Money Blue Book Weekend Roundup - 4

By MoneyBlueBook

The last few weeks I participated in several editions of the Carnival of Personal Finance that I would like to mention here. I wish to thank the carnival hosts for organizing and compiling articles to share with readers. I know hosting the carnival is time consuming and I wish to give these personal finance bloggers some recognition:

• Money Ning featured my article on Traditional and Roth IRA Contribution Limits and Income Phase Outs.

• Stock Trading To Go featured my article on Paying Income Tax On Ebay Sales.

• Being Frugal featured my article on Late Night Infomercials Selling Get Rich Scams.

• Four Pillarsfeatured my article on Answers To Common Tax Rebate Questions.

I also participated in the Carnival of Taxes and appreciate the inclusion of my submission:

• Don't Mess With Taxes included my article on Adjusted Gross Income and Modified Adjusted Gross Income.

Finally, I wish to thank April Fool's prankster Flexo for organizing the Festival of Frugality and including my submission:

• Consumerism Commentary included my article on How To Repair Your Car With Used Auto Junkyard Parts.

By MoneyBlueBook

This week, CNN Money posted an article that introduced a short list of what it believed to be the top 6 credit cards. Because the selection of credit cards is somewhat subjective and dependent on individual spending habits and desired balance of rewards and interest rate perks, CNN chose to limit its selection to the top card pick for 6 basic credit categories: the best balance transfer card, the best card for big spenders, the best card for low spenders, the best card for those who travel and fly a lot, the best card to help you save for retirement, and the best card for lazy people perhaps new to credit cards.

Personally I don't think these categories are entirely representative of what consumers tend to apply for, but then again, I usually tend to ignore perks like low interest offers (I pay my entire balance every month) and usually go for more lucrative purchase rebates. I would have added more card categories broken down into particular types of purchase perks, like grocery rewards, dining rewards, and gas rebates. However, it was interesting to see what CNN viewed as the top six in the categories they delineated.

By MoneyBlueBook

It's that time of the year again and it's looming large. April 15, tax day - the day we take our hard earned money and pay our annual emperor's tribute to Uncle Sam and the United States government. For most working people, April 15 day is the deadline for filing our tax returns to claim the tax refunds that were withheld by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in excess for most of the year. This year is extra special since there's an extra bonus and incentive twist waiting for us. This year we have the 2008 economic stimulus stimulus rebate qualification to contend with.

The IRS has already stated that taxpayers who wish to receive their tax rebate payment in timely accordance with the official tax rebate payment schedule must file by April 15, 2008. Currently, the economic stimulus rebate will be issued according to the last two digits of the primary tax filer's Social Security Number. People who chose to receive their tax refunds via direct deposit will enjoy speedy priority and will be among the first to receive the payments starting May 2 and lasting until May 16. For those of you who chose the slower paper check option, your stimulus payment check won't get to you until the direct deposit crowd have gotten theirs. Paper checks won't be sent out until May 16, and lasting all the way into July 11.

How Do I Request An Extension To File My Federal Income Tax Return?

If for whatever reason you cannot file

By MoneyBlueBook

The scenario I am about to paint is very real. Let's say you are planning for a dream vacation. Or maybe it's your honeymoon and you are eager to fly somewhere romantic and spend a week at some remote tropical destination. Or maybe you are splurging for an exciting few days on a luxury cruise ship. Either way, rather than booking your travel reservations through a traditional travel agent, you decide to do it yourself through an online discount travel broker such as Expedia, Travelocity, or Orbitz. You don't like to use credit cards so you decide to pay your reservations using a debit card or even by check. A month passes and now it's only a week before your scheduled trip. Suddenly you get a phone call or an email advising you that your travel plans have been halted indefinitely because the travel agency that scheduled your itinerary has declared bankruptcy or gone out of business. Maybe it's not the travel agent but the airline or cruise ship company that has gone bankrupt. The chances of that happening may be slight, but the consequences can be financially disastrous. That's why it's important to protect your upfront reservation money by using credit card payment. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (FCBA), credit card consumers who purchase with a Visa, Mastercard, or American Express card are afforded substantially more purchase protections then those who make payment using cash, money orders, or debit cards. These days, airline credit cards also offer a wide variety of

By MoneyBlueBook

A quick visit to a few internet forums and online review sites and it's evident that there is a common shared consensus when it comes to truck rental experiences from the U-Haul moving company - they're all negative. You're be hard pressed to find a company with more pissed off customers that enjoy griping about the company than U-Haul (except maybe Comcast). It's rather hard to come to the defense of a company that has such a consistent history of delivering rickety equipment and bad customer service. Their cranky trucks are woefully under-maintained, driven well into old age, and their rental reservation policies are terribly unreliable. Even the media has targeted the company, accusing it of running an aging fleet of extremely high mileage and ill maintained trucks.

There's only a few positive U-Haul attributes I can point to. Their moving truck rental fees and prices are definitely one of the cheapest around, if not the most inexpensive choice. Also, you don't need to worry about being extra gentle or careful when using their vehicles. The dilapidated and run down condition of their trucks makes it easy for a beginner truck driver to break them in. You don't have to worry about scratching up the vehicle's paint or putting a stray dent in the fender. Even if you were to knock off a rear tail light by accident, who would notice? I'm joking of course - however, every U-Haul truck I've ever driven has always been covered with widespread dents and scratches, and

By MoneyBlueBook

Promo Code Links Are Added and Updated Regularly!

Bank of America is the second largest bank in the United States in terms of total account value so needless to say, they must be doing something right. Like other major banks such as Citibank and Wachovia, Bank of America often releases new promotions to attract new deposit customers. The bank is obviously willing to spend money to get their hands on yours, in a good way of course.

As with most bank promotional offers, there are certain basic and fairly benign rules attached. To qualify for most of Bank of America's free money offers for new accounts, you will usually have to open a new checking or savings account with a certain minimum deposit. Afterwards, you are usually required to make a few electronic transactions such as setting up direct deposit or executing a few online bill pays. Obviously, the bank is hoping that by requiring you to make a few transactions that you will grow comfortable with their banking services and ultimately choose to remain on as a long term customer. The promotions are usually limited to only those new to Bank of America - thus, former or current account holders are ineligible to apply or take part. Holders of Bank of America credit cards are okay and are not excluded.

If you one of the select people out there who has never been a Bank of America customer and you are interested in one of the offers listed below, you may want to give them a try.