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.

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.

Be sure to spend extra time this holiday season looking over your mail. Many of us received an expected check from an old Bank Of America lawsuit totaling $98.14. The check came in a plain envelope with a Minneapolis return address. I thought it was junk mail and almost threw it away!

The check stems from the Closson vs Bank Of America lawsuit from 2009. The suit alleges BOA made statements in its commercials and other marketing materials to increase the number of overdrafts, returned check fees, and other miscellaneous fees. It also alleges that Bank Of America failed to provide account terms until after the accounts were opened.

Settlement checks in the amount of $98.16 were mailed December 20, 2011. The maximum was one check per person even if you had multiple accounts. The date to get in on the 35 million dollar payment from BOA has passed but if you joined the suit and do not get your settlement check write to:

Bank of America Settlement Administrator, care of Rust Consulting
P.O. Box 9339, Minneapolis, MN 55440-9339

Must be postmarked before 2/18/2012.

Visit http://www.clossonsettlement.com/ for more information.

Many of us use so much plastic that cash has become an inconvenience and a liability. Our current savings account balance is no longer tied to the amount of forgotten change under our floor mats or the jar containing $346.31 in loose change we keep in our closet.

Credit cards, even debit cards, simplify our finances and make it simple to track our spending. Many people I know still carry a $100 bill tucked into their wallet, in the event of an emergency or the rare encounter of a cash only business. But with ATM’s on every corner, who needs the liability of cash in their pocket?

Ditch the cash, and the 10 things below will become much easier.

1. Make hotel reservations -

It is nearly impossible these days to book a hotel reservation at any reputable hotel

company without a credit card. Hotel companies have caught on to the old ways of some who used to book random reservations and then not cancel them thus leaving the hotel with a room they can not sell in such short notice. Giving a hotel a credit card is not

necessarily a bad thing. Using a card guarantees your room for late arrival. Meaning if you are driving and don’t plan to check in until midnight the hotel will hold the room for you and not cancel the reservation. This guarantees revenue for the hotel because even if you do not show up they are able to still charge you for the room. Most big chain hotels hold an amount of money between $50-$150 per room for incidentals like parking charges, room service, parking, etc. You certainly don’t want that money being held on a debit card or paying a large amount of cash upfront to cover these incidentals when chances are you will not use any to begin with.

2. Rent a car -

From my experience it is absolutely impossible to rent a car without a credit card on file. This protects the rental company if any unexpected accidents or lose of the car were to happen and you declined insurance. One of the pluses to pay for a car rental on a card is auto rental insurance. Most cards give you automatic insurance for free on your rental just for charging it on that card. All major card companies offer this service. Check your agreement for more details because it varies from company to company. You want to make sure you are completely covered if you are in a strange country and someone rear ends you or steals your car while you are out sight-seeing.

3. Build your credit-

Try to build your credit without a credit card. Your left with secured loans or a cosigner on an auto loan or  mortgage. Secured credit cards are easier to get, and an effective way to quickly build your credit when they become unsecured. It’s possible, but takes more work. Using your credit cards responsibly and paying on time is the single best way to help your credit. Using credit responsible can net you thousands in sign up bonuses and incentives if you know where to look

4. Get paid to spend your own money-

Unless your driving an 18 wheeler and paying for your gas with cash, your not likely to be saving or earning money by using cash. Many cards these days offer credit rewards programs. There are hundreds of different options to choose from. You can choose frequent flier cards, hotel loyalty cards, cash back cards, and many others. Each of which give you points/miles to get free things and put money back into your pocket.

5. Make safe online purchases-

Many credit cards offer extended protection for online purchases, not offered to debit card customers. Bank of America, for example, has ShopSafe – credit card numbers you can generate on the fly that allow you to limit the number of uses or set a spending cap. Limits can range from a maximum per transaction to an overall spend limit. Discover, Citibank, and Chase all have virtual online shopping programs you can use to assign you a temporary credit card number to do your shopping online.

6. Extended product warranties-

MasterCard, Visa, American Express, and other card issuers all have some sort of warranty extension program. For the most part, the programs are simple to file a claim. Say you buy a laptop that comes with a 1 year manufactures warranty. If you purchased that product on your credit card most double your warranty up to an additional year. This protects you from device break downs after the manufacture warranty expires. Most cards simply have you send the defective product back and they issue you a full refund or you can send them a repair estimate and they will credit you the amount needed to have the product repaired.

7. Get reimbursed if you lose your wallet-

If you lose your wallet or purse with cash in it, no genie is going to appear and reimburse you. But with a credit card, you can get a new card rushed out to you next day. Your old card will be cancelled, and you will not be liable for fraudulent charges. Your still without your drivers license or the other contents of your purse – but at least you will have the ability to replace them. Few things are worse than being overseas and having your wallet stolen. You can’t get cash back but card issuers like American Express have thousands of offices overseas you can visit to get some emergency cash and a temporary card you can use to get you home.

8. Reconciling finances and taxes-

One of the biggest advantages to credit cards is that they provide great record keeping capabilities. Most banks offer reports that can be ran to break down spending by a particular merchant or category in one easy place. This comes in handy especially for those who run a small business and need to keep track of business expenses for tax deduction purposes. I have several business cards and every quarter I get an update on purchases and also a year end statement which makes filing my taxes a breeze. There is also no need to write down every charge in a check book. Simply log in online and it shows you when and where the purchase was made and what the amount was. It does not get much easier than that! Banks usually keep your statements online for 3 years or more.

9. Renting from kiosks like Redbox and Blockbuster-

Self serve kiosks are popping up everywhere. Many are familiar with Redbox and Blockbuster kiosks outside of retailers like CVS, Walgreens, and even Walmart. If you plan on using one of these kiosks to rent movies, games, and other items you must have a credit card. This guarantees that if you do not return the item the merchant can still charge you for the disc.

10. Purchase Protection-

Another rarely used benefit of credit cards is purchase protection and price assurance. If you buy an item and it is accidentally lost of stolen the credit card company will replace it free of charge! Also if you buy a new cell phone for $300 and the next month the price drops to $200 you can get the difference refunded back to your card.

There are many other benefits of using credit cards these day but those are some of the most popular. There are hundreds of great credit card offers floating around. Check out our other articles for cards with great new sign up bonuses.

What many do not know is that most new credit card applications are actually decided by computers with sophisticated algorithms that are able to determine your credit worthiness and assign you a credit limit. That is why you see “instant approval in 60 seconds” on many card websites. These programs look at things like your Fico score, length of credit history, average account age, current utilization on existing cards, payment history, current credit limits, amount of credit inquiries over the last 2 years,  and a handful of other metrics that determine if a bank will give you a new line of credit. If any of these things look out of the ordinary the computer will automatically deny you.

Here are a few things you can do to help improve your chances of getting your application looked at again.

• Look at the bottom of the denial letter that all credit card companies must send within 30 days of applying. These letters are required to tell you what credit bureau the bank pulled and the reasons you were declined for the card. Determining what the cause of the denial was is the first step.
• When a bank pulls your credit bureau they are required to provide you with a free copy of your credit report. The majority of the time you can simply reply back to the letter asking for a copy of the report. There are instructions on how to go about obtain the report within the letter. You can also go to https://www.annualcreditreport.com to get a free copy of your report yearly.
• After you obtain your credit report carefully look over it and make sure it is accurate. Inaccuracies on credit reports are the number one cause of denials. Often things belonging to other people pop up on reports and unauthorized inquired can also cause problems. If you find something that is inaccurate dispute it immediately with the credit reporting agency to get it removed.
• The final thing to do and the most important is get in touch with the lending department at the bank who denied the application. Getting a human to actually look at your application is by far the easiest way to get a decision over turned. Explain to them why something might look bad on your report. I.E you opened another card with a bank recently because you changed airlines and wanted a new rewards card for your new preferred airline. Often times explaining why you want this new card and letting them get to know you will make the bank feel more comfortable about lending you money. All credit analysts have the power to over turn applications and change credit limits. Analysts look at your total credit exposure with the bank when determining credit limits. If you have other credit card with that particular institution ask the analyst if you can move some of the credit line to new card or even close your old card you may be using. This is the secret to getting your application approved!

The above tips are almost guaranteed to get your new credit card application approved.

Most Americans have never seen or even heard of these coins. The only time I can remember actually getting one was from a vending machine at work. However, there were many people who actually made buying these coins a business. For a few years the Mint was actually letting you buy these coins with credit cards and shipping them for; essentially letting the customer get an interest free loan and earn rewards points because it registered as an every day purchase! This was an easy way to rack up thousands of points, especially for those of us who had 5% cash back cards at the time. My guess is that this program played a part in the death of these coins. Many people were buying them just for points and them returning them to their local bank which defeated the entire purpose of the program. The Mint had hoped that the people buying these coins would use them on every purchases thus getting them into circulation.

Oh well, it was nice while it lasted. I guess the good ole green back is back in business!

As with Amazon, Paypal is saying this is a requirement being placed onto them by the Internal Revenue Service’s section 6050w. This new requirement states that payment processors must obtain your tax id number and report your annual sales to the IRS if you received over $20,000 gross annual payments and 200 transactions for goods or services. If you exceed those limits you will also receive a 1099-k tax form. These new requirements are in effect for any payments received in 2011.

If you choose to not give your SSN or TIN and instead provide an Employer Identification Number you will be required to register a business account within Paypal and go through additional requirements.

To most it seems like the IRS is trying to weed out those who do not claim online income on their taxes. Others see this as another way for “big brother” to watch over all of our financial information.

Want more information? Check out the Paypal website HERE for full details and for more FAQ’s.

Here are the rewards categories for 2012:

January – March:

• Gas Stations
• Amazon.com

April-June:

• Grocery Stores
• Movie Theaters

July – September:

• Gas Stations
• Restaurants

October – December:

• Hotels
• Airlines
• Best Buy
• Kohls

As usual, you can start registering for the quarterly bonus promotions on the 15th of the month before. This year seems very promising considering gas stations are listed twice and stores like 711 sell Vanilla Visa gift cards which make it extremely easy to meet the $1500 limit essentially making a quick $75 every quarter. You can also buy prepaid Visa, American Express, and Master Card gift cards at most large grocery stores. Best Buy and Kohls sells cards to other merchants as well.

Remember, you MUST register each quarter at www.chase.com/freedom to earn the 5% reward bonus.

Many of us have been using Amazon payments over the last few years because they are one of the only ways to transfer money between people without fees. They have been trying to build their user base by offering services free of charge in order to compete with other transfer services like Paypal. For those who are looking to rack up extra credit card points this has been a quick and easy way because you could “technically” send money to yourself from another account and then direct deposit it into your checking account- effectively earning rewards points and a free loan on the cash until your credit card bill comes due.

Amazon is claiming they are doing this because in the 2011 tax year the IRS requires all third party payment processors to file a 1099-k to report unadjusted gross sales that exceed 200 transactions per year or over $20,000. Amazon states that even if you do not exceed those limits you must still have your SSN or TIN on file. If you are a business you will also have to go through an interview process including validation of a w-9.

If you are a current account holder you have until 12/31/2011 to enter your social security number or tax identification number. If it is not entered by then you will no longer be able to send or receive payments on Amazon. Your account will also have to be updated to include your “legal” name so the IRS can validate your SSN.