American Express used to let you get one of their cards, haul in the big sign-up bonus, cancel the card, and repeat.  You just had to put more than 365 days between when you cancelled the first card and applied for the new one.

After April 30th, they are putting the kibosh on that.  You will only be allowed one sign-up bonus per lifetime.  They have had this once-in-a-lifetime in their pocket for quite a while, but have not enforced it, instead graciously forking over the bonuses for years.  (I have tens of thousands of airline miles and hotel points to prove it – thank you Amex!).

But word on the street is that stops in less than two weeks.

So, if you have had an Amex card in the past, and would like to get another sweet sign-up bonus, this is probably the last call to lather, rinse and repeat.  You gotta be approved before May 1st to get another sign-up bonus.

In “Results of My April “App-Aloosa” I went into detail as to how I picked up my four favorite Amex cards (Delta Gold SkyMiles & Starwood Preferred Guest cards).  Check out my thoughts on Starwood Points here and Delta SkyMiles here.  Of course, Amex has many other cards.

Click on Chip’s Favorite Credit Card Offers for up-to-date deals, terms, and conditions on these cards and more.  Email me if you have any questions about which card might be right for your situation.  Click here for a handy way to meet spending requirements.

The only thing better than getting a tax refund is knowing when you will get it.  Track it like a Shadow Wolf by popping over to IRS.gov.

The Feds have gotten lots of grief recently for website ineptitude.  But the IRS site is pretty good.  Check it out.  Yes, I am suggesting you spend some of your free time browsing the Internal Revenue Service website.  Do I know how to have fun or what?

Is Future-You sleeping on a cot eating kibble?

If you figure Social Security will tide you over in your Geezer-dom, see how much you have socked away at SSA.gov.

A recent EBRI survey revealed that 36% of Americans have virtually nothing saved for retirement (less than $1,000 in savings and investments).  Those 36 percent-ers probably assume Social Security will cover them.  Or maybe they figure they won’t live that long, like the folks on Sugar Mountain or in Logan’s Run.

When you check out your SSA stash, keep mind that your estimated benefit is a future-dollar that will not stretch as far as today’s dollar.

For example, let’s say that in 20 years, you were going to collect $2,000 a month as an old fogey.  Not too shabby.  You may have to forego your country club membership, but that’ll cover your apartment and some biscuits and gravy to chomp on, right?  Maybe.  First,  you gotta factor in inflation.  The average annual inflation rate since 1913 is about 3%.

$2,000 in 20 years at 3% inflation will buy what $1,107 does today.  How far does $1,107 go for you in 2014?  Will that keep you in the lifestyle to which you have become accustomed?

I say this not to bum you out, but to motivate you to squirrel away a few bucks into an individual retirement account (IRA).

Get that snowball rolling this week.  Start by opening an IRA at E-Trade.  That’s where I have my IRA (what can I say?  I was sucked in by the talking baby commercials).  You have until April 15th to make a contribution to your IRA for 2013.  You can decide what you want to invest in at a later date.  The important thing is to open an account and put some money in your IRA.

Plug your SSA benefit number in this calculator to see where you stand:

Some people get a new smartphone more frequently than they change their smoke detector batteries. Sprint customers can upgrade their phone every 12 – 22 months at a discounted price.  Being eligible for a Sprint upgrade, I could buy a brand new iPhone 5s for $199.99.  I don’t need a new phone, but I bought it anyway – to sell it.  Yes, I’m dabbling in a little mo’ arbitrage.  The iPhone 5s goes for about $500 on Craigslist and eBay.

Pulling the trigger, I jumped on Sprint.com and used my upgrade offer to buy it.  Although I could have picked it up at a Sprint store, I had them ship it to me for free.  When it arrived, I snapped a few pix and posted it on eBay for a “Buy It Now” price of $497.  5 hours and 22 minutes later, it was sold!  I slapped an eBay mailing label on the box it came in and sent it on to its new owner in Missouri.

Besides my affinity for a deal, there was a bigger reason that I did this. I have an

Tax Day is less than six weeks away.  Some will get refunded a portion of the free loan that they gave the government.  Others will be scrambling at the 11th hour to come up with cash to pay The Man, man.  In both cases, the IRS Approved website payUSAtax.com MAY be a good option for you.  Maybe.

PayUSATax allows you to “Pay personal and business taxes by credit or debit card”.  There is a convenience fee of 1.87% if you use a credit card and $2.79 if you use a debit card.  Generally speaking, both of those are a waste of money.  For every $1,000 paid in taxes with a credit card, they take another $18.70 scoop in convenience fees.

But… here are 5 Ways using a card can be a GOOD idea:

1. It is not a cash advance.  So if you are tapped out, but know you are going to have money to cover it later, you could slap it on a card that has a 0% introductory interest rate for 12-18 months.  Then pay the card off when you have the cash. 
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My agent instructed me to bring a passport to my audition for a spot that would shoot in Brazil.  At the casting office, I realized that my borderline OCD organization skills failed me.

I forgot it.  Then I realized I had scanned a copy of my passport into my computer at home.  Well played, borderline OCD!  So I whipped out my phone, clicked on my Carbonite app, and selected a file I cleverly called “Passport”.  Calamity avoided.

You can access any files you back up on Carbonite from any computer with internet access or smartphone.  That’s pretty handy.

Carbonite has a 15-Day Free Trial.  If you use this referral link to sign up, and decide to buy the service, you will get a $20 gift card.  You get unlimited backup to The Carbonite Cloud for only $5/month.  I just signed up for another 3 years.  I have over 500GB of photos, videos, music, spreadsheets and documents on Carbonite.

The girlfriend got a new car last week.  The dealership offered her $2,200 for her 11 year old chariot.  Kelley Blue Book said it was worth $4,832 if sold to a private party.  She considered donating it for the tax write-off.

No doubt inspired by my tour-de-force performance as Pie Eating Contestant #4 in the CarMax “Slow Clap” spot from The Big Game, she pulled in to CarMax.

They gave her a firm offer of $4,000, in writing.  Their offer was good for a week.  That trip to CarMax was worth an extra $1,800 in her pocket!  Nice work.  See screenshots below.

By the way, when did saying “Super Bowl” turn into something verboten like uttering “MacBeth” in a theatre?

I don’t get anything for this, but you might actually want to check out CarMax if you are unloading your old car.  Tell them Blueberry Bart sent you.