Sweet Charity (Giving Tuesday)
We have Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and now Giving Tuesday.
Being charitable is a good thing – especially if it will get the guy next to the red kettle to stop testing your eardrums with his bell.
Some people “tithe” – which is giving 10% of one’s income. It’s like God is their agent and that is his commission. I can hear Him now, “I put you in America, how about a little something for the effort? Thank you. Me Bless.”
We hit the lottery just by being born in the good ole US of A. Everything else is gravy. Still, some folks here have legitimate needs.
It’s great to do things for charities. If you were looking for ways to be able to give more to charities, I have a few suggestions that have worked for me.
- I have a savings account at my bank that I call my “Donation Fund”. Every month I have an automatic transfer from my checking to that fund. If your bank won’t give you a free interest bearing account, set one up at Capital One 360 Savings (.75%). That pays interest, has no minimums and no monthly fees. EverBank (.86% for the first year) requires $1,500 to open the account. It’s amazing how fast those funds will grow!
- Now that I have my Donation Fund, when I get a request to Save The Tatas, Bike
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33% Off Everything at Amazon.com
UPDATE 12/3/13: It was sweet while it lasted, but this offer is now closed.
For a limited time – American Express will give you a $25 statement credit after you spend $75 at Amazon.com by 12/31/13. The catch: You must register your eligible card(s) for the promotion. To see if you’re in with the in-crowd, login to your Amex account and scroll down to see “Offers For You” (screenshot below).
My Modus Operandi: I registered my cards and then popped over here to buy Amazon e-Gift Cards. If you click my link, it will cost you the same price, but I’ll thank you today for a tiny tasty referral credit I’ll get from Amazon on Tuesday.
Buying e-Gift Cards meets the requirement and lets you leisurely spend the money at Amazon.com. I once bought gift cards for myself for $75 each, I received an email with the gift card code. I entered the code in my Amazon account and the $75 is banked in my Amazon account (screenshot below).
This does not appear to be a targeted offer. Although I received only one email about this offer, I registered my other cards here. Then, I got emails from Amex thanking me
Read More$3 for $25 Restaurant Certificates – TODAY Only
Everyone eats, right? Here is a perfect stocking stuffer / Hanukah gift idea. Today only, you can buy a $25 restaurant gift certificate for $3. Code “CYBER”.
I’m a late-adopter of Restaurant.com because it sounded too good to be true. Then I received $25 and $50 gift certificates from friends. Even though the gift certificate said that alcohol was not included, when I called to make a reservation, the restaurant/bar said alcohol could be included – so ask.
A few months ago, I picked up three. I decided not to use two of them. Both were credited back to my Restaurant.com account as two $25 credits. I can use those credits
to buy a combination of $10, $15, or $25 gift certificates to ANY Restaurants.com restaurant.
So, buy certificates now at the $3 special offer. Enjoy the restaurants you chose, or use that work-around to go to different places that they offer.
You can search by zip code or city. Certificates do not expire. This deal ends when “Cyber Monday” turns into “Regular Ole Tuesday”. Click to get some now!
Get $125 + $75 at Capital One 360 “Sale”
Shhh!!! Capital One 360 doesn’t know what “sale” means. They think it means to give away cash.
Now through Monday night ONLY, they will give you a $125 BONUS if you open a 360 Checking account and a $75 BONUS if you open a 360 Savings account. Click on the links to open your accounts.
I have both of these accounts. No Minimums. No fees. No tricks. No brainer.
Black Friday is about deals. Where else can you actually make $200 in ten minutes today?
When you get back from the jungle of credit card wielding, sleep-deprived bargain hunters, reload your bankroll!
Let me know if you have questions. Details here:
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Register Now For Shop Small – Get $10 Per Amex
Registration for Small Business Saturday is now open. Click here to register your American Express cards. You’ll get $10 statement credit per registered card when you use it to spend $10 or more in a transaction this Saturday, November 30th.
I really like this promotion because it is a win-win for small businesses and consumers. Basically, Amex is buying you something at your local business.
If you don’t have an American Express card yet, there may still be time to get in on this hot, credit card credit action. While you’re applying, here’s why you should add additional users.
American Express has many personal cards for Hotels (Starwood), Airline Miles (Gold Delta SkyMiles), Cash Back (Blue Cash Everyday & Preferred, True Earnings), Travel (Blue Sky), Miscellaneous Rewards (Gold Cards and Premier Rewards). There are also versions for Business (Gold Delta SkyMiles, Starwood, Gold Rewards, and Platinum). Click on the above links to pick a card, any card. I’m a fan of the Starwood & Delta cards.
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It’s Not Water, It’s H2O
We just had our first November rain in Los Angeles. That means it’s time for my annual post about turning off your sprinklers! Woo-Hoo!!
The reason you do that is really SEXY: Saving on your Sewer Service Charge (SSC). Hubba-hubba. My most recent bill’s SSC was $24.99. I had paid as much as $155.55 until I wised up.
I will tell you the answer first, because the explanation could put you in REM 3. If you have automatic sprinklers and you live in an area that charges you a sewer usage charge based upon water you use – you might wanna shut them off until Spring. I live in the warm and sunny Los Angeles “Valley”. I shut off my lawn sprinklers between the first rain in November until March-April.
I started doing this a few years ago and my lawn, in full sun, has not suffered a bit. Individual results may vary. Void where prohibited without the expressed written consent of Major League Baseball.
Serve your environmentalist side with your “green” stance on water conservation while currying favor with your inner capitalist by keeping “green” in your wallet!
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Do You Want $200?
Here’s an opportunity for some free money. You’ll get $200 tax free if you get the new Chase Freedom card, and spend $500 on it in the first 3 months that you have it. If you aren’t an ultra-maroon or filthy rich, you might wanna check out this link.
$500 is only $167/month x 3. Use the card to pay for your phone bill, internet, TV, gasoline, groceries, banjo lessons – whatever! Checkout my post on Amazon Payments to see how you can use the card to pay someone (maybe your landlord) money you owe. Then pay off the card with the cash that you were going to use to pay for your stuff in the first place.
No catch. The Chase Freedom card is the Visa that I carry in my wallet. I got this card years ago when they last had the $200 offer.
It never has an annual fee. It pays 1% cash back on all purchases. It pays 5% cash back on various categories that change every quarter. For example, from October 1st – December 31st, it pays 5% cash back on purchases at Amazon.com and these select department stores.
Again, this $200 is tax free, so it’s more like what you have left after paying taxes on $300 – $400 earned at your job – depending upon which tax bracket you are in.
If you and your significant other get the card, well, you’ll be able to afford roast beast and taters this Christmas!
This content is not provided or commissioned by the company whose products are featured on this site. Any opinions, analyses, reviews or evaluations provided here are those of the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the Advertiser. This site may be compensated through the Advertiser’s affiliate programs.
I Feel Like Quicken Tonight (2014)
I’ve been using Quicken for years. If you wanna dip your Fred Flintstone sized big toe in the Quicken pool, I think the Quicken Starter Edition will do just fine. Right now it is only $29.99 ($10 off). That link has a better price than what I found at Amazon. It comes with a 60-day money back guarantee. You might give it a whirl for a couple months.
I started with Quicken Deluxe, never tried Quicken Premier, and now use Quicken Home & Business.
Why’d I do that? Because I got a free upgrade!
One of the greatest things about Quicken is that with one click, it will go out to all of your financial accounts and bring in all of your new transactions. It goes to your checking, savings, CDs, credit cards, stock, retirement and brokerage accounts – and scrapes in the new info. You can see your empire in one place!
It makes tax time quick and painless – especially if you itemize deductions.
Another great feature is that Quicken 2014 comes with a free Quicken App that syncs your desktop and your iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. Now you will know exactly where your finances stand, even if you are out of town. No need to check into several bank websites. It’s all in the free Quicken app. I whipped up a li’l Chip’s Money Tips example of a Quicken account for you screenshot lovers:
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Over 17% Off Starbucks Gift Cards
Are you a coffee-achiever like Mrs. Olsen? If those nouns sound like gibberish to you, congratulations on being under 40. I’m talking about the bean, man!
This week only – CardCash is offering Starbucks gift cards at over 17% off. Click here. Then click the BUY button at top left and search “Starbucks”. It’s already 14% off, but click “Edit My Cart” to type in coupon code 4MOREOFF to fill the discount to the rim for an additional 4% off the discounted price. That comes to roughly 17.44% off. Remember: Stay away from that last drop!
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Jock Straps, Bunsen Burners and Passive Income
”Crash & Bernstein” is a TV show on Disney XD, in which I play Hank Urkhart: Coach – Science teacher. How’s that for a hyphenate? My purview is jock straps and Bunsen burners. Never the twain shall meet.
Between scenes, I was talking to the writing team who wrote the episode in which my character first appeared. Then another hyphenate, the head writer – executive producer, ambled over. He told the writing team, “You guys get another $500 this week, because Chip’s here.” It turns out there is something in the Writers’ Guild called a “character payment”. If you wrote the episode in which a character debuts, you get extra cash every episode in which that character reappears. This was my 5th time on the show. The guys get paid that extra bump even when they don’t write the episodes I’m in. Pretty sweet!
This conversation was a perfect storm for me: Comedy, Performing and Money. More specifically, Passive Income, which is income received on a regular basis with little or no effort required to maintain it. These guys worked hard coming up with Coach Urkhart, but they didn’t have to do anything else to keep getting paid for it. Even if they never worked another minute on the show, they’d still get a check in the mail every time my character came back. Nice!
Passive income was in the air that day. When I got home from the set, I was greeted with some mailbox money, a residual check from 3rd Rock From The Sun (the very first sitcom I ever did). That’s also where I had my first on-screen kiss. Unfortunately, that was with John Lithgow.
I worked two days on that episode over 16 years ago! The check was only $55, but still… it was $55! And all I had to do was reach into my mailbox.
When it comes to money, little amounts can become big amounts. Over the years, the total passive income I have received from that episode of 3rd Rock is six times what I was paid for those two days of work in 1997.
I hear ya. “Well that’s nice, ChipsMoneyTips, but I’m not a TV writer or actor. How can I get passive income?”
The first step is to squirrel away a little somethin’ somethin’ in
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