It’s Free Money Friday! And just in time for the upcoming 4th of July celebration is a cash back offer from Discover for your holiday travels.
Discover is offering 5% cash back on the following categories July through September, 2009:
- Gas Stations
- Hotels
- Theme Parks
- Zoos
- Bookstores
How to Get Your Cash Back
- Sign up for the Discover Get More program.
- Pay using your Discover card.
- Earn 5% cash back on up to $300 in purchases from July through September.
Discover Get More Details
Total Cash Back. Obviously 5% of $300 is only $15. But it’s $15 you didn’t have before, so why not take advantage of it?
Sign Up Required. To be eligible for the promotion, you must sign up first. When you login to your online account at Discover, they’ll let you know if your Discover card is eligible for the promotion.
Get More Calendar. Discover changes the 5% cash back categories each quarter. I like to check it each quarter to see what the new deal is.
Discover Cards
Don’t have a Discover card? Here are some of the most popular cards with My Dollar Plan readers:
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Posted July 3, 2009 in Credit cards by Madison | Comments?
Northwest and Delta are giving out bonus miles to link your Worldperks and SkyMiles accounts. Although, I’m not exactly sure how many miles you get!
Scott and I both got the same letter on the same date last month. His letter offered 1,000 bonus miles for linking his accounts; mine offered 500 bonus miles. All the other information in the letter is the same.
I did some searching in the Flyertalk forums, and it looks like the original offer was for 500 miles, but they’ve increased it to 1,000 now. Of course, since both our letters had the same date, I’m not sure.
To get the bonus miles, you need to link your accounts by July 31, 2009. Bonus miles will post to the account 4-6 weeks after the end of the promotion.
I’m pleased about the merger of the mileage accounts, since we have thousands of miles in our Worldperks accounts, but just a handful in our SkyMiles accounts. Now we just need somewhere to fly to…
Retirement
Credit
By the Numbers
And More!
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Posted July 2, 2009 in Roundups by Madison | Comments?
I had a blast checking out the archives last month, so I thought we’d make a reoccurring feature. It’s fun to see what was happening in the financial world a year ago.
Here were the most popular articles that were written in June 2008. Many of them still have a lot of relevance this year!
Popular in June 2008
- New Grads: 29 Money-Smart Tips
- 10 Financial Tips for New Grads
- 11 Fun & Frugal Summertime Activities
- How to Handle Irregular Paychecks
- We Sold My Car! What Worked and What Didn’t
- What is Credit Card Arbitrage?
- Small Business Problem: Advertiser Bounced a Check!
- Free FICO Scores & Credit Reports
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Posted June 30, 2009 in Dollar Plan News by Madison | Comments?
When we reach the half way point of the year, I like to do a mid year financial checkup. Here are some tasks for this summer’s checkup; some from my list and some from readers.
Mid Year Financial Checkup
- Check Your Credit Report. Don’t forget to use your annual free credit report. In addition, if you want to see your score, you can get your Free FICO Score and Credit Report.
- Create a Debt Tracking System. Set up and use a debt tracking system to monitor one’s progress towards debt elimination. In many respects this is as important as updating one’s budget, especially for someone that revolves credit card balances from month to month. - DebtGoal
- Install Solar Energy. If you plan to use the Solar Energy Tax Credits, make plans soon to get quotes on solar panel installation and purchases.
- Evaluate Monthly Expenses. We found that we could save $14 a month by Switching from Satellite to Cable.
- Plan Now for Furlough Days. With many companies and state governments issuing furloughs for their employees, set aside some extra cash to cover it. My husband will have a few weeks of furlough coming up in the next two years, so we’re planning ahead by putting the equivalent amount of cash in an Etrade account.
- Buy a New House. You still have time to take advantage of the $8,000 First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit. If you are planning to use it, don’t miss the deadline. And check out the how you can use the tax credit for closing costs too.
- Review Your Insurance Needs. We recently switched our insurance. In addition to shopping rates, make sure that your coverage is still adequate to cover your exposure.
- Consider a Possible Job Loss. With the economy still struggling, make sure that you could financially handle a job loss. Review the checklist in Are You Ready to Lose Your Job?
- Evaluate Your Credit Cards. With so many changes in the credit card rewards world, it may be time to find a new card. You many want to check out the Schwab 2% Cash Back Credit Card or the Fidelity 2% Cash Back Credit Card.
- Monitor Cash Flow. I know a lot of business owners not only budget but also monitor their cash flow statement daily to see how they are progressing. I think it’s a great idea. - Josh Moore
- Review the Economic Stimulus Plan. Keep up with the economic stimulus plan, including various programs like the Making Home Affordable program and the Make Working Pay Tax Credit.
- Asset Allocation Updates. As always, a quarterly or mid year check in wouldn’t be complete without a reminder to rebalance your portfolio to your target asset allocation.
In addition, you can see last year’s Mid Year Checkup which included some extra ideas like setting aside money for the holidays, using your vacation time, and updating your beneficiaries.
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Posted June 29, 2009 in Savings by Madison | 1 Comment
Recently, I asked What is Your Favorite Cash Back Program? A reader, Simon, pointed out that I forgot FatWallet!
I often mention the FatWallet Finance forums as one of my favorite places to hang out. But, as Simon reminded me, FatWallet also has a special place in my heart for earning cash back!
Let’s explore the FatWallet cash back program for Free Money Friday.
How to Earn Your FatWallet Cash Back
- Sign up for a FatWallet account.
- Shop for products using FatWallet Shopping.
- Redeem your cash back by PayPal or a check.
FatWallet Cash Back Details
Minimum Redemption. If you want to cash out your account by check, there is a $10 minimum. Paypal doesn’t require a minimum.
Payments. Cash back payments are processed weekly; it’s one of the quickest cash back programs.
Attach a Note. My favorite feature at FatWallet is the ability to attach a note. When you click on a cashback offer, you can put the details of the purchase. I usually put a high level description of what I’m buying and who it’s for so it will jog my memory down the road.
Finding Deals
In addition to the cash back, I also find that FatWallet is a helpful place to shop and research online. Between Today’s Top Deals, the Coupon Search, and the Hot Deals forum, the savings add up!
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Posted June 26, 2009 in Savings by Madison | 2 Comments
