Archive for February, 2012


Expires Today: Discover 12 Month 0% No Fee Balance Transfer

Posted by Madison on February 29, 2012

Happy Leap Day! We are leaping out of IRA bonus week, to make room for the Discover 0% No Fee Balance Transfer, which expires today! But don’t worry; we’ll be back with more IRA bonuses tomorrow. It’s not often that we find out in advance when a limited time offer will expire, so it’s nice […]

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Schwab $200+ IRA Rollover Bonus

Posted by Madison on February 28, 2012

We’re continuing IRA Bonus week with more Free Money! A friend of mine is planning to rollover her old 401ks to IRAs shortly, so I wanted to explore the sign up bonuses currently available for rollover money. Up first is Schwab, where we have some of our IRA money. Schwab is offering a $200 – […]

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Sharebuilder $50 IRA Sign Up Bonus

Posted by Kate on February 27, 2012

We’re kicking off a special Free Money IRA Bonus week! Here’s a great offer that you’ll have to hurry up on! Sharebuilder is offering a $50 sign-up bonus if you open an IRA by March 1 (that’s Thursday!). How to Get Your $50 Open a new Sharebuilder IRA. Deposit at least $200 into your IRA […]

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American Express Prepaid $25 Bonus x 3

Posted by Madison on February 24, 2012

It’s Friday! Time for more Free Money! American Express is offering a $25 bonus when you load an American Express Prepaid card! How to Get Your $25 Open an American Express Prepaid Card. Use offer code AEPC25 when you load $25 on the card within 45 days and by April 30, 2012. Get a $25 […]

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Selling the Vacation Home, TurboTax Giveaway, and More

Posted by Madison on February 23, 2012

Maybe you were right. I’m one of those people, that no matter what someone tells me, I just have to try it myself before I can believe it. I’m just plain stubborn I guess. When I asked Should We Buy a Vacation Home? there were many great comments and it made us think. But ultimately, […]

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How Long Did it Take to Get Your Tax Refund?

Posted by Madison on February 22, 2012

Tracking tax refunds is quite the adventure this year. Readers are reporting all sorts of data points in how long it takes to get your tax refund back. Originally the IRS started out with an aggressive one week turnaround on tax refunds for efiled returns. However, once we got started, they announced a one week […]

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New Pension Plans and Changes to Current Retirement Plans

Posted by Amanda on February 21, 2012

I previously discussed my employer-sponsored pension plan where I contribute 6.45% of my paycheck and the state agency I work for matches this contribution with another 6.45%. I will be vested in this plan after five years. However, while researching for that article I found that only 31% of employees were offered a pension plan […]

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Citi Checking $100 Sign Up Bonus

Posted by Kate on February 17, 2012

This week’s Free Money Friday is great for anyone looking around for a new checking account! Citi is offering $100 for opening one of their accounts. How to Get Your $100 Sign Up Bonus Sign up for a Citi Checking Account with the Citigold Account Package by 12/31/2012. Within 45 days, deposit $1,000 and complete […]

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Tax credits reduce the amount of money dollar-for-dollar that a taxpayer owes. Some popular ones include the Saver’s Tax Credit, the Earned Income Credit, the American Opportunity Tax Credit, and the child tax credit. For many taxpayers, claiming a tax credit means we get a refund from taxes we have all ready paid throughout the […]

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Ask Madison: Reader Mail Volume 6

Posted by Madison on February 15, 2012

My husband has one job and I have three. For one of my jobs I made $1,100, do I even need to claim my taxes for this job on my tax returns or can I just claim my other two jobs? – Amanda If you need to file because you were over minimum income to […]

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