(Update November 2013: Google announced a few days ago that third-party apps like Obihai and GrooveIP will no longer work with Google Voice as of May 15, 2014. Obihai confirmed this on their official blog, while stating that your box will still be compatible with many other low-cost VoIP providers. It looks like Google wants people to do the free calling via their own apps…)
Original post December 2012:
Pentagon Federal Credit Union is now offering 2.02% APY rate on it’s 3, 4, 5, and 7-year CDs (they call it a Money Market Certificate). The minimum opening deposit is $1,000. Early withdrawal penalties are as follows:
As a credit union, you must meet their eligibility requirements to join. Basically all members of the military and their immediate families are welcome, as well as many other military-related groups. Otherwise, simply become a member of the organization Voices for America’s Troops. Membership costs $15/yr, and you don’t need to renew to remain a PenFed member. “Voices for America’s Troops advocates for a strong national defense, including sustaining and improving quality of life programs for America’s troops, their families and survivors.”
(I ran a search through the blog archives and found a post about PenFed offering 6.25% APY 3-year CDs back in late 2006. I wonder how long until we see rates like that again?)
Due to birth of our first child, we haven’t been traveling much the last 24 months. However, I’ve still been racking up the miles (via credit card bonuses, credit card rewards, dining rewards, and shopping portals) and have built up a sizable pile with the three major “superpoints” programs – those that allow transfers to a variety of air and hotel partners. Everyone has their own preferred programs and unique travel needs, but here is a quick reference guide to simplify things. My favorite transfer partners are bolded, but all of the other options are also included. These days I’ll probably just be topping off an account off to qualify for an award ticket or free hotel night. Ratios are 1:1 unless otherwise noted.
Credit card bonuses and rewards are the fastest way to jumpstart your miles balance. Here are related offers:
American Express occasionally runs limited-time promotions that increase the transfer rate from their Membership Rewards points. To see these bonuses, visit MembershipRewards.com. Currently promotions:
Link your American Express card, write an approved review on TripAdvisor, get $5. Details at sync.americanexpress.com/tripadvisor:
Get a $5 statement credit when you connect your eligible American Express Card with TripAdvisor and leave one posted review (approved by TripAdvisor) before 23.59 (EST) on December 31, 2013.
You must connect your American Express Card to TripAdvisor to be eligible to receive the $5 statement credit. Quantities are limited. Only one $5 statement credit per connected Card. Your Card must remain connected until the statement credit is applied. Statement credit may not be received if a review doesn’t meet TripAdvisor’s qualifications and is not posted by TripAdvisor.
Groupon is currently offering a $50 Gradsave gift card for $30, which can be redeemed for a $50 deposit into any national 529 college savings plan. So if you’re already meaning to contribute some money towards a 529 plan, it’s basically at least $20 in free money. Thanks to reader Jon for the tip. Gradsave ran a similar promotion earlier and I successfully got it transferred to my daughter’s existing Ohio CollegeAdvantage 529 plan. It may take a couple of weeks.
Expires 60 days after purchase. Limit 1 per person, may buy 3 additional as gifts. Limit 1 per customer, beneficiary, account, savings plan, or 529 plan. Online only. New customers only. Cannot be combined with any other discounts or offers.
You can save a little extra on your Groupon deals with cashback shopping portals like eBates ($10 new customer bonus), Mr. Rebates ($5 bonus), and BigCrumbs. This should also count towards the Alaska Air promo I posted yesterday.
Also, 529 contributions can be taken out without penalty. If you withdraw any earnings for unqualified expenses, then you will be subject to income taxes as well as a 10% penalty. You can even set yourself up as the beneficiary if you have qualified educational expenses now or coming up (computer equipment counts if you’re a student). I’m just tucking it away for the kiddo.
The Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan Shopping program is like other cashback shopping portals (eBates $10 bonus, TopCashBack, etc), except that they give you Alaska Airlines miles per dollar spent as a reward.
They just sent me a new promotion where if you just sign up to receive marketing e-mails, you can get 250 bonus miles. (Stay signed-up until the miles post, and then unsubscribe if you wish.) For an additional 500 bonus miles, make a cumulative spend of $25 or more before taxes and shipping fees with any participating online retailer. Overstock.com, Kohl’s, LivingSocial, and Staples are some examples.
Earning miles this way will also reset your miles expiration date, which for Alaska Air is 24 months from most recent activity. Offer expires 10/31/13. Bonus miles will post 8-10 weeks after that.
October 2013 Update: “Unlimited” has been clarified to mean 3G/4G data speeds for 2.5 GB per month, throttled to 2G data speed after that. Both AT&T and T-Mobile SIM cards are now available, with the newer ones allowing 4G / LTE speeds if you bring your own 4G HSPA+ / LTE-compatible phone. Price dropped to $6.99 with free shipping. See screenshot below.
You can also now buy the iPhone 4 ($200 refurb) and iPhone 5 ($400 refurb) directly from StraightTalk now at reasonable prices. iPhones sold by Straight Talk are CDMA and work on Verizon networks and their wider coverage. Note that the CDMA iPhone 5 comes factory GSM unlocked as well, so you can even switch to AT&T with the SIM cards above. Remember these come with no contract and also go with the $45 unlimited plan. Details below.
Get $10 off any $50+ purchase at Lowes home improvement stores in-store or online. Expires 11/15/2013. Sign up for AmEx Sync first if you haven’t already. Then tweet anything with #AmexLowes. You should get a confirmation reply quickly. Details here.
You may also be able to access these discounts via Facebook, the AmEx smartphone app, or by simply logging into your account online. Twitter has worked reliably for me. I post a lot of smaller and time-sensitive deals like this on my Twitter feed @mymoneyblog, which are echoed on my Facebook page.
Cell phone service seems to get cheaper each year. I still remember when a great deal was $40 a month for 1,000 minutes with no text and no data. So what about FREE cellular service? Well, it’s here, but with a few important catches…
FreedomPop just rolled out a new cell phone service on a freemium model. That means they have a free option, in the hopes that enough people will pay up for various upgrades to make a profit. You may know the name from their 4G data hotspots that offered 500mb a month of data for free. I bought one, but ended up returning it as it didn’t fit my needs (and like other folks was charged about $15 in unexplained fees). Here are the details of this new venture:
The October 2013 issue of Money Magazine featured an article “Best Credit Cards” that (unsurprisingly) caught my eye. Here’s a quick list of their top picks for various categories. I’ve written about most of them, and in those cases I’m linking to that post which provides more details. Otherwise, I’m linking directly to the card page and including a few highlights about the card.
Best for Balance Transfers (Low, long introductory APR)
Best for Regular Balance Carriers (Low ongoing APR)
Best Tiered Rewards Cards (Tie)
Best Flat and Simple Rewards Cards (Tie)
Best Travel Rewards Credit Card
Best Card for Using Overseas
Many of the major airlines partner with Rewards Network (formerly iDine). You give them your credit card, and when you pay with that card at participating restaurants (which I believe have to pay for inclusion) then you get a certain number of miles per dollar spent. The good news is that you don’t have to use any coupons, show an app, or do anything that indicates you’re getting a discount. I don’t let this determine where I eat, but a few places I already eat at do participate so it is basically free miles.
Earning a few miles this way will also reset your United miles expiration date, which is 18 months from most recent activity. So it’s good to have it set up ahead of time, even with a seldom-used card.
Right now, the United MileagePlus Dining program is running a special promotion where can you can get 1,500 United miles if you join by 10/31 and spend $40+ at a participating restaurant, bar or club within 40 days of joining, plus write a quick review. If you do this twice, you’ll get the max possible 3,000 bonus United miles. Again thanks for reader Jessica for the tip.
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