Don’t get too excited. Equifax is offering a free “Credit Score Card“, which in reality just gives you a range of what your credit score is. And the score is from their “Equifax Risk Score” system, not a FICO score. (You can still get 30% off a real FICO score with MYPOINTS30.) The Equifax Risk Score does range from 280-850, which basically the same as FICO from 300 to 850.

Well, it’s free and it’s from Equifax which has all my personal information anyway, so what the heck. Here are my results:

Key Factor(s) Affecting Your Score: Because your credit score is in the highest range, you may qualify for some of the lowest interest rates and offers from lenders. Below are the top factors that may be preventing you from achieving an even higher credit score.

It still seems stupid that to get a “perfect” credit score of 850, I’ll need to add an auto loan, a personal loan, and a department store card. I’ll hopefully never have any one of those, and I’m betting I can still get just about any loan out there. Nobody needs perfect credit.

Here is an updated application link at Pinecone Research, which is again accepting new members. (May expire at any time, so apply now if you’re interested!) Looks open to all, but only one person per household can sign up. Link via Realm of Prosperity.

PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 (check or PayPal) for each 15-minute online survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only take applications intermittently. Some users have reported an increase in unpaid “weed-out” surveys, while others seem to remain happy. I got kicked out a while ago for missing some surveys when I moved, so I’m afraid I can’t provide any comment.

The four survey sites that I have been most active with nowadays are NFO MySurvey, Opinion Outpost, BzzAgent, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay out reliably (important!), and they don’t mind if I don’t do every single survey offered (unlike Pinecone which does).

I shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you can do it at your leisure and occasionally get to try some neat things like shampoo, dog food, new soda flavors, and once even got a new $100 Sonicare toothbrush to keep.

Although relatively new, Monoprice.com has quickly become a very popular place to buy cheap but high quality audio/video cables and adapters online. I recommended shopping there if you’re trying to connect your laptop to your TV (and maybe drop your cable subscription?). I’ve probably bought from them five times in the last year, and I don’t even shop online that much.

However, if you bought anything from them recently, I would check your credit cards for any fraudulent charges. Monoprice shut down their site today and placed this message up:

A few of our customers recently reported to us that information from credit cards they used on the Monoprice website had been misused. We promptly began an investigation with the help of expert computer forensic investigators to determine if any card data had been stolen from our computers.

To date, the investigators have found no evidence that card information has been stolen from Monoprice?s computer network. As a precaution to ensure that our customers? information is not at risk, we have taken our website offline temporarily while we and our investigators complete the audit of our computer network.

April 15th is only a month away, and you haven’t started your taxes yet. Time to file an extension! The IRS automatically grants a 6-month extension to anyone who asks. Asking a search engine will often direct you towards websites like FileLater.com that charge upwards of $20 to file the form, but here are two ways that anybody can e-File for free. Apparently, the only thing keeping these sites in business is lack of education!

Method #1: TaxAct This is how I did my extension last year. Just sign up with TaxAct and e-file your extension for free through them. It’s quick. It’s easy.

You don’t even need to actually use them to file your taxes later, although TaxAct is also free for federal taxes with e-File included regardless of income, and is only $14.95 for state returns including free e-File. That’s cheaper than TurboTax or TaxCut, although if you’re already familiar with those programs it may be worth the extra bucks to stick with them.

Method #2: Free File Fillable Forms This one’s a little harder to find, but here are some step-by-step instructions. Go to the Free File Fillable Forms site (say that 5 times fast) and click on “Start Free File Fillable Forms”. Click “Sign-in” on the top left, and create a new account.

After you’re signed in, click on “Continue” and pick your form. Go with 1040. On the top right, you should see an icon with the label “File an Extension”.

This will bring up Form 4868, Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, a long title for a really short form. You’ll need to estimate your total tax liability for 2009. This form only extends the time to file, not the time allowed to pay. Overestimate your tax liability to avoid penalties. Here is how I estimated my tax liability.

You can even request your estimated tax payment to be withdrawn electronically by supplying your bank’s routing and account numbers. For identification purposes, you’ll need your adjusted gross income (AGI) from your 2008 tax return.

Got state income taxes as well? Here is a helpful page on manually requesting state-specific tax extensions.

A collection of links to free educational material online. The amount of information available online is expanding so fast, you can at least explore a new direction without leaving your house.

University-Specific

Collections

Open Culture.com is a blog about free educational and cultural materials on the web. Here are some highlights (some posts are older):

The other site I used when selling back my old textbooks online was and SellBackYourBook.com. All the websites I used did indeed eventually pay me for my books.

Reviews on the Web I did not spend more than couple minutes on this, but a quick search did not find any claims of non-payment or scam reports on SellBackYourBook.com.

I found two Better Business Bureau listings for this site. One gave No Rating and the other gave an A- rating. SellBackYourBook.com does advertise that it is an BBB Accredited Business, so if you do have issues I would file a complaint.

My Personal Experience After typing in my ISBN numbers into BigWords.com, SellBackYourBook was the highest bidder for certain textbooks. Although I found their site lacking polish, I went ahead and agreed to their price and terms, and they provided me with a printable packing slip and prepaid shipping label. Here’s part of the email sent to me:

This confirms that your order has been placed with Sell Back Your Book. Please print a copy of your packing slip and include a copy of it in the box with your books. A link to print your packing slip can be found at the bottom of this email. Please mark your order number on the outside of your box so that we can quickly check in your books and pay you (order number is listed below).

It took me a couple of days to get around to going to the post office, and mail it out via USPS Media Mail (formerly known as Book Rate). 20 days later, I received a confirmation email, partial text below. There was no 2nd email confirming payment was sent.

Thank you for your order. We have received your books and payment will be processed with in three business days.

A check was made the same day, and three days later it was in my mailbox for the exact amount the promised me for my books. It was from “Ez Book Recycle Inc.”, for which SellBackYourBook.com is the sourcing arm. In total, 23 days went by from mailing out to receiving the check.

Summary Timeline

Day 1 - Sent out book via USPS Media Mail

Day 20 - Email confirmation of arrival

Day 20 - Check printed and mailed out

Day 23 - Check received successfully

It’s been about a month since I wrote about selling back my old textbooks online. I ended up selling books to two websites, ValoreBooks.com and SellBackYourBook.com. I figured I’d do a quick review of each one, starting with ValoreBooks.

Reviews on the Web There were some online accusations at RipOffReport and ComplaintsBoard from people who said that ValoreBooks was a scam because they mailed off their books and never received any payment at all. It’s hard to prove anything because ValoreBooks only covers your Media Mail postage to their warehouse, and it is your option to buy Delivery Confirmation or other sort of tracking. But if I’m only selling $15 worth of books, it’s hard to just paying another $1-2 in my opinion. Perhaps for a larger order.

The Better Business Bureau gives them a rating of A+, although I don’t really think it’s that hard to achieve such a rating. It does indicate that the company is willing to try and resolve issues, if you file a complaint with the BBB.

BBB processed a total of 21 complaint(s) about this business in the last 36 months, our standard reporting period. Of the total 21 complaint(s) closed in the last 36 months, 21 were closed in the last 12 months.

My Personal Experience After typing in my ISBN numbers into BigWords.com, ValoreBooks was the highest bidder for certain textbooks. I agreed to their price and terms, and they provided me with a printable packing slip and prepaid shipping label. Here’s part of the email sent to me:

Please follow the steps below to complete your order:

1. Include your packaging slip with your shipment. 2. Package your books tightly in a cardboard box or padded envelope. 3. Cut out your prepaid shipping label and affix it to your sealed package. 4. Drop off your package at your local Postal Office.

It took me two days to get around to going to the post office, as you have to drop off the package in person for items weighing more than a pound. “No, this is not an explosive.” Would I really tell you if it was?

Then came the waiting game. Media Mail is notoriously inconsistent, so I almost forgot about the book when 15 days later I received the following confirmation in my email:

ValoreBooks Ship to Us Order: 1026XXX Arrived Your sell back order has arrived at our warehouse and will be processed within 48 business hours.

I’ll never know if it really took 15 days to get there, or if they just sat on it for a while. In any case, one hour later I received another e-mail:

ValoreBooks Ship to Us Order: #1026XXX Confirmed Thank you for choosing to sell your book(s) with ValoreBooks.com. [...] Your order has successfully been checked in and you can expect payment within 10 business days to the following address: [...]

Six calendar days later, a check was in my mailbox from “Bucks4Books” of San Diego, CA. I did get the exact amount the promised me for my book and reported condition. In total, 22 days went by from mailing out to receiving the check.

Summary Timeline

Day 1 - Sent out book via USPS Media Mail

Day 16 - Email confirmation of arrival

Day 16 - 2nd Email confirmation of payment approved

Day 19 - Check printed and mailed out from ValoreBooks

Day 22 - Check received successfully

People usually agree that checking your credit report regularly is a good idea, but after downloading all my credit reports just now I found out that I had overdue library fees of $40 from my old city and they sent me to collections! I am 99.9% sure I returned them. I received no mail notices and have received no phone calls from any collection agency either. It’s dated April 2008, although I’ve opened several bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and credit cards since then with no indication that my credit was anything but flawless. It’s only on my Experian report as well.

I’ll have to follow up on this later. Meanwhile, for you library users, I found this NY Times article Late Library Books Can Take Toll on Credit Scores. Well, not a big toll…

I’ve recently been interested in the website Etsy.com, which is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers of handmade items (and craft supplies and vintage items). I know someone who makes some pretty cute baby clothes with hand-stitched animals on them.

For sellers, the fee schedule appears to be pretty simple. You pay a listing fee of 20 cents for each item (nonrefundable if it doesn’t sell in 4 months), plus a flat 3.5% of every sale. The average sale is about $15-$20. With over $10 million is sales each month, this can be a easy streamlined way for creative people to make some money on the side.

I’m looking for a reader who is an experienced Etsy seller to do a sort of Enterpreneur Interview-type of post. You’ll get a chance to share your story and also publicize your storefront and products. Sound fun? Contact me

Ally Bank has been making several customer-friendly tweaks to their product line which are worthy of note. First up are two that give you a way to lock in a higher rate, but with a handy exit plan in case rates start rising due to inflation or other governmental intervention.

60-day Early Withdrawal Penalties The usual deal for a certificate of deposit (CD) is that you agree to keep your money at a bank for a fixed length of time, and the bank agrees to give you a higher interest rate in return since it allows them to lend more easily. Of course, the purchaser is hoping that rates don’t rise a lot after already being locked in.

If you break that agreement, you get hit with a hefty penalty. It is not uncommon for some banks to take half of all your interest accrued if you “break” the CD. On a 2-year CD you’d lose a year’s worth of interest. On a 4-year CD, 2 years of lost interest. But Ally CDs now have only a 60-day interest penalty for breaking their CDs, from 6 months all the way up to 5 years! (See the Fees tab.)

5-Year CD: APY Since the early withdrawal penalty is so short, you can run some scenarios where you earn the 5-year CD rate of APY unless rates rise significantly and you can then simply break the CD, pay the penalty, and yet still come out ahead versus going with a shorter CD.

The actual break-even requirements depend on how long you’ve held the CD and how high rates go. The longer that rates stay relatively low, the more “ahead” you’ll be since you’ve been earning that higher interest for a while.

2-Year CD with One-Time Rate Bump Another new product is their Raise Your Rate CD. Right now it is only available in a 2-year term paying APY. If rates rise, you can have your rate bumped up to whatever the current 2-year CD rate is, any time during your 2-year term. This is nice because you are essentially paying no early closure penalty at all, and you don’t have to re-commit to another 2-year term.

Finally, a few extra small-but-handy details. All Ally CDs can be opened with $5 or $50,000 as they have no minimums. They also offer a 10-day guarantee that you won’t fund your CD only to miss out on a rate hike, or to have your rate drop if your paperwork takes too long to process:

With our Ally Ten Day Best Rate Guarantee, when you fund your CD within ten days of opening or when your Ally CD renews, you automatically get the best rate we offer during those ten days. Most banks offer only one rate?the one you get the day you fund.

In trying to spend some Sports Authority gift cards thoughtfully given to me, I found a nice $25 off $100 coupon at sportsauthority.com/save if you sign up for their e-mail newsletter (which you can cancel immediately afterwards) . I thought that was a pretty good deal, until I read their coupon exclusions, which disallowed the first five things that I could think of buying…

Discount excludes the following:

Adams Golf, adidas Golf, asics, Atec, Baby Jogger, BagBoy, Bauer, Bowflex, Bridgestone, Callaway, Carhartt, Cat Eye, Championship Merchandise, Cleveland Golf, Cobra, Coleman, Columbia, Daiwa, DeMarini, Diamondback, Dye, E-Force, Easton, Ektelon, Escape, Fitness Quest, Footjoy, Fred Bear Equipment, Gorilla, Head, Heavy Putter, Horizon, Huffy, Hunter Dan, Jugs, K2, Kettler, K-Swiss, Lobster, Louisville Slugger, MacGregor, Magnum, MBT, Merrell, Miken Sports, Mission, Mizuno, Mongoose, NBA Jerseys, Nextt Golf, NFL Jerseys, Nike, Nike Golf, Oakley, Odyssey, Parkland Heritage, Prince, Pro Feet, Rawlings, Razor, Rollerblade, Salomon, Schwinn, Skechers Shape Ups, Skycaddie, Sole, Speedstik, Spring Step, TaylorMade, Ten Point, The North Face, Thule, Tippmann, Titleist, Top-Flite, Tour Edge, Trend Sports, Trikes, Under Armour, Wilson, Worth, Yakima

All bike racks, electronics/optics, select fitness, exercise bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, home gyms, weights, benches, trampolines and accessories, select Fan Shop furniture, select camping products, canopies, scooters, table games, fishing and hunting products, and select basketball systems.

Other exclusions may apply.

It looks like this has been going on for a while, with the Consumerist writing about this two years as well:

Sports Authority misses you so much that they sent out a 20% off coupon that doesn’t apply to sports equipment or 68 named brands. You might, might be able to get 20% off a pair of socks.

Ha! Or I can buy $100 of overpriced electrolyte drinks…

It’s one thing to find a bank with a high interest rate, and another thing to have that rate stay high. Many banks post teaser-like rates to attract deposits, and then hope you’ll be lazy and stay while they gradually become uncompetitive. A post yesterday on the NY Times Bucks blog explored ways to counter this.

Bankrate does a quarterly ranking of top banks with consistently high yields, which is ?based on the number of times within the quarter that an institution?s yield was among the top 20 for the product category and the relative position of the yield in relation to the others in the product category.? But that’s only one quarter. So the Times asked them which banks have been on top for every single of the last eight consecutive quarters (Q1 2008 to Q4 2009). Good idea!

The next natural question: Which of these banks has the highest rates now? So I visited each site and found the current rates (as of 2/25/10) for their highest yielding savings account (or money market) and their 12-month CD. Since some of the rates were tiered, I picked the rate for a $10,000 deposit and also included the minimum balance needed to avoid fees. Here are the results, sorted by top overall yield:

EverBank	1.51% APY / 2.25% Intro ($5k+)	1.49% APY
Discover Bank	1.40% APY ($10k+)	1.60% APY
Ally Bank	1.39% APY (No min)	1.59% APY
Stonebridge Bank	1.25% APY ($1k+)	1.50% APY
Intervest National Bank	1.13% APY ($500+)	1.50% APY
American Bank	0.90% APY ($10k+)	1.30% APY
MetLife Bank	0.85% APY ($10k+)	1.15% APY
First National Bank of Baldwin County	0.50% APY ($5k+)	1.35% APY
M&T Bank, NA	0.50% APY (No min)	1.10% APY
UmbrellaBank (now Beal Bank)	0.50% APY ($1k+)	1.06% APY
BankDirect	0.15% APY ($10k+)	1.11% APY

Looks like AT&T Wireless is offering folks a $20 gift card if they sign up for automatic payments on a Mastercard. Good for covering part of those iPhone monthly fees!

You will receive a confirmation email in 1-2 days and your Gift Card will arrive in 4-6 weeks. It’s that easy! Log in today.

A reader recently asked me about what I thought about the fact that financial aggregation site Mint requires you to give them limited Power of Attorney when using their website. There was also a recent discussion on Bogleheads about it. You can find it in the Terms of Use Agreement page.

For purposes of this Agreement and solely to provide the Account Information to you as part of the Service, you grant Intuit a limited power of attorney, and appoint Intuit as your attorney-in-fact and agent, to access third party sites, retrieve and use your information with the full power and authority to do and perform each thing necessary in connection with such activities, as you could do in person. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT WHEN INTUIT IS ACCESSING AND RETRIEVING ACCOUNT INFORMATION FROM THIRD PARTY SITES, INTUIT IS ACTING AS YOUR AGENT, AND NOT AS THE AGENT OF OR ON BEHALF OF THE THIRD PARTY. You understand and agree that the Service is not sponsored or endorsed by any third parties accessible through the Service.

Sounds serious! My first thought is that without this clause, Mint could not perform their intended service of being a one-stop shop for all of your online financial accounts. They would essentially have to walk up to every single site and ask for permission to be an official portal for them, yet at the same time be released from liability. That would be basically impossible.

In the end, you are basically giving up some of your rights in exchange for the convenience of having all your accounts checked for you at once. If you are worried about something going wrong with either Mint, a rogue employee, or a malicious hacker getting access to your personal information, then you might consider limiting what accounts you link.

Along that line, I would think that credit cards would be both the most helpful to link since you can then track your expenses, while also having the least exposure to fraud. This is because as long as you report any fishy behavior to your credit card issuers as soon as you find it, you likely won’t be liable for any unauthorized charges. (And if you monitor regularly with Mint, you’ll be that much more likely to notice…)

However, I for example would be more hesitant to link my Vanguard and Fidelity accounts with the bulk of my IRAs and brokerage accounts, as the benefits aren’t as great. Most of my net worth is stored at those brokers, and any screw-up would be highly stressful. Besides, I can usually check my balances at those sites separately with little added effort.

What do you think?

Here are the results of a recent study by industry research firm IBISWorld that compared the price of an average grocery cart in Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago.

In general, organic products cost about 20% more than simply name brand items. However, the organic grocery cart is nearly 40% more expensive than a cart filled with store-branded products whenever possible. I wish there was more information on what makes up an “average” grocery cart, but I’m guessing it contains a wide variety of items.

Which reminds me of a previous post on which fruits and vegetables you should buy organic. If you value organic but are still on a budget, certain conventionally-grown vegetables retain much higher amounts of pesticides than others. Prioritize your spending with this updated list from Foodnews.org (you can even download an iPhone app with the chart):

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