Published December 29th, 2008
in Shopping Promotion.
With the credit industry in crisis and economy in recession banks have been scaling down fat sign up bonuses and other costly promotions. If you act fast though you can still get on this one since Discover will be taking it down end of this year as well.
You can earn $100 Cashback Bonus when you make $1000 in purchases within 3 months after your account is opened, plus there is 0% APR on purchases for 12 months, very handy during holiday shopping since you don’t have to hurry and pay off your balance right away.
Individuals can apply as sole proprietors by using their name as the business name. Just fill in the Social Security number when requested and leave the Federal Tax ID blank. This worked for me in the past with no problem.
Published December 25th, 2008
in Interesting / Other.
The 2008 year is almost over and December is usually when I look back and reflect at things that passed. Today I will go over some stuff I bought in 2008 that brought fun to the passing year.
1. Mazda CX-9 2008
Our minivan was totaled in August. I over-reacted and the car that replaced it was a crossover SUV, a slightly bigger car with worse gas mileage. I bought it one year old for around $20K where the invoice price for a new one is $30K and up. The gas prices back then were at all time high and car dealers were desperate to get rid of SUV’s at any cost, hence the deep discount. Now looking back (and at the gas prices) I realize it wasn’t such a bad decision after all. We got a ton of snow this month and all-wheel drive comes in very handy.
2. Westinghouse 32” LCD HDTV
Costco was selling the TV in stores for $400 with 2 year warranty. I don’t watch TV much. We don’t even have cable or a satellite dish in the house. All my kids usually watch is movies we get from the library and Netflix. This was my first HDTV. Not only I am very happy with the quality of the picture, I also discovered that I can get more channels over the air than I did with my old analog TV. No, it didn’t make me watch more TV. I still only watch an occasional movie, and maybe the Simpsons on Fox. :-)
3. Planet Earth Blu-ray DVD
This was the only thing I bough on Black Friday and the best documentary movie I ever watched. I found it on Buxr and immediately ordered online. I paid $30 back then. I was in Costco yesterday and the Blu-ray version still sells for around $60.
4. WD 1TB USB 2.0 My Book Essential Hard Drive
Dell was selling it for $107.50 with free shipping. Ordered and just received it a few days back. I love the hard drive. The interesting thing is it doesn’t have a power switch. It will shut itself down when it detects no USB activity.
5. HP Pavilion tx2500z Laptop
Found this deal on Buxr as well. HP was having a sale. The advertised coupon would take $400 off bringing the laptop price down to $600. No, I didn’t actually buy it, but I was very close to doing so since I am looking for an upgrade to my 5 year old Think Pad. Mike (my Buxr partner) told me that night that it was the fastest selling promotion HP ever had!
What did you buy in 2008? Please share your bargains in the comments!
Published December 19th, 2008
in Money Saving Tips.
As of December 17, 2008 T-Mobile will no longer charge customers $18 for a phone upgrade. All T-Mobile devices are covered whether bought in retail stores or online. In addition, if you upgraded within the past two weeks, T-Mobile recommends contacting either a corporate store or customer service in order to be credited the $18 fee.
I could never really understand what made the company charge the fee in the first place (and by doing so hold customers from spending more money on the new phone). I guess this is the case of “they will do it if they can”. Obviously they can no longer charge it without risking loosing customers. The latest policy change is said to be based on customer feedback. From the press release:
T-Mobile is pleased to announce that beginning yesterday, the company has ditched the handset upgrade fee for customers. The elimination of the $18 upgrade fee applies across-the-board to all handsets (including the T-Mobile G1) and in all channels (e.g., retail, online, etc.).
With consumers watching every dollar this holiday season, the savings come at a perfect time. Note however this is NOT a holiday promotion, as there is no specified end date; it’s just another way T-Mobile is thanking its loyal customers.
Source: No more upgrade fees…no more no, no more upgrade fees (at TmoNews)
Published December 16th, 2008
in Popular Sites Series.
This is November 2008 revision of the Popular Coupon sites list. You can find the previous revision of the list here.
The change in rating shows the difference compared to September results. I missed the October release (this never happened to me before! :-) ) so the results are a bit skewed. This list currently has 31 sites - three more than in September.
The best performer is couponmom.com (35.6%) and the worst result comes from coupons.smartsource.com (-8.57%). Enjoy the complete list below!
Published December 14th, 2008
in Money Saving Tools.
Many of you probably know your car’s fuel efficiency or MPG. It is a fairly abstract number that tells how far your car will drive on a gallon of gas. Have you ever thought of converting that number into something more meaningful? For example how much does your weekend trip to downtown will cost in gasoline expenses? Or how much do you spend daily on your work commute?
Miles Per Dollar is a simple but very useful calculator I recently stumbled upon. Why another calculator? Here is the authors perspective:
Believe me—when you start thinking about how much money it costs to drive one mile it changes your whole perspective on life. You start to question reality—the world as it really is versus the world as it has been presented to you. And with this changed perspective you might one day even hope to understand “supply and demand.”
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