Get a Free or Cheap DVD Rental At RedBox

By MoneyBlueBook

The other day I was at my local Giant Food grocery store and noticed several people examining a red kiosk. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that it was a DVD rental station run by a new company called RedBox. I guess I must be blind because apparently the red kiosks have been sprouting up everywhere.

The company runs DVD rental kiosks, primarily located inside of McDonald's restaurants and many grocery stores. The neat part is that DVDs can be rented for only $1 per day, with no late fees. Call it what you will, but you are simply charged a buck for every day you use it. Rentals must be returned before 7:00 p.m. the next day to avoid any extra day penalty (another $1). Each kiosk is fully automated, holding no more than 500 DVDs and can be accessed via a touch screen where you can select your DVD choice, and pay using a credit or debit card.

RedBox is excellent for people like me who want to go in, grab a movie, watch it, and be back in a day. For the slackers and lazy DVD returners, I suggest sticking with your usual video rental stores where they offer multiple day rentals.

Redbox is currently running a promotion, offering one night's free rental at any of their RedBox kiosks. Just visit their homepage, enter your e-mail address, and they'll send you a free DVD rental code. Wow you just saved $1. You're rich! :)

By MoneyBlueBook

Citibank's ThankYou Points Network offers some of the best rewards. I currently own several Citibank credit cards and I get ThankYou rewards points for using them to purchase ordinary everyday things. With my current Citibank credit card setup, I receive 6% back in the form of Purchase Rebates on grocery stores, drug stores, and gas. I also receive 5% back on restaurants, coffee shops, movie theaters, and book stores. 1 Purchase Rebate = 100 ThankYou Points. For every 1 mile I drive, I also receive the equivalent of 1 ThankYou Point. They all generate rewards points and contribute to the same pool of ThankYou Points. I have been saving for over a year and it's time to put those points to good use. With the ThankYou Network you can exchange your points for things such as merchandise, electronics, gift cards, student loan credit, and even cash.

Great Exchange Rate for Travel Rewards

One of my favorite redemption choice is Thank You Point's Variable and Fixed Flight Option. With the Variable Travel Option you can redeem your Thank You Points for the equivalent of whatever the value of the flight cost is. However, you'll likely get the best deal by choosing the Fixed Flight Option. Below are the current point values needed for redemption (as of January 1, 2008, however since point levels are subject to change please contact a ThankYou Network Travel Specialist for the most current point pricing.

Coach:

Flights
Starting Points
Ticket Value ($)

Continental US

By MoneyBlueBook

Yesterday I had dinner with an Indian friend of mine at a pretty nice Chinese restaurant. I've known him since we were little kids in junior high school. Every time we'd get together for a meal, we'd usually end up eating a vegetarian meal since he's a vegetarian. Now, I'm a meat lover myself, preferring a nice pork, beef, or seafood laden meal to something bereft of all finger licking goodness. However, everytime my friend and I go out to eat, I'd always find myself ordering a vegetarian dish out of courtesy.

Vegetables Dishes Are Cheaper Than Meat Dishes

What I didn't realize or notice until recently was that he was actually saving a rather large sum of money by sticking to a vegetarian diet, albeit unintentionally. It's not a secret that vegetables, tofu, and fruits simply cost less than meat products such as chicken, pork, beef, and seafood.
While we were at the Chinese restaurant, I glanced down at the menu and compared prices. Since were were both going to share our dishes, we were obviously going vegetarian. Prices for vegetarian dishes such as ma-po tofu or the bok choi with black mushrooms were only $8.50 each. Keep in mind that this was a pretty nice restaurant in a very nice part of town. A quick flip back to the meat entrees showed prices such as $12.50 for a chicken entree, and a$13.75 for a beef dish. Yes, it's only a few dollars, but in the aggregate and over the years, a dollar here and a

By MoneyBlueBook

The wealthy seem to have all sorts of advisers and planners helping them manage their vast fortunes. But what about the rest of us regular folks who don't have the extra millions of dollars to throw at legions of planners, accountants, and managers? Some of us can rely on planners, but I think it's very important we all learn to educate ourselves about individual financial planning.

Financial Planners Are Also Salespeople

Recently I took a look at my mother's retirement and investment portfolio and was appalled at the funds she had invested in. Apparently, all of her investments were made at the advice of financial planners and account managers that recommended the products. The most glaring aspect was that many of the mutual funds she had put her hard earned money in were front loaded, with unjustifiably high expensive ratios, which meant her brokerage firm took a cut of her money immediately after it was invested in the particular fund and that it also regularly extracted a disproportionate percentage of her investment to cover fund expenses. Some financial adviser obviously profited from this setup and likely received a healthy commission for recommending it to her.

Although we often forget, your personal financial adviser also functions as a salesperson, oftentimes just trying to get his or her commission groove on. In this day and age, with the growth of no loaded funds and exchange traded funds (ETF's) that offer exceptionally low expense ratios, there is no reason why she should have invested in either a front or back loaded

By MoneyBlueBook

Most of the major cell phone carriers offer deeply discounted savings for large companies or groups, including schools. If you work for a major business, corporation, or attend college or graduate school, chances are you may be entitled to a hefty discount towards your monthly wireless mobile phone bill. Many businesses and schools have negotiated employee and student discounts with the major wireless carriers. Even alumnus and employees at certain major universities may be entitled to discounted rates due to their current or previous association with their schools.

But for some reason, many people are not aware that these discounts exist, and the cell phone providers certainly aren't motivated to advertise these great discounts, particularly for existing customers. Oftentimes, the only thing you'll need to have to claim these discounts is a valid work or school e-mail address from a participating business or school. I encourage you to visit the links below and check to see what discounts are available to you. Believe me, you will be pleasantly surprised as I was! I was able to get 19% off with Verizon Wireless using my existing graduate school e-mail address. I did not realize that I qualified for such a high discount until I typed in my school e-mail address on a whim. Try it!

Remember to renew your student or employee discount promotional rate periodically since they usually don't renew automatically. Most of the mobile phone discounts are good for a year - just submit a new discount request again when it expires.

By MoneyBlueBook

I currently use Fidelity Investments as my investment brokerage firm. I have nothing but good things to say about the service they offer. Their selection of mutual funds is broad and their fees are reasonable. Their customer service is also top notch. I have a habit of occasionally bombarding their customer service department with random questions about my account and fees. I almost always receive a prompt reply. Occasionally it will be a few days before I hear from customer service, but they usually provide me with an excellent explanation or solution to my brokerage and investment related questions.

New Fidelity Account Promotions - Earn Free Frequent Flyer Miles For United Or American Airlines

Currently, Fidelity has several promotions for new customers, including offers for up to 25,000 United Airlines or American Airlines frequent flier miles for opening an account with new equity. The equity can be cash, stock, bond certificates, or transfers of the same from another broker. The Fidelity account must remain open for at least six months. The miles earned is determined by the amount of the initial deposit, which must be made within 90 days of account opening. Please carefully read all of the terms and conditions before proceeding.

United Airlines Mileage Plus Offer - Expires December 31, 2008.

American Airlines AAdvantage Offer - Expires May 31, 2009.

Initial Deposit
Miles Earned

$2,500
5,000

$10,000
15,000

$50,000
25,

Another Amazing Fidelity Sign-Up Cash Bonus Offer

Fidelity also has another offer for $100 for adding $10,000 in cash or assets to a new or existing account. I