8/9. Good for those overheating states right now! Yes, it is overpriced fruit.

Bank of America: $25 BillPay Promo For Existing Customers

BofA is also offering a $25 bonus to encourage existing customers to try out Online Billpay. Both personal and business accounts qualify. You have to register beforehand at the promotion page, and then pay 2 bills online within 30 days.

I would try and register anyway, but in the fine print at the bottom of the page, it states that this offer is only available to customers who have not made a bill payment with Bank of America Online Banking within the last 6 months.

Bank of America Promotion Offer Code: $100 Bonus For New Accounts

Saw this on TV. Bank of America is offering a $100 bonus for new checking account customers, both personal and business. A new customer is a “person who is not currently a signer and who was not a signer within the last 6 months on a Bank of America personal or business checking account.” The requirements:

Get $75 when you open a new qualifying personal or business checking account with a $250 deposit and make a purchase with your debit card.

Get an additional $25 when you make 2 online bill payments within 30 days. Business checking customers can pay 2 bills with our Small Business Online Banking Bill Pay service or use the Online Business Suite® Direct Payments service.

Be sure your application includes the promotion offer code WIWGASINT for personal accounts, and SBECASH for business accounts.

Forex.com Account Promotion Code: $200 Bonus

Here’s another potential $200 bonus for placing a trade in newly opened account at Forex.com by July 31st. The application seems to suggest the backend is also run by Gain Financial, same as with Zecco Forex. The promotion code used is CashAd05. The offer appears open to all, as there is a banner linking directly the bonus page from the Forex.com home page.

The cost for a trade can be held under $10 if you simply do a quick buy and sell roundtrip trade. Use the demo program before trading with real money, so that you properly understand the effect of lot sizes and leverage. FX trading can be very tricky. The fine print:

*To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new FOREX.com trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Accounts transferred from other businesses that principally operate as a forex dealer, futures commission merchant, or securities broker-dealer are eligible to receive an additional $50. FOREX.com may request documentation to prove account withdrawal or transfer such as, but not limited to, a copy of your account statement no older than 30 days. Initial deposit can be withdrawn at any point. To withdraw cash bonus, initial deposit must not be withdrawn for a minimum of 90 days from the first trade. FOREX.com reserves the right to deny bonus payment if customer does not meet FOREX.com account opening procedures or the terms and conditions of this offer. FOREX.com reserves the right to determine cases of promotion abuse. Existing FOREX.com customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. This offer is available to self-directed trading accounts only. Managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible. Limit one cash bonus per customer. FOREX.com reserves the right to terminate or modify the terms of this offer at anytime. This offer is non-transferable.

WT Direct Promotion Code, Up To $150 Opening Bonus

The online division of Wilmington Trust Bank, WT Direct, is running another promotion for new customers. You can get up to $150 cash bonus on top of the standard interest rate (currently 1.76% APY) if you open a new account and maintain a certain balance from 7/31 to 10/31. Here are the balances and corresponding bonuses:

The fine print:

This offer is available to new WTDirect clients only. Primary account holder must not have held a WTDirect account in the past 12 months. To receive the bonus, a valid promotion code starting with the letters “WFIT” must be present on the application at the time of account opening. WTDirect account must be funded via electronic (ACH) transfer received by 7/31/09. Account must remain open and in good standing through 10/31/09, the end of the promotion period. There is no minimum balance to open the account but the bonus is determined by the account balance at the time of initial funding, which must be a minimum of $10,000 and must remain on deposit through the end of the promotional period. Bonus will be credited to client’s WTDirect account on or about 11/20/09. WTDirect reserves the right to cancel or modify this promotion at any time without notice.

If you click through the bonus link above, the promotion code of wfitc32_1760738 or similar should already be filled in for you.

The Numbers: 2.75 to 3% APY 3-month CD
How does the bonus work out when converted to an interest rate? To start, you are already getting 1.76% APY, or about 1.75% APR. On $10,000 for 3 months, that’s 10000 x 0.0175/12 x 3 = $43.75 in interest. Since the bonus is $25 for a $10,000 balance, this works out to about 2.75% APY. On a $50,000 balance, the bonus is $150 and works out to nearly 3% APY.

Therefore, you can treat this bonus as a 3-month CD paying 2.75 to 3% APY, which is more than 1% higher than any other available 3-month CD.

Application Process and Setup

I’ve already opened a WTDirect account for a previous bonus, so here a quick summary of what to expect when applying. First, they gather the personal info. Second, they use the now-popular Equifax ID check questions to verify your identity. Third, you can fund electronically with account and routing numbers, although you must come back and verify trial deposits later. Finally, you can electronically sign the application and disclosures. There were no physical forms to send in, although a welcome packet does arrive by mail. They state explicitly that there is no credit check.

As for practical matters, WT Direct’s online transfer system allows unlimited linked banks, and transfers to external accounts are free both in and out with a 2-3 day transfer time.

Zecco Forex Promotion Code: Up to $200 Bonus

Zecco Trading, best known for their free stock trade offers, recently started a Forex platform where you can trade foreign currencies. Since Forex appears to be a zero-sum game (negative if you account for inflation and spread costs), I wasn’t really interested. However, today I received an e-mail that they are giving me a $200 bonus to try it out. Okay, now I’m listening.

You must open a Zecco Forex account, fund the account, and make your first trade by July 31st, 2009. The promotional code given to me was CashAd04. The actual bonus amount depends on how much money you have in the account when you place your first trade:

The fine print:

To qualify for cash bonus, you must open and fund a new Zecco Forex trading account by July 31, 2009. After first trade is initiated, cash bonus will be deposited to your account within 3-5 business days. Bonus amount varies based on amount of deposit according to the following schedule: $200 bonus with deposit of 10,000 or more; $100 bonus with deposit of $2500 -$9999; $75 bonus with deposit of $1001-$2500, $50 bonus with deposit up to $1000. Cash bonus cannot be withdrawn within 90 days of initial funding. Existing Zecco Forex customers who have funded and traded are not eligible to receive this promotion. Self-directed trading accounts only; managed accounts and accounts referred by an Introducing Broker are not eligible to receive this promotion. Limit one cash bonus per customer. This offer is non-transferable.

Credit card funding. An possible extra is that you can fund via a credit card. According to posters in this FW thread, this should show up an a purchase, which means we can get miles or cash back on top of the $200 bonus. There is a $5,000 cap on each credit card funding, but you can perform multiple transactions. However, there is a chance that withdrawals will also be done to a credit card, which would negate any rewards. Worth a shot?

Warning. Forex accounts let you use things like 200x leverage, which means you can both win or lose a lot of money really, really fast. (More likely lose due to spreads.) Don’t place a trade until you know what you’re doing. I’ll post my trades if I do them. So far, I am looking at placing an unleveraged/minimally leveraged trade with a 1-2 pip spread in a Mini account.

Chase Sapphire Preferred 40,000 Point Sign-up Bonus

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is offer 40,000 points after you make $3,000 in purchases in the first 3 months. There is a $95 annual fee, but it is waived for the first year. Thanks to the readers who sent this in. (There is also a regular Chase Sapphire card with no annual fee, that is offering 10,000 points after you only spend $500 in the first 3 months. Don’t get that one.)

What can you do with 40,000 points? You can get a credit towards a travel purchase of $500 (online booking free, but $20 fee via phone), or 40,000 frequent flier miles with a 1.25 miles per dollar point transfer. The exact participating airlines are unknown. Info taken from their benefits guide.

Rewards program quality? At 1 point per $1 spent with no special bonus categories, and only a 20% bonus for $50,000 in annual spending, this card is not worth a $95 annual fee. I’d sign-up, redeem the points for a quick and easy $400, and then cancel the card within the first year.

Instead, get a 1:1 frequent flier point transfer and 1.25 miles per $1 spent with the cheaper Starwood American Express card (which also has their own 25,000 Starpoint sign-up bonus).

“Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the issuer. This site may be compensated through the issuer’s Affiliate Program.  “The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.”

Citi Forward Card Bonus & Rewards Follow-up: 5x Rewards at Restaurants and Amazon.com

Citi Forward CardI promised to follow-up on the features of the Citi Forward® Card after getting mine, and am finally getting around to it. Read on to see how you can get a $100 gift card and also 3.45% cash back with this card at restaurants, Amazon.com, and more.

Sign-Up Bonus

The bonus ThankYou points showed up promptly. The bonus amount changes and is different now than before, so please see their website for the current offer. But I did get them as promised.

5x ThankYou Points

This card works off the same ThankYou points system as many other Citibank cards. 10,000 points = $100 gift card at stores like Sears, Macy’s, Staples, Old Navy, Gap, etc. 10,000 points = $100 towards a student loan or mortgage payment. 14,000 points = $100 prepaid Visa credit card. 14,500 points = $100 statement credit.

What makes this card unique is that you get 5 points for every $1 you spend on restaurants, book stores, video rental stores and movie theaters. On everything else, you get the plain vanilla 1 reward point for every $1 spent. No annual fee.

5x Rewards at Restaurants
Again, at 1 penny per point with gift cards, getting 5x points is like getting 5% back when eating out. Even if you convert to straight cash, that’s still 3.45% cash back at restaurants (5/1.45). Or 3.57% back if you are okay with prepaid Visa card, which I am since they are usable anywhere that takes credit cards.

I have gotten my 5x rewards at fast food restaurants (McDonald’s), chain sit-down restaurants (Chili’s, etc), and also mom-and-pop places.

5x Rewards at Amazon.com
I can also officially confirm that Amazon.com is considered a bookstore. This is true even if your entire purchase (or any of it) did not contain books. I made one purchase with books, and one with only electronics, and got 5x points for both. So you can indeed get 3.45% cash back at Amazon, or 5% back in the form of gift cards.

The 5x points show up separately under the “Bonus Points by Category Earned” on your online statement:

Earnings Screenshot

I can also confirm it works at Regal movie theaters. I have this card stored online at my Amazon account so I don’t forget, and it’s in my wallet marked for restaurants only. Makes it easy to track my dining-out budget!

Discover Miles Card: Rewards / Travel Credit Redemption Info

Well, looks like I’ve squeezed all the free money out of another credit card offer. This time it is the Miles Card by Discover. It used to have a good 12-month no-fee 0% balance transfer offer, but has recently added a balance transfer fee. However, it does offer 0% on purchases for 6 months.

In addition, this card still offers a sign-up bonus of 12,000 Miles. You get 1,000 Miles each month you make a purchase for 12 months. A mindless way to get the points is to sign the card up for automatic billing of your cell phone bill (or similar bill).

Discover Miles Redemption Options

However, the Miles you earn with this card are not affiliated with any airline. So what’s one of these special Miles worth? The wording is very vague, and not until you already have the card do you get the details. So here they are…

The most efficient way to redeem is for travel credit. You can redeem 10,000 Miles for a $100 cash credit towards any travel purchase (airfare, hotel, car rental, cruise) from any vendor or website. Now that I’ve actually done the redemption with my Hotwire purchase, I am happy to report that it was hassle-free.

You simply charge the purchase to your card, and request the credit online. The system automatically checks that you have a travel purchase, and approves the request. In a few business days the $100 shows up in your account:

Other redemption options
The alternatives are not that great. If you travel at all, I would wait and go with the travel credit.

  • Gift cards. 7,000 Miles gets you $50 gift card at stores such as Macy’s, Gap, or Shell gas stations. You can also redeem 4,000 miles for a $25 gift card.
  • Cash. 5,000 Miles gets you $25 deposited into your bank account.

Double Miles & Other Promos
For most purchases, you get 1 Mile per dollar spent. The default feature of the card is that you get 2 Miles per dollar on the first $3,000 in travel and restaurant purchases each year. There is also a rotating category each month. For example, you get double miles on up to $500 in purchases at gas stations throughout June and July.

Even with the double miles here and there, this is not a top rewards card. However, you can still extract $100+ out of it with no annual fee, plus you get 0% interest for 6 months.

Here are additional credit cards with sign-up bonuses of $100 or more.

Does My Car Qualify For The Cash For Clunkers Program?

You’ve probably heard about the new “Cash for Clunkers” bill that is offering up to $4,500 towards the purchase of a new car. The idea is to stimulate demand for new cars as well as raise overall fuel efficiency by promoting the trade-in of “clunkers” for new and more efficient vehicles. It is officially part of the Consumer Assistance to Recycle and Save (CARS) Act, which recently passed the House and is currently in the Senate.

It’s not finalized or sent to the President yet (don’t buy anything yet!), so there is still room for changes. However, here are the requirements in the House Bill:

Old Trade-In Vehicle Requirements

  • Must be in drivable condition.
  • Have been continuously insured to the same owner for at least one year immediately prior to trade-in. (You can’t just buy a $500 beater for the $4,500 voucher)
  • Manufactured in model year 1984 or later. (mostly due to EPA mpg data not going back that far), and
  • Have a combined fuel economy of 18 mpg or less. You can find your car’s combined EPA fuel economy at FuelEconomy.gov.

If you are trading in a “Work Truck”, defined as having a 8,500-10,000 pounds GVWR (gross vehicle weight rating), then your vehicle must be from model year 2001 or older.

Obviously, another common sense requirement would be that your car should be worth less than the $3,500 or $4,500 you qualify for, or else you could simply sell it yourself instead of going for the voucher.

Let’s check out our cars:

1995 Nissan Maxima
The first car I ever owned, which came to me in excellent condition in 2000. Besides the usual oil changes and stuff, I’ve replaced the starter and 3 out of the 4 power windows motors (annoying common flaw in this model). It is nearly 15 years old now and runs great. Edmunds says my car is worth about $2,500 (sold to a private party). $4,500 for it might tempt me.

My combined fuel economy is 21 mpg. Not quite gas-guzzly enough.

2002 Pontiac Grand Prix
Yes, I have a sad little orphan Pontiac. But I took advantage of its horrendous resale value and picked it up when it came off-lease at 3 years old at my workplace for cheap. The interior is really cheap-feeling, but you know what, it hasn’t run into any mechanical problems at all. The only thing that broke so far was a plastic air conditioner knob.

Edmunds says it is now worth about $5,000 Private Party, which means has depreciated less than $1,000 per year since purchase. My combined fuel economy is 21 mpg.

So I guess neither of our cars qualify, which makes me think that most “beater” cars won’t either. Think of the VWs, Hondas, and Toyotas out there. A 1985 Honda Civic gets over 30 miles per gallon! This law is mostly for SUV and truck owners, and you can qualify for a voucher with as little as 1 mpg improvement (for large trucks) to 4 mpg (for passenger cars). I don’t quite get it.

Indeed, just because you qualify, doesn’t mean you should necessarily go for it. You’ll get some fuel cost savings, but unless you pay cash you’ll also have a monthly auto loan payment. A new car also has higher insurance rates, and you’ll have to carry collision/comprehensive coverage.

Chase Business Checking: $100 Bonus Coupon Codes

Chase Bank is offering $100 Bonus coupons for opening a qualifying business checking account with at least $500. You must print out a unique coupon code and bring it in to a local branch.

First link is good for the following states: IL, WI, MI, IN, NY, CT, NJ, OH, WV, KY, FL, LA, OK, TX, CO, AZ, WA, ID, OR and UT. There is a separate link for California accounts. Limit one business checking account-related premium per customer per calendar year. Cash premium will be deposited automatically into your checking account within 10 business days after the minimum deposit requirement is met. Not a bad deal, you don’t even have to mess with direct deposit for the bonus (though each checking account type has their own fee rules). Expires 7/24/09.

If you are starting a side business or freelancing, it can be a good idea to separate your finances with a business checking account. You can simply open one up with your Social Security Number as a sole proprietorship if you’re happy that way, or you can apply for a free Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. Obviously, other types like LLCs and Corporations are also valid.

PNC Bank Virtual Wallet, $75 New Account Bonus

PNC Bank has a new online banking product called Virtual Wallet which combines multiple bank accounts and online money management tools into one site.

Virtual Wallet is comprised of 3 accounts working together:
• Your SPEND account is a non-interest-bearing checking account.
• Your RESERVE account is an interest-bearing checking account used for short-term savings goals. [currently 0.10% APY]
• Your GROWTH account is a savings account which earns interest and can be used for longer-term savings goals. [currently 2% APY up to $25k]

The SPEND account has a $25 minimum to open, while the other two have no minimum opening requirement. None of them have minimum monthly balances or monthly fees. Online statements are required, and you only get 3 free checks per month. ATM fee reimbursements are available if you keep $2,000 combined in the SPEND and RESERVE accounts. Looks to be available online to any state.

I see the motivation, but couldn’t this just be done with two accounts? The SPEND and RESERVE are basically the same… 0.10% APY difference?

If you open an account by 7/4 and initiate a direct deposit of at least $400 by 8/31/09, you can get a $75 bonus. Early closure fee of $25 if you close within 180 days. $75 also available with other PNC checking account types, but you can only get one bonus.