Hotel Tonight is a well-reviewed smartphone app that specialized in last-minute hotel bookings. Currently, there are promo codes active that can get you free credit good for any hotel available on the app. The selection is pretty good in my brief experience. Found via xlilsp1keyx of FW. Paraphrasing:

1. First, sign up online at this link. Be sure to add promo code JPING2 for $25 in credit (new customers only). This is my referral code, as are the rest of the $25 new-customer-only codes out there.
2. Download the Hotel Tonight app (Apple or Android)
3. Sign into the app and apply the following code FACEBOOK for another $25 in credit (valid for existing users). You should end up with $50 in total credit. (Update: According to the original Fatwallet forum post and your comments, the FACEBOOK code no longer works on existing accounts. Sorry about the quick expiration, they had a similar $25 code good for existing users in early February that lasted longer.)
4. It worked for me (screenshot).

The credit expires one year after the promo code is applied. Please let me know if you know of any other codes that are active for existing customers. There are many other codes for a one-time $25 credit for new customers. These codes may stop working at any time, so I’d do it quickly.

Groupon is selling a $10 Whole Foods Gift Card for $5 for one day only. They want to teach you about their search bar for some reason. No expiration date. Limit 1 per person, I’m sure it will sell thousands and thousands.

Remember that you can save a bit more on your Groupon with cashback shopping sites like eBates ($10 new customer bonus), Mr. Rebates ($5 bonus), and BigCrumbs.

Online stock brokerage firm OptionsHouse has a promotion where new customers* can get a free iPad Mini (16gb WiFi model w/ Retina display, $399 value) if you satisfy the following requirements:

• $10,000 minimum funding required
• Must fund within 30 days of completing application
• Must make 30 commissionable trades ($4.75 each)
• Must complete those 30 trades within 90 days of account funding
• IRA accounts are not eligible
• Must not withdraw to below minimum funding level for 180 days (market fluctuations okay).

*You cannot have a current Optionshouse account or maintained an account with them during the last 30 days.

30 trades times $4.75 a trade is $142.50 in commissions. iPad Mini with Retina 16GB is $399 at Apple store and even $399+ on Amazon. According to the terms, retail values under $600 will not be including on your 1099 form. Seems like a good promo for a new iPad, especially if you’re looking to try out a new brokerage firm and need to make a number of trades anyway to establish your positions.

Presidents Day Weekend Special. Get $10 off a Groupon of $40 or more (Local deals only) with promo code 10OFF40LOCAL. Valid 2/15 through 2/17 at 11:59pm PST.

Presidents Day Weekend Special. Get 20% off at LivingSocial.com with promo code 2014PRESDAY. Valid 2/15 through 2/17 at 11:59pm PST. Good for purchases of any amount, but maximum discount is $20. Savings will be reflected on the final purchase confirmation page.

I saw that a book called The Science of Getting Rich was temporarily free at the Amazon Kindle store, so I checked it out as with most financially-related titles. Surprisingly, it had over 300 reviews with a 4.3/5 star rating, quite rare for a free eBook. It turns out that this specific eBook is a bit of a “recycling” job done by someone else on the original 1910 book The Science of Getting Rich [Wikipedia] by Wallace Wattles. I guess if you keep the original book but add a bit of your own content, you can add yourself as an author and charge money for it. The original book itself is old enough that the copyright expired and is now in the public domain. You can get a completely free copy of the book in various formats from Archive.org.

Further digging reveals that this book is the basis of the popular book The Secret by Rhonda Byrne, which was made into a bestseller after being recommended by Oprah Winfrey. Both books talk about the power of positive thinking and visualizing your goals. Now, I can already tell that some people will hate this book and some will love it. I’m usually the one to call this sort of thing “fluffy mumbo-jumbo” as I’m more of a practical nuts-and-bolts type of person but I can’t deny that it has helped some other people. (Just don’t pay hundreds of dollars for this type of thing…) Here’s an excerpt:

People must be taught to become rich by creation, not by competition. Every man who becomes rich by competition throws down behind him the ladder by which he rises, and keeps others down; but every man who gets rich by creation opens a way for thousands to follow him, and inspires them to do so.

The book is short, only about 70 pages.

One of the more useful apps on my phone allows me to take a picture of documents and receipts and convert them instantly into a PDF file. The apps automatically detect page corners and “flatten” the raw images into a high-quality scan with results that are very similar to a traditional scanner. From there, I can either e-mail the file or upload it to Dropbox, Evernote, Google Drive, etc. I find myself using it very often for both business and personal reasons.

This post was originally about a $5 app that was temporarily free, but the “sale” ended before I could publish it. Instead, while trying out the various apps I found that many offer really good functionality for the nice price of free. Try them out and see which one works best for you:

1. CamScanner Free (iPhone / Android) – This one appears to have the most features available in a free app, but it does add a little watermark to the bottom of the PDF. 4.5 stars on Apple, 4.5 stars on Google.
2. TinyScan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.
3. Genius Scan Free (iPhone / Android) – Lots of positive reviews, 4.5 stars on Apple, 4 stars on Google.

If you know of any better apps, please let me know in the comments.

(Update: The offer below has expired.)

The premium co-branded Citi Executive AAdvantage MasterCard has a special offer link that is showing a sign-up bonus of 100,000 American Airlines miles after you spend $10,000 within the first 3 months of opening. There is also a $200 statement credit, earned through $1 in statement credits for each $1 spent on purchases within the first 12 months.

There is a hefty $450 annual fee that cannot be waived, so you should be sure that you can get proper value out of those miles. In addition, the primary benefit of this card over lesser AA cards is that you get access to their airport lounges (Admirals Clubs) without having to even be on an American flight. You can get into any American Airlines lounges at any airports with you and your family (or two guests).

This is not the standard offer and so the link appears targeted, but the agent code they ask for is not required and people have gotten approved for the card without it. That doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t have some trouble getting the 100k bonus, so I would take screenshots or save all application pages to PDF format along the way.

Updated.  If you are looking to open a new TradeKing stock brokerage account, don’t forget to grab both a $50 opening bonus and a $150 transfer fee reimbursement if moving money from another broker. TradeKing offers $4.95 trades with no minimum balance requirement. There is a inactivity fee if you have less than $2,500 and make zero trades for 12 months. Options are $0.65 a contract. I’ve been using TK for a while, they are a good basic broker for ETFs and dollar-cost-averaging. I am not an active trader or daytrader.

TradeKing $50 referral bonus
You can get a $50 opening bonus through their refer-a-friend program. You must open with $3,000 and make 3 trades within 90 days. I do have an account with TK and if you’d like a referral, please feel free to us my special referral link.

New referred client must fund their account with a minimum of $3,000 and place 3 trades within 90 days of opening the new account. Account types that don’t qualify include: Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, Rollover IRA, SEP IRA, Simple IRA, Solo 401K and Coverdell IRA. Accounts will be reviewed 90 days after account is opened to confirm that all of the requirements are met. At the time of review 3 trades must have been placed within the past 90 days and the account must have at least $3,000 in account equity.

TradeKing transfer fee reimbursement program
If you transfer an account of $2,500 value or greater over to TradeKing, they will also refund up to $150 in account transfer fees charged by your old broker. Yes, you can can combine with the above offer. Here’s how:

TradeKing will credit your account transfer fees up to $150 charged by another brokerage firm when completing an account transfer for $2,500 or more. Credit will be deposited to your account within 30 days of receipt of evidence of charge.

Open a New Account or if you already have an account, log in. Complete and print an Account Transfer Form. Mail or fax the signed Account Transfer Form to TradeKing along with a copy of your most recent statement from your previous broker. Request your account transfer reimbursement by faxing your transfer reimbursement form, along with proof of transfer charge, to 866.699.0563.