Get Cash Back When You Shop Online

By MoneyBlueBook

Did you know that for the vast majority of purchases, it's almost always cheaper to buy online? The internet is full of great online deals. I've pretty much stopped buying anything at brick and mortar stores aside from groceries and basic day to day personal items. Even for groceries I've lately been researching and investigating how to buy them cheaper online. I'll write a post about buying groceries through the web when I have accomplished something to write about!

Use Shopping Portals Like Ebates, Jellyfish, and FatWallet to Save Money

If you're going to shop online, don't forget to use cash back shopping portals like Ebates, Jellyfish, or FatWallet (formerly known as FatCash). They offer links to everyday stores such as Priceline, Expedia, Target, Macys, and Dell Computers, but best of all they give you a percentage back as a cash rebate for shopping through their links.

How Do I Earn Cash Back Or Points?

Here is how the shopping portals work. You sign up and register through the portal of your choice. If you're like me, you sign up with all three of them and comparison shop between the portals every time you're about to order something. This is because the portals offer slightly different cash back percentages for different store links.

Next you browse around an online store's website until you know what you want to order. When you're ready, you sign into your shopping portal account and locate the store's corresponding link on the portal's store listing. To have

By MoneyBlueBook

I think Google's GrandCentral slogan should be straight out of the Lord of the Rings - One Number to rule them all, One Number to find them, One Number to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Well I guess everything except for the darkness part. :)

If you've been trying to find a way to organize multiple phone numbers or just want an extra free number from a particular area code, then you might want to take a look at what GrandCentral has to offer. When you sign up for a free GrandCentral account, you are provided a free custom phone number that is not tied to a particular cell phone plan or location. The idea is that you use this one phone number as your primary phone number even when you switch jobs or move.

When someone calls you on the number you created through GrandCentral, the incoming call is routed to any one of your phones. The call can even be set to go directly to voicemail, where messages are saved for as long as you want.

Use It As a Separate Business Number

I'm currently running a home business and I use my GrandCentral phone number as my business line. For my purposes it's a lot easier and more cost efficient than buying another phone or paying for an expanded phone plan. Business calls are sent to my GrandCentral number but it can still ring my regular cell phone. The caller ID setting will let me know

By MoneyBlueBook

Zeccois a discount broker that's been generating a lot of buzz since they started offering free stock market trades last year as part of their very pinkfriendly trading platform. They currently offer 10 free market or limit trades per month, so long as you maintain $2,500 in total account equity (stocks and cash). There is no minimum balance requirement to open an account, but if you have under $2,500, trades will cost $4.50 each. There are no inactivity fees, which is quite a bonus for those who don't trade too frequently. Your securities accounts are also insured and protected against loss by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC).

Is There A Catch With Zecco?

According to the Zecco website:
There is no catch. We can give away free trades because the cost of executing a trade has become very low. And like other brokerages, we make money on interest income and option trades. Pretty simple right?
If you're an active trader, the lure of free trades is tempting. However, keep in mind that free trades isn't everything. Zeccohas been around for only a year, which is still a relatively short amount of time in the brokerage world. Questions remain such as whether they will be around for the long haul. What about customer service and trust? Can they execute timely trades and can they offer trading platform services that can compete with those offered by other brokerages?

Moving Towards a Free Trades Market

It is interesting to note that Zeccomay have signaled the

By MoneyBlueBook

It looks like I may be taking a few overnight road trips in the next few weeks. It's a pleasure to stay at an elegant hotel, but sometimes you just want to crash at a more basic place to save some money. The hotel and motel partners of TripRewards don't offer five star accommodation, but they do deliver a comfortable stay at a cheaper price. Their hotels include brands such as Days Inn, Ramada, and Super 8. You pretty much get what you pay for, but without breaking the bank. Through Trip Rewards, you can earn reward points for stays at participating hotels, redeemable for future stays or gift cards.

I'm not going out of my way to participate in the promotion. It's just something extra for something I was planning on doing anyway. :)

Earn Bonus Points, Enough For a $25 Gift Card

This fall, Trip Rewards is offering a bonus points promotion, for the redemption equivalent of a $25 gift card. Complete two separate stays at a participating hotel from now until December 27 and you'll earn enough points to redeem for a free $25 gift card. Remember, it's two separate stays so consecutive nights still count as one stay, regardless of check in and check out. You will still earn the usual 10 Trip Rewards points for every $1 spent at a participating hotel.

The terms and conditions indicate that the bonus points awarded will be equal to 5,500 less the number of regular Trip Rewards points you earn for your stays,

By MoneyBlueBook

I think this company has been around for a few months now but it wasn't until recently that I heard about them. If you have been searching for ways to earn more frequent flyer miles or have been trying to find ways to top off the accumulated miles of your frequent flyer plans, now you have another option through E-Miles. E-Miles is offering to give you mileage points but in return, you guessed it, you have to view video ads and then complete surveys pertaining to the products featured on the ads.

Once you register with them and complete a profile, you are paid mileage points for every ad you view. You can earn 10-20 miles for each 30 second video, and even more points for longer ads. The ads are provided to you based on your previously completed profile in which you indicated your interests. I recommend having as many interests as possible. I actually enjoy the process because it's relatively painless and fairly quick. Earned mileage points are automatically deposited every quarter into the participating frequent flyer program of your choice.

Earning and Using the Miles

In general, a free domestic flight through most frequent flyer programs will run about 25,000 miles. If you regularly view the ads, you could reasonably earn a free domestic flight within a year. However, I only plan on using the program to help me get over the free ticket hump for my various frequent flyer plans. I could try to accumulate from scratch but than it would

By MoneyBlueBook

Editor's Note:  This offer is no longer available. 

I'm a big believer in using the right combination of cash rebate and credit card offers to maximize one's purchasing potential. In the search for the best travel rewards credit card, I've noticed that some people opt for airline specific cards. However, these types of cards tend to offer unimpressive deals. Not only do they offer higher interest rates and annual fees, but their redemption options are also much more limited.

Review - Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express

I'm a big fan of credit card reward plans that offer versatility such as Citibank's ThankYou Network, which I use to earn points redeemable for gift cards and air travel. However, my favorite stand alone travel rewards card is the Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card from American Express. It has been referred to as the Swiss army knife of travel rewards cards and deservedly so...