You gotta love Oprah. She just loves to give stuff away and now she is getting personal finance guru Suze Orman in on it with her.
You need to move quick on this one, but Oprah and Suze Orman are giving away a copy of her (Suze’s) eBook “Women and Money.” You only have until 8pm EST on February 14th to get your copy. Here is the link to get Suze’s eBook (on Oprah’s website.)
Technorati Tags: Suze Orman eBook, Oprah
thanks to Christian Finance for the heads up on this…
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I-Can tax filing service
Thanks to Flexo I recently found out about I-Can!! online tax filing service. I-Can is a not-for-profit organization that is seeking to help people save some money on tax prep rather than spending a fortune just to get your taxes done.
Unlike most online tax prep services who offer free Federal filing, but charge for filing for your state taxes - I-Can files the state return for free as well (if you happen to be in one of the few states the offer.)
Their site looks very BASIC and doesn’t appear to have any bells or whistles, but it’s free - so I guess we can’t really complain…
I have not used them before and honestly I don’t know if I will, since all of my data from the previous years is loaded with H&R Block online. I don’t really enjoy the tax filing process and am happy to pay $25 for the state filing to make the pain go away quicker!! 
Here are a few things they mention on the I-Can site…
I-CAN!™ E-file can help you file your taxes for FREE. There is no income limit to use I-CAN!™ E-file. Just answer simple questions on each screen and print your completed tax return. I-CAN!™ E-file can also e-file (electronically file) your return to the IRS (and your state if applicable).
You can generally use I-CAN!™ E-file unless you own a business, are a church employee or clergy member, sold real estate in 2007 or you or your employer have a non-US address. If you are in the military or you are disabled you may be eligible for tax credits that are not included in I-CAN!™ E-file.
Bottom line: I would say if you are trying hard to save a few bucks and you live in one of the states they offer, it may be worth your time. If not, I would suggest using the option below…
Other options for free online tax filing
Free Federal filing of your taxes
If your adjusted gross income was $54,000 or less in 2007, you can use Free File to prepare and e-file your taxes online.
Check out how to get free Federal tax filing online for the step-by-step process. What you will find is that most major online tax preparation companies are part of this free file program, but you will not be able to access it UNLESS you go through the IRS site. If you go directly to the company’s site, often they will make it difficult to find the free file hoping that you will just give up and pay for filing.
These are a few of the advantages of using the IRS’s free e-file system:
- Get a faster refund, in as little as 10 days with Direct Deposit.
- File your taxes at anytime: day or night.
- Save paper—and that helps all of us.
- Benefit from Free File’s automatic checks for accuracy.
- Receive a quick confirmation within 48 hours that your return was received.
- Know that your return is safe and secure.
Technorati Tags: free tax filing, free online tax
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I just discovered Mvelopes recently and I highly recommend them. They are a budgeting system that is basically like budgeting with the envelope system, but doing it with virtual envelopes. If you are interested in finding out more about Mvelopes and seeing how they stack up against the other budgeting tools, you can Compare them to Quicken.
They provide this free budgeting eBook (which the hard copy retails in stores for $14.95) that shows the financial struggle of one family and goes into detail about their financial situation as they turn their financial lives around.
I am very impressed with the Budgeting system they have set up and I would love to hear what others think about it. Please share your opinions in the comments…
Other Budgeting Articles
How to budget with the envelope system
Budgeting is like baking cookies
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Google is taking over the world. We all know it, some don’t like it, but I am trying to make the most of it. Admittedly, I am a Google junkie, but they just have so many great products.
One of the newest ones to their lineup is a 411 service. They use a voice recognition program similar to Jott.com to direct the calls. So you don’t actually talk to a person when you call, but if you get connected to the business that you need - who cares?
I think most cell phone companies charge at least a buck or two for this service. For the price, I think Google’s 411 is worth a try.
This is what Google has to say about it…
Google Voice Local Search is Google’s experimental service to make local-business search accessible over the phone.
Using this service, you can:
- search for a local business by name or category.
You can say “Giovanni’s Pizzeria” or just “pizza”.- get connected to the business, free of charge.
- get the details by SMS if you?re using a mobile phone.
Just say “text message”.Dial from any phone
1-800-GOOG-411
(1-800-466-4411)And it’s free. Google doesn’t charge you a thing for the call or for connecting you to the business. Regular phone charges may apply, based on your telephone service provider.
Note: Google Voice Local Search is still in its experimental stage. It may not be available at all times and may not work for all users. We’re fine-tuning the service to get better at recognizing your requests. It?s currently only available in English, in the US, for US business listings.
Technorati Tags: Free 411, Google
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No, this is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and you probably can’t do it more than a couple times a year. But, it does work and I have done it about four times to date.
Every few months or so I get offers from [tag]credit card[/tag] companies to open up a new card with them. Citi Cards often offers me a [tag]free[/tag] $100 [tag]gift card[/tag] for opening up a new card. If you are not receiving offers like this check out creditcards.com and click the “rewards cards” link.
There will most likely be a card or two offering at least a $50 gift card for opening an account. The only catch I have found is that normally you have to make at least one purchase on the card.
The other added benefit here is that you will get a [tag]0%[/tag] intro rate and probably 0% on [tag]balance transfers[/tag] as well. This is a perfect opportunity to make the most of your [tag]debt[/tag].
If you are not disciplined enough to pay your card balance off each month, PLEASE DON’T TRY THIS. There is a reason that the credit companies make these offers. Most people don’t pay off their balances on time and nullify any reward that they received by paying finance charges each month.
I also am not recommending that you take advantage of the credit card companies by opening 15 different cards (which they probably wouldn’t allow anyway).
When you need a new card, this is (in my opinion) the best option. If you are going to get a new one, why not get rewarded for it? However, I personally don’t feel good about opening accounts just to get free gift cards. That just seems a bit tacky.
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The federal government started a program in 2003 to give 70% of the country’s taxpayers a break. It is called the Free File program. The program allows you to complete and submit your federal tax return online at one of many different tax prep companies (i.e. H&R Block, TurboTax, etc.). The catch is that you MUST go through the links on the IRS website. I have found that most of the companies do not advertise this service because they don’t get much out of it. To take advantage of it follow the below steps:
1. Go to the IRS Free File page. http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html
2. Once you click “Start Now!” you will be given the option of many different tax prep companies, if you go through these links you will be able to get the advertised “Free File.”
3. Read over each company’s description to be sure that you will be eligible for Free File with their service.
Keep in mind that most of the tax prep companies will not provide a free state return. Also, most of them require and AGI of $52,000 or less.
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Online brokers have been increasingly less expensive over the last few years, but it looks like they may be getting even cheaper. The reason being: www.zecco.com. Apparently Zecco is offering free stock trades.
It turns out that all the other online brokerages have fairly large advertising costs which require them to charge fairly small trading fees. Zecco on the other hand seems to not focus on advertising their product and receives revenue from the advertising on their website. I have not opened an account with them (although I am still considering it) so I can not speak to the quality of the layout, helpfulness of customer service, or timeliness of trades. But, from what I have seen and heard of them, they appear to be a pretty legitimate operation. A few more of the details:
- Free stock trades (maximum 10 trades a day up to 40 a month. After that, only $3.50 per trade)
- Live customer service 5 days a week
- No account inactivity fees
- Minimum $2,500 to open an account
You can check out the website for more information. If anyone has an account with Zecco I would like to hear what you think about it.
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Henry the VIII may have had some trouble with credit reporting agencies. If you are a JR or III or maybe even Henry the VIII, the credit reporting agencies don’t always pay attention to the suffix.
So, if you are the III, as I am, and your dad is late on a few bills, you may have just received a small inheritance in the form of a lower credit score. Even a more likely, and probably worse, situation is the father who decided to name his son Bill Jr…
Junior goes away to college and gets a free t-shirt for every credit card application he fills out. And of course he is working so hard on his studies and doing 8 hours of homework each day and he is so focused on getting good grades that he forgot to pay his bills. Well dad, you may not be able to get as good as a rate on your next home purchase as you may have thought.
I am not sure why the credit reporting agencies have a difficult time with suffixes, but it would be in your best interest to keep an eye on your credit report. Under the new law the last few years everyone can get a free credit report each year. Everyone should be checking, especially Henry the VII, if the VIII has not yet learned about managing his finances.
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