FREE 2-Day Car Rental

UPDATE: This deal is now dead. Only lasted a day or so. Good luck for those of you that made your reservations!
UPDATE #2: Just got an email from Avis and I guess they are canceling any reservations made with the coupon code. Not very impressed by Avis on this one.

Avis has a promo code right now for a FREE 2-day weekend car rental. You will have to pay for tax and fees (anywhere from $5-$30), which will depend on the city you rent the car in.

Here is what you do:

1. Go to http://www.avis.com/car-rental/avisHome/home.ac
2. Enter information and dates that INCLUDE WEEKEND dates. Enter coupon code TUEA002 on this same page. 
3. Select a car size from compact to full-size by clicking the PAY LATER option (that way you can cancel if you want to). This will NOT work if you select a car larger than full-size. Price will be adjusted on the next page. 
4. Confirm the reservation. You DON'T need a credit card to make your reservation. 

Reasons it might not work for you: 

• It has to include at least 2 weekend days. You can select a longer rental and it will give you the discount for those 2 days. 
• There are a few places it will not work in like New York, Alaska, Canada. 
• Other special events going on in the area. For example in Phoenix, you can't use the promo until after April 1st because of spring training. 
• Must be for rentals BEFORE June 30, 2013.

Give it a try! Make sure you use the Pay Later feature in case you want to cancel or modify the rental! No risk if you don't actually end up using the rental.

This seems like a pretty good deal, so I'm not sure how long it will last. If you think you might want a 2 day weekend car rental, go on and make your reservation now!

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals!

Groupon - Starbucks $10 for $5

I'm not a coffee drinker, but I know a lot of people that are. If you go to Starbucks, this is a nice little deal on Groupon.

Buy a $10 Starbucks e-gift card for only $5

If you frequent Starbucks then you might enjoy their rewards program and free birthday offer. Of course this is their way of getting more business out of you, but if you go their already you might as well sign up.

FREE Rita's Italian Ice --Today Only

Today, MARCH 20th,  Rita's Ice-Custard-Happiness is giving away FREE italian ice in a limited edition cup to ALL customers from noon to 9pm. This is their annual first day of spring give-away that they have been doing for 20 years.

Rita's is mainly on the East coast but they are continually expanding. There is one here in Phoenix where I live by the walmart on Union Hills and the 101 (along with others in Phoenix). There are currently no Rita's in California or Utah that I'm aware of, but they are opening some in California soon. Click HERE to see if there is one near you.

• If you go to Rita's a lot, you can also join their Rewards program to get a free italian ice on your 8th visit. Or...
• Sign up for their Birthday Club and get a FREE treat on your birthday. 

Have you been to Rita's? The only one I tried was Mango with vanilla custard...2 thumbs up. 

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals!

Vanilla Reloads

 

Reaching your Spending Limits

Many credit cards offer sign up bonuses where you get the bonus AFTER you meet a certain spending limit in 3 months. This is often $3k-$5k or even more. If you don't normally spend that much, this can be a challenge. Here is an interesting way to meet your spending limits on your credit cards so you can get those big bonuses.

You need 2 Things:

Bluebird Account
Vanilla Reload cards 

This is what you do:

• Get a Bluebird account and wait 4-7 days for your prepaid card to show up to you in the mail. 
• Purchase/Load $500 onto a vanilla reload card with the credit card that you want to do the spending on. The only place that I've been able to do this at is CVS and they would only let me load two $500 in a single purchase.
• There is a $3.95 fee to load the card. A credit card with 1% cash back will earn you $5, so yes there is a fee, but you end up getting it back plus an extra buck in rewards. 
• Load your $500 or $1000 (if you bought 2) to your prepaid Bluebird card at www.vanillareload.com
• Go to your Bluebird Account and there you can either pay off the credit card you made the purchase with or put the money into your bank account to pay off the credit card you made the purchase with. This service is FREE, so you are able to liquidate your cards you bought. 
• This method is even more awesome if you have a card that gives you 5% cash back at drug stores, or office supply stores, ect. CVS is a drug store and you will actually make money buying these cards with the right card. For example if you buy $1000 your fees will be about $8, but you will earn $50 in cash back so you in effect make $42. Cards that have 5% at drugstores right now until the end of the month are Citi Dividend and Chase Freedom. 

FAQ's

What is a "reload card"? 
A reload card is something you purchase at a store that allows you to put money onto a prepaid card. You can load $20-$500 on to these cards at a cash register. The PIN number is what you will use to put the money onto a prepaid card online. MyVanilla, OneVanilla, etc. are DIFFERENT from Vanilla Reload

I can't find a place that will let me purchase vanilla reloads with a credit card. Now what?
You may be out of luck. The best places to look for them are CVS stores, gas stations, or office depot. Many stores make you load the cards with cash. I've only seen them at a couple of places so far. Walgreens would not accept credit cards for me.

Where can I get Vanilla Reload cards?
There is a list of places that sell these cards at www.vanillareload.com.

Can I buy other Reload Cards and do this?
Maybe, but most reload cards have to be purchased with cash and you can't load them onto Bluebird, which offers a free way to liquidate your cards.

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals!

Related Posts:
Marriott Credit Card -Free nights + $75
Free $50 from Discover
Free $400 with NFL card
Amazon Payments
Credit FAQ and Free Credit Report
Credit Cards

Marriott Credit Card - Free Hotel stays + $75

Being in dental school and having a young family I don't travel that much, but when I do it's nice to find affordable places to stay...it's even nicer to have FREE places to stay. The Marriott credit card by Chase bank has been a great card for me and many other of my family members.

Here's what Marriott is offering right now:

• Free night at any category 1-4 Marriott hotel (Courtyard, Residence, TownePlace, ect.)
• 50,000 bonus points after you spend $1000 in 3 months. 
• One night at most hotels will be 10,000 - 30,000 points, so 50,000 points will get you 2-4 nights depending on location and brand of hotel. 
• Every year you will get another FREE hotel at any 1-5 category hotel.
• Annual fee is FREE the first year and $85 after that, but you get a free night every year so spending $85 for a 1 night stay at a Marriott is actually a really good deal. 
• $75 credit to you statement after your FIRST purchase and this purchase can be anywhere. This benefit is usually not available with this card, so right now is an awesome time to get the card via the link below. This deal was not around when I got the card so I missed out on this. 

My wife and I both got one so we have been able to go on a couple mini vacations for FREE. We went to San Diego and this weekend we are going to Los Angeles. We like the Residence Inn because they have a good breakfast and many also offer a free Dinner Mon-Thurs.

I actually ended up canceling my Marriott card because I didn't want to pay the $85 annual fee. I canceled it the day before my 1 year mark (cell phone calendar!) and I later saw that they already processed my free annual hotel stay, so I ended up getting an extra free night (your rewards account stays active even if you don't have the credit card).

This is definitely a credit card that I want to get again soon. Yes, you can get the same card again after canceling it. You usually just have to wait 6-12 months. They have already started emailing me asking to apply again.

Sign up >>>HERE<<<

Yes, there are other hotel rewards cards out there, but this is the only one that I've gotten so far and I don't like to write about things I haven't personally done. Tell us what hotel rewards card you have used and if you would recommend it or not.

WARNING: DON'T get this or any other credit card if you aren't going to be responsible with it! See previous post about Credit Cards.

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals!

Previous relevant posts:
Credit Cards
Credit Card FAQ and FREE credit Reports
$400 NFL Card
$50 Discover Card
Reaching your spending limits

FREE Passive Cash Back - LIMITED TIME

Great Bridge Group

A friend of mine, Bobby, recently told me about a new consumer research company called "Great Bridge Group." They collect consumers credit and debit card transaction data and use it for their research and marketing. They have only been around for a short period, are still in beta, and are still  expanding their research panal.

In brief:

What THEY get from you: Your credit or debit transaction information for their research.

What YOU get from them: They will give you 0.25% of all your transaction up to $60 every 3 months. That can add up to $240 every year.

Here are the key points:

• They promise to keep your information anonymous and secure. They use Yodlee, which is used by Paypal, Citi, Mint.com, and hundreds of other financial institutions to process your secure information. 
• They will pay your payout every 3 months. This is a long time, but the first people that have signed up have reported that they are getting paid. I waited to hear from other users about receiving their payout before making this post to make sure it's legit. 
• They will pay you via paypal or amazon gift cards. Default payout is amazon gift cards, so I would change that once you create your account. 
• If you don't have that many transactions, you won't get much cash from them as 0.25% is not that much, but all you have to do is link your cards and nothing else. Even a couple of dollars every few months is cool. 

Check out their website and FAQ's for more information. GreatBridgeGroup.com 

YOU can still enroll, but who knows how long they will keep it open. As of right now, they say you can be guaranteed a spot until MARCH 8th. Because it's a market research panel, they only need a certain amount of each type of demographic so slots may fill up quick for some types.  

You may be apprehensive about providing your login information to a new company and that's understandable. I've researched it and think that it is a legit and pretty cool company. I've emailed them and they also responded very quickly to my emails. If you don't want to register your card yet, just create an account now to guarantee a spot on the panel. You can always link your cards later.

Also if you sign up via the link below you will get a bonus $5 just for signing up and linking a card.

Sign up >>>HERE<<<

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals and ideas!

Cheap Internet

EVERYONE has the internet right? What do you pay for your internet? You can probably get it for a lot cheaper. Here are somethings that I have found to get the cheapest internet.

• Switch between internet providers every 6 months. Yes, this can be a hassle, but it can actually save you hundreds of dollars a year. For example, Cox and Centurylink where I live have $14.99 or $19.99 offers going on all the time. You could just jump from one promotional offer to the next. 
• There are even incentives to sign up or comeback to an internet provider. Like THIS offer: currently Centurylink will give you $100 visa card to switch back to them or if you are a new customer. 
• By just calling to cancel, you can also get a huge discount on your bill. You can also just call to ask for a cheaper price. Call and ask to speak with the "retention department" and tell them you want a cheaper price. If you know the price that you could get with another company, tell them and they will be much more likely to give you a cheaper discount. For example, when I called they immediately offered $10 off my bill, but I told them the price I was going to get with another company and they dropped the price down another $15 and kept my internet speed the same. You can always call again and talk to another customer service rep. or a manager. 
• CenturyLink has a low income internet/internet basic application that is very good. Check it out HERE to see if you qualify. 
• If you qualify you can get:
• 1.5 mpbs for $9.99
• 3-7mpbs for $14.99 
• 12 mpbs for $19.99 
• Bundling might also help get you a cheaper price, but I don't need a landline and bundling almost always includes a phone service. This makes the price much more expensive for me. 

I don't have satellite or cable so these things might be easier/best for those that only want internet service. 

So what do I pay? I have 20mpbs speed internet for $27/month including taxes/fees with Cox. This will last me a year and then I may switch to Centurylink and their low income/internet basic pricing. Maybe you pay less than that? Tell us what speed you have, what you pay, and how you got the price in the comments!

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals and ideas!

Buying a Car

This last week has been my spring break, so you would think I would have had time to make more posts. I guess not. One thing that I did was buy a new (used) car so I thought I would share my experience and thoughts on buying a used car on craigslist or other similar sites.

• Compile a list of questions and call to set up a test drive. You don't want to set up a test drive only to find out that the car smells of smoke. Asking questions on the phone will save you time.
• Do a little bit of research on the car you are going to go see or test drive. This should include the  Kelly Blue Book and Edmunds prices for a private sale. If they are asking $10,000 and the KBB and Edmunds price shows $9,500, you can use that as negotiation. 
• Don't text - you can get a lot of information or a 'feeling' about the seller by talking to them.
• Ask for a car fax/car history report. If they don't want to pay to get one, then you can run one yourself. Just have them give you the car VIN. You will want the basic history of the car to make sure nothing is weird. It costs money to get a history report ($5-$30 depending on who you use to get the report) so I would only purchase a report after you know you want to car so you don't end up paying for a report on every car you look at. 
• Being able to pay for the car with cash can give you some negotiating power. Sellers don't want to have to deal with the hassle of their buyer getting a loan, etc.
• If you find a car you like, but are not sure about the car's condition you can always have it inspected by a mechanic. Sure it might cost you $50 to get it inspected, but it could save you hundreds when the mechanic finds things wrong with the car. It'll give you more negotiating power and peace of mind. 
• Finally, trust your instincts. If you are unsure about a deal, don't be afraid to look for something else. 

So what car did I end up getting?...Yep, I'm officially a mini-van dad. Yikes. 

One reason I chose to get a car on craigslist/private sale is because in Arizona there is NO sales tax on a private sale. Other states do have sales tax on these transactions and in those states it may be more appealing to get a certified used car. 

Many of you probably have other great ideas and more experience than me (I've only bought a few cars), so please feel free to share...

If you LIKE what you've read, LIKE us on Facebook for more awesome deals and ideas!