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April 18, 2006
Free money to test drive cars
You can get a $25 Starbucks gift card to test drive a 2006 Suzuki Grand Vitara. You can earn a $50 AmEx gift card to check out a 2006 Mercury Milan (order the brochure first).
It seems like a lot of work, but apparently a lot of people do this, considering the 600 posts or so by people who spend their weekends doing this sort of thing.
Posted by brian at 09:39 AM | Comments (1)
April 13, 2006
Free $5 to try PayPal-style phone service
Remember the last time you went to McDonald's with your buddy and he didn't have enough money to buy a Filet 'o Fish? Me neither. I prefer to order off the secret menu at In 'N' Out, but let's just pretend this happened for the sake of the story. So your buddy borrowed $5, but kept forgetting to pay you back, and eventually you forget your buddy even owed it to you until the next time you were at McDonald's and you brought it up and he said, "I thought I paid you back" and you said, "No you didn't, I would've remembered" and it got a little ugly and ultimately ruined your McRib experience that day.
That problem is now solved. You can pay people using your cell phone, sort of like using PayPal, but without the hassle of using the internet. Oh wait, you still have to use the internet to sign up. And get payments. Wait, why is this thing cool? I don't know, but they're paying people $5 to sign up and try it out. (I didn't sign up but that's just bcz I dnt no how 2 txt msg).
Posted by brian at 06:05 PM | Comments (0)
April 12, 2006
More credit card pranks
This is news to me, but apparently credit card companies occasionally send credit card applications by mail. I have to figure out how to get on the secret list to get them to mail some of those to me. Anyway, if you throw the application away, make sure you put it through the shredder. It turns out you can take a completely ripped up application out of the trash, tape it together like a four-year-old, fill it out, mail it in, and get a credit card.
A friend of mine let me know about the new Zug credit card prank. Basically, since no one seems to check the name or signature on the back of credit cards anymore and it's easy to get additional cards on your account, why not get some cards in whatever name you'd like? I'm going to try to get "Tucson Kid" on my Discover Card tonight.
Oh yeah, if you want to get off junk mail lists, try this site. It's cut down on our junk mail by 90%, although we now have to pay full price for carpet cleaning and oil changes. (Luckily, pizza coupons still show up wrapped around our front door knob every other day).
Posted by brian at 02:52 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
April 11, 2006
Free Gmail, but be good. 5% cash back card.
A couple of months ago, I talked to a really nice computer geek who works on Gmail at Google. She told me that, because of the huge, free storage you get with each account (2.7 Gigs, and growing), people use the accounts to store porn files and then give out the user name and password to other people to allow them to download the files, rather than storing the naughty pictures and videos on their own computers and servers. That way, they avoid taking up storage space and using bandwidth during transfers, which can get pricey.
I was pretty surprised, because I didn't know porn had made its way onto the internet yet. Anyway, if you want a free Gmail account, send me an email, and I'll send you an invitation.
If you're looking for a good cash back credit card, consider the Chase Cash Plus Rewards Card. You get 1% cash back on purchases plus an additional 4% cash back on gas, groceries, and drugs (from legitimate drugstores - not on ganja from the street corner. Wait, do drug dealers even take credit cards? I wouldn't be surprised).
Anyway, I applied for it myself. I don't think you can beat this cash back rate. No sign up money is available on this one, though. Ok, I might be able to send you $24, but we have to be sneaky about it. Email for details.
Posted by brian at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)
April 09, 2006
Recycling made easy
When I was about ten years old, I went around the neighborhood asking people for cans and bottles. I figured I'd pay them half the redemption value and keep the other half for myself. I knocked on a few doors and no one went for it except a nice old lady who gave me a couple of bags she'd been saving up. She didn't even want any money and I think I made about $3 that got turned into 12 packs of Topps baseball cards and a dozen pieces of pink, cardboard-flavored, stick gum.
Recyclebank.com pretty much ripped off my idea. They're a Philadelphia based company that pays residents for their recyclables in coupons and discounts donated by local companies ($5 off a pizza, 20% off an oil change, a free cheese steak, etc.). The company then makes money off the recyclables and charges the city for removing waste from the rubbish stream. In the pilot areas where Recycle Bank operates, recycling rates have gone from 6% to over 90%. The idea is expanding into other East Coast cities.
We recently moved and finally threw all those old batteries in the trash. Just kidding. I took them to work and put them in the battery collection box. But for all you unemployed losers, look at earth411.org to figure out where to recycle them.
If you need to recycle old cell phones, earn a few bucks at cell4cash.com. Turn in ink cartridges for money at freerecycling.com or fundingfactory.com. Finally, you can swap furniture and other random things at freecycle.org.
Posted by brian at 10:14 AM | Comments (2)
April 06, 2006
Three ways to save money on gasoline
As I was putting gas into my slightly used Lamborghini Diablo last night (or was it my Porsche 968?), I sure was happy I had two free, $10 gas cards earned through the MyPoints program. That meant I only had to pay another $20 to fill up the tank. Woo hoo. MyPoints sends you a couple of emails a day that you read (or not read). After you click on a button at the bottom of the email, you earn points that you can then redeem for stuff. I always go for the gas cards.
From April through June of this year, Discover Card is paying a 5% rebate on gas purchases. Just login to the website and click on the offer if you already have a card. So for the next three months, I'll get a $2 rebate from Discover whenever I shell out $40 for a tank of the 91 premium that my not so new Ferrari Testarossa requires. Also, Discover has introduced a gas card that permanently earns 5% cash back on gas, so if you don't have a Discover Card, you might want to apply.
Finally, Gasbuddy.com has put together a map of the U.S. showing average gas prices per county. That's not really useful day-to-day, although I'm getting excited to save $0.30 per gallon when I'm in Tucson this weekend. Woo hoo! Anyway, GasBuddy also lists gas prices of thousands of stations in a ton of cities. Just start clicking on the map.
Posted by brian at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
$102 bonus plus the "breast" bonus ever
I'm not a paid subscriber of Fark.com, so I can't read this article regarding a spoofed credit card company offering free breast implants as sign-up bonus. If anyone could forward the article, I'd appreciate it.
You need to be a member to read this article at MarketWatch, but it's free and takes less than 60 seconds to register. It describes the new craze in sign up bonuses for banks and credit cards - gift cards. Citibank is offering a $50 gift card to get their "Diamond Preferred Rewards" card, BankAtlantic is giving a $77 MasterCard to open an account and keep it open for 77 days and Third Federal Savings & Loan is giving away $100 Home Depot cards for transferring a home equity line of credit.
I don't have a home equity line of credit (much less a home), but I think I'll go for that $77 MasterCard. MarketWatch doesn't have the link, but I do.
Oh yeah, they forgot to say they'll kick in $25 for turning in unused checks from your current bank. Woo hoo!
Posted by brian at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2006
Free wireless internet
My neighbor disconnected his wireless internet. He said he never used the internet except to check his email and that it was all "crap, crap, crap" anyway . We found this out when we took cookies over to him when we moved in. He's about 70 years old and I can't really see see him downloading iTunes or posting to a blog too often. So no more free internet for us.
Anyway, here's a nice site, telling you where the free wi-fi hotspots are, including state-by-state listings of restaurants, downtown areas, airports, hotels, and even Europe.
Unfortunately, my neighborhood isn't covered. I'm hoping Google, SeaKay, or MetroFi will set up the whole Bay Area with free wireless soon, but until then, I'll have to fork out $25 per month to Comcast. Oh yeah, I don't pay the standard $45-50 per month. When the special rate runs out every three months, I just call up, threaten to cancel, and they extend the rate. That's worked since September 2003. I love you, Comcast.
Posted by brian at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)
April 02, 2006
Sell your used textbooks
You could probably sell your used textbooks back on eBay, Half.com, or at school, but for us lazy folks, Barnes and Noble has a an easy way to sell them. Punch in the ISBN number on the back of the book here and they'll tell you how much they'll pay. Print out a pre-paid postage label, drop it in the mail, and get a check a couple of weeks later.
Most of my used textbooks aren't worth anything, but one of the chemical engineering design books I haven't cracked open since my junior year in college is going for $20. Woo hoo!
Posted by brian at 02:39 PM | Comments (0)