My Money Blog

$1 for Three DVD Rentals from Redbox – Groupon

Posted on December 10, 2010 // 4 Comments

Here's a little deal that won't break the bank. Groupon has a national deal this weekend (Fri-Sun) that will get you three one-day rentals at RedBox kiosks for $1. Retail is $1 per day, so $3. If you don't have a Groupon account already, please … [Read the rest]

Sharebuilder New Account $50 Bonus

Posted on December 10, 2010 // 13 Comments

I just noticed that discount stock brokerage Sharebuilder is offering a $50 cash bonus as long as you open a new account with $50 by December 31st with promotion code 50WS10. (The code is also mentioned on the promo page.) It doesn't appear that you … [Read the rest]

Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund Now Has Admiral Shares

Posted on December 9, 2010 // 4 Comments

If you own shares of the Vanguard Total International Stock Index mutual fund, you may be interested to know that Vanguard recently announced that Admiral shares of the fund now available to those with balances of $10,000 or more. Here are their … [Read the rest]

Quantitative Easing Is Printing Money

Posted on December 8, 2010 // 21 Comments

You've probably heard the term quantitative easing. You might even have read news or blog articles about what it means. I've always thought all that blah-blah-blah about the Federal Reserve buying Treasury Bonds sounded a lot like printing … [Read the rest]

Coinstar Promotion: $50 in Gift Cards for $40 in Coins (No Mail-in-Rebate Required)

Posted on December 7, 2010 // 14 Comments

Coin-changing machine operator CoinStar is repeating a promotion where if you change $40 in coins into a gift card, you can receive an additional $10 gift card by mail at certain retailers. It's actually better this year because it is no longer run … [Read the rest]

Creating Our First Charitable Giving Plan

Posted on December 2, 2010 // 9 Comments

Up until this year, our charitable giving has been all over the place. If we saw something we wanted to support, we'd write a check. If our workplace had some sort of matching grant or charity drive, we'd participate. I always buy whatever a … [Read the rest]

Chase Adds New $10 Monthly Fee to Free Checking (Formerly WaMu)

Posted on December 1, 2010 // 107 Comments

While catching up on snail mail after getting back from Thanksgiving, I found a letter from Chase Bank telling me that my Chase Fee Extra Checking account (formerly Washington Mutual Free Checking) will now be called Chase Total Checking as of … [Read the rest]

AmEx $25 Small Business Promo Extended to 12/31

Posted on November 29, 2010 // 11 Comments

The American Express Small Business Saturday promotion that was initially for Saturday, 11/27 has been extended all the way to the end of the year, 12/31/2010. Sign up at their special Facebook page if you haven't already. Basically, enroll on … [Read the rest]

Chase Freedom Black Friday: 8% Cash Back Promo

Posted on November 25, 2010 // 4 Comments

I know a lot of folks have some version of the Chase Freedom Visa or Mastercard, whether from farther back or recently for their $100 cash promo offer or their rotating 5% rewards. Just got a note that they are offering 8% cashback on select … [Read the rest]

Bumped On Thanksgiving Eve

Posted on November 24, 2010 // 10 Comments

Somehow I thought it was a good idea to fly on Thanksgiving Eve. No TSA nightmares. Flight was full. Volunteered quickly for the bump (you can ask to put your name on the list when checking in), and got $400 each in transferable flight credit … [Read the rest]

Priceline.com Savings: $20 for $40 Bid, $40 for $80 Bid

Posted on November 24, 2010 // 2 Comments

Time for another Groupon nationwide deal for 11/24, this time to save money on bidding on hotels on Priceline.com. You have two options: For $20, you get $40 toward a bid on any three-star or better hotel on Priceline.com For $40, you get … [Read the rest]

SecondSpin.com Used DVD SellBack Experience [Review]

Posted on November 22, 2010 // 9 Comments

A couple of months ago, I decided to start clearing out all my old DVDs. I've never had much of a collection, but I never watched these anymore. I wasn't looking to absolutely maximize my price, I knew these weren't the hottest titles anymore and … [Read the rest]