Everyone who makes enough money to actually pay taxes dreads filing taxes in the spring. However, even some people who make a considerable amount of money will get a good tax return because they know how to play the game. Even if some people don’t get a return at all, they may end up breaking even with the government.
No monetary exchange either way during tax season is definitely better than having to write the government a fat check! Here are a few ways that you can ensure you get the best possible tax return.
Be a Proactive Tax Payer
One way to ensure that you get a better tax return is to start organizing and calculating your tax information before the end of the year. This way, you’ll be able to get in on last-minute deals and gifts that may help your taxes at the beginning of next year. After December 31st, it’s too late, so it’s best that you don’t procrastinate and that you get to your taxes by the beginning of December, at least.
Get Organized!
You can also help yourself out by being organized throughout the whole year. Depending on your situation, there are different things that you can write off. For example, people who work for an employer still need to keep home improvement receipts, investment records, and records of their charitable donations.
If you’re self-employed and work from home, you need even more, including rent or mortgage statements, office supply receipts, and even bills for your internet, which can all be written off on some level for most self-employed people.
Fatten Up Your IRA
If you have an IRA, you need to maximize your contributions to it as much as possible because they’ll get you tax breaks. You can actually claim contributions to your IRA on last year’s taxes up through mid-April, so this is something that you can catch up on even if you’ve been procrastinating.
Giving Benefits
Finally, be sure that you’re correctly tracking and recording your charitable donations. Making donations to non-profit organizations is a great way to give back to your community even while receiving tax benefits, but you have to record these donations correctly. For instance, some companies incorrectly write down charitable donations as business expenses, which can create problems in the tax world.
Also, if you’re giving something valued over $500, be sure that you get a proper appraisal and receipts from the charitable organization so that you can legitimately claim the whole amount on your taxes.
It was reported that in this year’s Christmas season, gift cards were a pretty popular fad. With that being said, retail store employees are out to get them back.
Apparently, there have been cases where you hand the clerk your gift card and they’ll turn around and pocket the card. Then they’ll hand you an empty card that looks identical to yours apologizing for the fact that the card doesn’t seem to be working. All of this while your standing there wondering what could have happend.
Once you leave, they smile at the new fully loaded gift card sitting in their pocket. The best way to prevent this from happening is by putting your initials on the gift card with a permanent marker before you attempt to use it. Or you could just use your card online for retailers that have an online store.
Otherwise, just ask for cash.
If you are a current Chase Credit Card Holder and are looking to open a new checking account, here’s a great chance to make $125 in doing so. Chase is offering a $125 bonus when you open a new Chase checking account. This promotion is only available for Chase cardholders; you must be logged in to see the promotion page.
Here are a few details mentioned on the promo page:
- To qualify for the reward you must open a new Chase Checking account
- A $100 minimum opening deposit of new money
- Within 60 calendar days of account opening, you must initiate a monthly direct deposit
- The award will be deposited into your new account within 10 days after the initial direct deposit has posted to your account
- Offer not available on account conversions or in combination with any other offer
- Checking account must remain open for a minimum of 6 months
The offer is open until 1/15/2010. If you’d like to learn more about this deal, login to your account through This Link.
Franklin Synergy Bank has their 12 month eCD rate at 2.15%. The minimum deposit is $1,000 and the maximum is $500,000. It seems this rate has actually been decreased; last week it was sitting at 2.25%.
The account can be opened online and is available nationwide. The rate is listed on their eProducts Page.
If you’ve been shopping around for cheap auto insurance online, you may have noticed that a lot of insurance these days doesn’t come cheap. This is especially true if you’ve recently gotten ticketed, caused an accident or if you’re a young driver. You can, however, find a few good ways to save on your insurance through shopping around correctly and through asking about special discounts.
Shop Around
The first and most important way to find cheap auto insurance online is to get quotes from as many companies as possible. You can do this easily through different websites that will allow you to compare quotes from separate companies at the same time, or you can go to the websites of different companies and get separate quotes. Just be sure that you’re comparing like for like – that is, be sure that when you’re comparing premiums, you’re looking at plans that have similar deductibles and coverage amounts.
Look for Discounts
Almost all auto insurance companies will give discounts of some sort to various customers. If you fit into any of the following categories, ask about a discount for your auto insurance:
- Extra Automobile Features
Often, car insurance companies will give auto insurance discounts for safety features like automatic seatbelts and anti-lock brakes, and they may also give full coverage discounts for security features like built-in alarm systems.
- Good Driver
If you’re looking for cheap auto insurance online, check to see if the company you’re looking at gives discounts for a clean driving record. For the most part, companies will only look at your accident and ticket record for the past three years, but sometimes they will check out your five year record. If you’ had a clean record for this amount of time, you may be able to save a substantial amount of money on your car insurance premium.
- Multiple Policies
If you have your homeowner’s or renter’s insurance with a particular company, check to see if they’d offer you discounted car insurance. Also, if you insure more than one car with the same company, you may be able to get a discounted rate on one or both cars. Either way, it will save you money.
Find Cheap Auto Insurance Online
Between the money you’ll save by shopping around for car insurance and the money you’ll save by finding good discounts, you can definitely find really cheap auto insurance online. Just be sure that you use both techniques at once. Otherwise, you may not realize that one company’s discounted rate is the exact same as another company’s regular rate, and you may end up still spending more money than you need to.
Thrivent Financial Bank is giving you a $50 bonus when you open a new Thrivent Rewards Checking account. All you have to do is simply open an account by 12/31/09.
Here are a few benefits of opening a Thrivent Rewards Checking account:
- Free unlimited online bill-pays per month.
- Free access to all of your financial accounts online through one easy-to-use tool – FinanceWorks.
- Free automatic transfers.
The promotion is available nationwide, just call 800-688-6031 and mention Checking1109. Click Here for the promo page.
Here’s to economic recovery! Union Bank has a $200 checking bonus when you open a new Signature Banking checking account. The account must be opened by 01/31/2010.
Establish 2 of the following services, and you’re on your way to an extra $200:
- 3 Online bill payments
- Monthly direct deposits
- 5 debit card purchases
You can call, 800-818-6060, or visit a Local Branch to open an account. Click Here for the promo page.
National City has extended their $300 checking bonus to 12/19/09. This same deal was posted back in November, but is now updated with a new look and new expiration date.
The requirements are the same:
- Get your first $100:
Establish a monthly direct deposit of at least $400 and having 10 check card purchases in the first 60 days of the account.
- Get your second $100:
In addition to maintaining your direct deposit, complete an additional 25 check card purchases by 3/31/2010.
- Get your third $100:
Maintain your monthly direct deposit and complete an additional 25 Check Card purchases by 5/31/2010.
Since you have to open the account at a Local Branch, the promotion is only available to residents of FL, IL, IN, KY, MI, MO, OH, PA and WI. This promotion is not advertised on their website, however, you can view the ad Here or call (888) 622-4932 for more ionformation.
Alliant Credit Union has their 12 month regular CD at 2.00% APY for all amounts up to $24,999.99; the minimum balance required for this account is $1,000. This rate is accurate as of 12/04/2009, and at the rate these CD’s keep changing, it’s best to act fast. Their 12-month to 48-month CDs are all very competitive.
You can check out the rest of their rates Here. Below are a few things to note:
- If you’re thinking about opening an account, you can open one by phone, at a branch, by mail and via online banking.
- In order to open a CD, you must be a member with a minimum $5 balance in the savings account.
- You may withdraw the dividends earned on the Certificate without incurring a penalty.
- There is a 10 day grace period at maturity.
Alliant Credit Union also has another deal going on for all checking account holders. When you sign up to use Online Bill Pay, which is free, you’re automatically entered to win either $1,000, $500 or $250. The more bills you pay, the more chances you have to win. The winners will be randomly selected on 1/15/2010. You can learn more about this promotion Here.
Recently, we mentioned that Ally Bank was at the height of all 12 month CD’s in the market of major banks. Well ING Direct has raised its 12 month CD from 1.75% to 2.00% APY. Nice!
The only question is: how long will this rate last? Well that’s up to ING. For now, all serious depositors should rush to ING Direct and get their hands on this bad boy. This raise went into effect 12/11/2009. Here’s their latest rates:
Click Here to open an account.
Discover’s got their 5% cashback deal nicely laid out for the next 9 months. This month, you can earn 5% cashback on all grocery store, restaurant and movie purchases. From January to March, you can earn 5% cashback on all travel purchases.
To earn the extra cashback, you’ll have to sign up for each period. Right now, the signup for December is open as well as the signup for the January-March period.
Interested? Click Here to see all cashback bonuses for the next 9 months.
Ally Bank is still sitting at on top of the 12-month CD market, in regards to the popular banks we are all well aware of. Their 12 month CD has a 1.89% APY with no minimum deposit required.
Ally Bank is popular for not requiring a minimum deposit. Another key point is the only fee they’ll charge is when you withdraw your money before the term ends. Opening an account is pretty straightforward and easy to use.
Here’s their rate comparison chart:
The rates shown are only based on California. If you’d like to learn more about Ally Bank, Click Here.
Here’s an update to one of the easiest bank deals in all of bank bonuses history. PerkStreet Financial has increased their $50 checking bonus to $100! The only reason this is such a big deal is because the requirement is simply open an account and Voila! $50 bucks in your pocket. But now, it’s a whopping $100 in your pocket!
As mentioned, it’s as simple as spending money. You just open a free checking account with a minimum deposit of $25. Then, just leave it open for 3 months, and you’ve got yourself a hundred bucks.
The promotion is set to expire 12/31/09. Click Here to access the promo page.
Zecco Forex is offering a $100 cash bonus when you open and fund a new online trading account. You have to open the account and perform a few requirements by 12/18/09.
Here’s what you do:
- Open an online trading account with Zecco Forex
- Make your deposit before 12/18/2009 5pm (ET)
- Make 3 round-trip trades before 12/18/2009 5pm (ET)
- Collect your $100 bonus!
A round-trip trade is defined as both the purchase and sale of either 1 or more standard, mini, or metal lots.
Here’s the bonus layout:
You can access the promo page at This Link. Happy Trading!
Thanks to Charles for the heads up on this deal.
GreenBank is offering a $100 bonus when you open a new checking account. The deal is fairly easty to obtain. Just follow a few steps listed below:
- Complete the registration form, which can be Found Here, and click submit.
- Open a new checking account within 60 days of your registration. You can visit a Local Branch or Apply Online.
- Complete the program requirements for your account:
-Personal Checking: Two direct deposit transactions of at least $100 each within 60 days of account opening
-Business Checking: One Business Check Card purchase and one online BillPay of at least $100 within 45 days of account opening
- Once your have opened a new checking account and completed all program requirements, you will receive a certificate valid for a $100 Visa Gift Card.
Below are a few fine print details:
- This offer is available to new customers who currently don’t have a checking account at GreenBank.
- All registrations must match name and address provided to GreenBank at the time of account opening.
- Please allow up to 4-6 weeks for receipt of your gift after completing program requirements.
- Closing an account prior to completing program requirements will result in disqualification.
To read more about this bonus and register, Click Here.
Citizens Bank has a holiday special that gets you an extra $100 in your pocket. To get started, open a qualifying checking account by 12/15/09.
Here’s how to get your bonus:
- $50 for setting up direct deposit of $50 or more
- $25 for making 5 online bill payments
- $25 for making 5 signature-based debit card or credit card purchases
The requirements must be met by 12/31/09, and the bonus will be payed out by 2/27/2010. Click Here to access the promotion page.
Black Friday is now 3 days away and ING Direct has something up their sleeves for consumers that are looking to save.
They’re Black Friday Sale: Save ‘Til You Drop is posted and ready to be launched this Friday, 11/27. The guys over at MyBankTracker were tipped off on a few juicy details of what to expect out of this sale.
Here’s the information from MyBankTracker:
- ING DIRECT will offer $683 off Easy Orange and Orange Mortgage closing costs for anyone who applies on Black Friday. Why $683? That’s what the average American will spend on gifts this holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation.
- On Cyber Monday, November 30, ING DIRECT’s brokerage, ShareBuilder, will offer a 20% rebate on trades to help investors save money while they grow their investments.
- The Orange CD special will be announced Here on Black Friday.
- The Electric Orange checking account special will be announced Here on Black Friday.
All of this will be officially released at This Link 3 days from now, 11/27.
Feel like you want to spend $100 but you only have $50 in you wallet? Well you’ve come to the right place! Tomorrow, 11/24, you can purchase a $100 American Express Gift Card for only 50 bucks!
Get your clicks ready for this one at midnight tonite, they’re only going to be offering 75 of these bad boys. Click Here!
Chase is offering a $100 bonus when you open a Chase Business checking account. The requirements for this deal are pretty similar to they’re regular checking account bonus.
The promotion is set to expire 12/31/09. Here’s what you do to get your bonus:
- Go Here and enter your email.
- Print out the e-mail you receive.
- Bring it to your nearest Chase Branch.
- Open a new qualifying business checking account with a deposit of $500 or more.
In order to avoid account fees, you’ll have to complete one of the following requirements:
- Have 5 or more debit card purchases posted to your checking account each statement period .
- Link the checking account to a Chase Business Credit Card that is not delinquent, closed, charged off, or revoked and as long as the card balance exceeds $0 at least once during the current checking account statement cycle.
- Link the checking account to a Chase Premier Checking or Chase Premier Platinum Checking personal checking account.
- Maintain a monthly average balance of $4,000 to $7,500 (depending on region) in the checking account.
Click Here to visit the promotion page.
For those of you that haven’t heard yet, Discover launched their newly released iPhone/iPod Touch app yesterday. This is great news for Discover customers; they’re probably thinking, “Finally!”
Well here’s how to get started:
- Go to m.discover.com from your mobile browser.
- Log in with your Discover.com User ID and Password.
- Voila! You’ve got yourself Discover on-the-go.
Now you have no excuse for overspending this holiday season! Below are the benefits of this app:
- You can make payments
- You can see recent transactions and payment history
- And you can track your rewards and sign up for programs
Click Here to learn more about Discover’s new app.
