Slate has no annual fee so you don’t have to worry about paying your card of and closing it before the fee hits and comes with a nice feature from Chase called “Blueprint”. Blueprint is different because it helps you to get out of debt faster. You have four different ways to “categorize” each purchase based on when you want to pay it off. “Full Pay” lets you pay off the purchase in full to avoid paying any interest. “Split” allows you to pay off a large purchase and set it the pay off date by a certain month or amount. “Finish it” helps you pay off your balance faster. Chase does the math and presents you with an option that works based on your individual needs. “Track It” helps you analyze your purchases and see how well your budgeting. Visit Blueprint for more details.

All in all this is a great little card to help you budget and offers you unique solutions to help get out of debt all with a great APR for 15 months. Visit Chase Slate to apply or to learn more.

You normally see applications for this card at booths outside of football stadiums with cheesy sign-up offers like a free towel, mug, or shirts. They prey on the unsuspecting (usually inebriated) fan to sign up for another credit card for a small gift so this $200 bonus is a nice surprise. This incentive wont last long so apply today before it expires. The NFL Extra Points credit card is issued by Barclays and gives you 1% cash back option on all of your purchases. 20,000 bonus points will be deposited into your account within 3o days of making your first balance transfer or purchase with your new card. Cash advances and checks used to access your account do not count for this promotion.

This offer is valid for first time NFL cardholders and Barclays has a nice disclosure attached that says if you happen to open another account and get two or more incentives they may revoke the bonus points at any time or charge your account for the “fair value” of the bonus. Extra Points will expire if you have no activity in a four year period.

As stated earlier Barclays give you 1 point for every dollar you spend with your card. You can redeem those points for NFL merchandise for your favorite team, unique fan experiences, gift cards, or statement credit once you earn $25. You also get 20% off all of your NFL website purchases.

Visit the Extra Points Visa website here for full details and to apply.

Many cards today offer up to 5% rewards programs. Lets say you owe $10,000 on your taxes and use your rewards card to pay your taxes. 5% of 10k is $500, which is basically money in your pocket. Take that $500 in cash back and effectively lower your tax bill to $9500. Hopefully you do not get stuck owing 10k to the IRS but it’s a good example.

Another great reason to pay with a credit card is because every purchase offers you a “grace” period before you have to pay the card company back. I look at it as an interest free loan for a month or two. Lets say I charge my taxes to my card on April 1st. My credit card statement closes March 30th and I don’t have to pay that balance until my due date on April 20th. I effectively gave myself an extra two months to pay my taxes!

Over the last few years we have seen various services pop up which enabled you to funnel your tax bills through them but they had pretty substantial fees with most being around 4-5 percent. Now there is a service called PayUSAtax. What makes PayUSAtax different is that they only charge 1.89% when you pay with a credit card and a flat fee of $3.49 to pay with your debit card. They also give you the flexibility to use most major credit card types. PayUSAtax accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Pulse,Star,NYCE, and a few other debit card processors. The only major card they do not accept is American Express, mainly because AMX usually charges more to accept payments than say Visa or MC.

If you accidentally overpay your tax bill the IRS will cut you a check or actually issue you I bonds from the US Treasury which offer a pretty good return. You can also look at prepaying your taxes if you have a credit card which only offers a high bonus for the first few months.

Check out the payUSAtax site at https://www.payusatax.com/ for more information.

The terms above are pretty simple to meet but the account must also stay opened for at least six months and be used as your “primary” checking account. Bonuses will be deposited within 6-8 weeks after you meet each requirement. Anchor bank states that a direct deposit must be from a payroll, pension, social security, or other government checks but we have reports that ACH pushes from other Banks also count.

This offer is only available to new customers of AnchorBank and changing your existing account will not qualify you for this incentive. Visit http://www.anchorbank.com/basiccomparison.asp for account comparison. The “Free” account has a $0 balance requirement but there is a fee of $4.95 for online bill pay. The “Direct” package requires a monthly direct deposit to avoid a $9 monthly service fee but comes with free bill pay. Choose the account that works best for you but make sure you leave the account open for at least six months or risk losing your incentive.

Visit AnchorBank at http://www.anchorbank.com/freemoneyhugs/for more details and to apply.

Why did I get this check?

If you remember, claim forms were mailed to effected customers of Bank Of America, Chase, Visa, Mastercard, Bank One, First USA, Washington Mutual/Providian, Citibank, Diners Club, HSBC, and MBNA in late 2007. The claim form asked a series of questions about your use of credit/ATM cards overseas and if you were charged a transaction fee while using the card internationally between February 1, 1996 and November 8, 2006. The forms then had to be mailed back or faxed to the claim administrator no later than May 30th 2008. If you submitted a claim after that date it was denied. Flash forward to 2011 and the litigation was finally settled. The Banks set up a fund of $336,000,000 to pay for damages, attorneys fees, and other expenses.

The courts into a final payment authorization on October 5th 2011. The settlement administrator started distributing checks to claimants during q4 and expect all 10 million checks to be mailed by January 31, 2012. Seeing as how there were so many people involved in this suit checks are being distributed by region. There is no need to contact anyone if you have not received your check yet.

How did they determine my payment amount?

Your payment amount was determined based on which option you selected on the claim form. Option 1 was a flat $25 dollar check. Option 2 asked you about your time spent internationally and whether it was for business or leisure. The courts then used an algorithm to approximate how much you spent in fees and issued a check based on that. Option three asked you which specific cards you used overseas and exactly how much you spent on fees. Most people close option one but because there were many more people involved in the suit the $25 payment dropped to about $13. I chose option two and received $33 and some change even though I personally spent a lot more in fees.

What does this check look like?

The check came via USPS and was smaller than a post card. If I had not opened it and saw that it was a check I would have thrown it away! Make sure you pay close attention to your mail if you remember filling out the claim form a few years ago because you should be getting a check. A copy of my check is below to give you a heads up as to what it looks like.

Visit www.CCFSettlement.com for more information and to contact the necessary parties if you do not receive your check.

Flash forward to 2012- There is now a way to get money out of your PayPal account and into your hands within a few minutes! Coinstar and PayPal have entered into a new partnership that gives you the ability to walk directly into your local grocery, convenience, or drug store and get money directly from the stores customer service desk! No more waiting for days to get your money. Coinstar has actually made the process extremely easy.

 How to withdraw money from your PayPal account at a local Coinstar machine:

1. Go to your nearest participating grocery store that has a Coinstar machine. (Note: not all Coinstar locations are currently participating in the program. Visit www.coinstar.com for a complete list of stores you can withdraw money at.)
2. Select “Paypal” from the on screen menu and enter your login credentials for Paypal (typically your email address and password).
3. Enter the amount of money you would like to withdraw.
4. Take the receipt printed by the Coinstar machine to the stores customer service desk and an agent will then hand you cash.

Not only can you get money out of your Paypal account you can also deposit money! Want to buy something online and have some extra coins laying around? Take them to your local Coinstar machine and deposit them into your Paypal account. What I like most about this feature is the fact that I can now add money to my account instantly. As with withdrawing money if you want to simply add money to your PayPal account you have to fund it with your checking account which takes days. There is a way to add money via credit card but then you get hit with cash advance fees and a high interest rate from your credit card company.

How to add money to your PayPal account:

1. Visit a participating Coinstar machine and select the add funds to “Paypal” option.
2. Enter your login information.
3. Deposit either coins or cash into the machine.
4. Check your PayPal account balance when you get home!

The fine print:

Fees- As with any service there are associated fees. The great thing about this is that the fees are really minimal considering the benefit received by getting instant cash. If you deposit money via Coinstar they charge 5.9% for coins, and $3 flat transaction fee if you deposit cash. The regular transaction fee Coinstar charges to process coins is around 8-9 percent so depositing the money into Paypal and then withdrawing to your checking account is a cheaper route. If you want to withdraw money from your Paypal account they only charge a flat $3 fee! That is the best benefit by far for me. I will gladly pay $3 to get my money instantly.

Minimum/Maximums: The minimum amount of money you can load is 1 cent and the maximum you can load to your PayPal account via Coinstar is $500 per month. If you choose to withdraw for cash the minimum amount is $8 and a maximum of $200 per day and $500 per month.

Lose your voucher or enter the wrong PayPal email address? Contact Coinstar immediately and they will help. I once accidentally threw away a voucher while eating lunch and they were able to check the machine history and immediately void the voucher over the phone.

Does my Coinstar machine participate? Currently Albertsons, Minyards, Brookshires, and Super 1 foods in the Dallas/Forth Worth metroplex are participating with more cities coming soon.

Visit Paypal here for more FAQ’s and to see if your local groceries are participating in the program.

Discover is typically not one of the primary banks you think of when you think good credit card offers, but this changes the game. Many have made thousands of interest free cash simply by depositing this “free” money into high interest checking accounts or investing wisely with the money. The choice is yours, but act quickly before Discover pulls this offer. The standard offer for this card comes with a 3% BT transfer fee.

Additional benefits:

• Earn up to 5% cash back on purchases. Discover has rotating quarterly rotating bonus categories that pay a pretty penny.
• Earn 1% cash back on any other regular purchase (the first $3,000 you spend yearly only earns .25%).
•  Choose from more than 100 card designs.
• Auto rental insurance.

Additional information:

• Balance transfer must post to your account by July 10th to receive it fee free. After that, the standard 3% will apply.
• Discover More card has no annual fee.
• Do not use this card for purchases if you plan to take advantage of the balance transfer. If you choose to, make sure you understand the payment allocation.
• Never be late. If your payment is even 1 day late Discover may reserve the right to end your promotional rate.

Visit the Discover website here to apply and for more details.

Spirit is definitely one of the “no frills” airlines but during this tough economic time many welcome the approach. I personally love them because they fly nonstop from DFW to Vegas and are even lower than Southwest. This card also gives you more miles than most airline cards – 2 miles per dollar spent on every purchase versus 1 mile on other cards. Get preferred boarding as well as domestic priority check in as a card member. Pay no annual fee for the first year and there is no limit to the amount of miles you can earn per year. After the first year, the annual fee for World MasterCard accounts is $59 and $19 for Platinum Plus cards.

If you are able to spend at least $10,000 in purchases every year Spirit will also give you an extra 5,000 bonus miles. That can seem like a hefty amount of spending but check out Amazon payments and some of the other payment processing sites out there to rack up those free miles.

Additional terms:

• 15,000 bonus miles will be deposited into your Spirit account on the close of your billing cycle that you made the first purchase on.
• 5,000 anniversary miles are posted within 4 to 6 weeks after the first full year of card membership.
• You have to be an active member of the Free Spirit Miles program in order to use the miles. Which means, you must use your card at least once per month.
• Award travel is subject to fees,taxes, etc.

Check out the Bank Of America/FIA website here to learn more and apply.

What also makes this offer different is the fact that it is extremely easy to meet the incentive requirements. Chase will deposit 50,000 miles into your account after your very first use of the card! No outrageous spend requirements like other cards out there. Chase considers “first use” as any purchases, balance transfers, or checks written from your account. The remaining 10,000 miles can be a little tricky for most. In order to get the rest you must spend at least $25,000 on the card annually.

Additional card benefits:

The Mileage Plus Explorer card also has tons of extra perks. The first year is fee free (after the 1st year the annual fee is $95). You can check your first bag for free on any United or Continental flight. Get two free Club Passes every year. The United Club offers you amazing lounge access with drinks, snacks, and wifi during those long layovers. You also earn 1 MileagePlus mile for every dollar you spend and 2 miles for every dollar spent on United & Continental purchases. One of the important benefits for me personally is the fact that I get priority boarding. No more dreading being in the last group to board the plane and fighting for overhead bin space.

Additional terms:

Chase will deposit the bonus miles with 6-8 weeks after you meet the above spend requirements. 2 United Club passes will also be mailed within 6-8 weeks after you open the account and 2-4 weeks after each anniversary. MileagePlus miles do not expire as long as you have some type of activity on your credit card. This offer is valid only for first time Chase United credit card holders.

How to apply?

You must have a mileage plus account set up in order to see this offer. If you do not have an account visit www.united.com to create one for free. Once you are logged into your MileagePlus account visit this link to see the 60k offer. If you are not logged in you will only see a 40k offer. Apply today before this offer expires!

This offer is a great way to start building your retirement nest egg. The IRS does have certain restrictions on retirement accounts so it would be a good idea to read up on those before opening an account. Under most circumstances you can only deposit up to $5,000 per year and you have to have at least an equal amount of earned income. Depends upon which type of IRA you open you may be able to deposit money pre tax. Sharebuilder is also not able to deposit the incentive if you are at risk of going over the yearly contribution limit. This means that if you can deposit up to $5000 per year you can not have more than $4550 in your account or the IRS may penalize you. Incentive will be reported to the IRS on form 5498.

Visit the Sharebuilder website here for full offer details, restrictions, and to apply.

Below is a scan of the offer: