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I’m sure you all know by now that the gov’ment decided to ship out everyone’s “economic stimulus checks” a little early. In fact, some of you who got your taxes by direct deposit may already be seeing that six hungie in your bank accounts. So here’s my question: what do you plan to do with the money? Pay off credit card debt, go buy a new laptop, horde away some gas or sacks of rice, invest it (maybe by launching a new blog or your own Internet company), or just save up? Are you thinking of spending it at one of the many retailers around the country who are promising incentives if you prove you’re spending your stimulus check with them?

Let’s get some discussion going in the comments section!

Popularity: 21% [?]

Since the price of gas continues to skyrocket and not all of us are lucky enough to have public transportation options for our daily commutes, finding “affordable” gas is an invaluable money saving endeavor.

photo credit: kbaird

Short of cruising around your town looking for the cheapest station, or siphoning gas from a neighbor, there are several websites that will search out the cheapest station in your area for you.

One such site is part of Mapquest – gasprices.mapquest.com – and not only provides search options for gasoline and diesel fuel, but alternative fuel options as such as Ethanol-85 and Biodiesel fuel too. Once you have searched your particular corner of the world for the cheapest gas, you can click on the link to the station and use mapquest to get directions right to the pumps. This is a pretty neat feature, since oftentimes the cheaper stations aren’t on right on Main St. and it would be a shame to get lost and burn gas looking for the place.

Another useful site to check is GasBuddy.com which, according to their website:

“can help you find cheap gas prices in your city. It is a network of more than 181+ gas price information websites that help you find low gasoline prices.”

This site is based on an extensive network of other gas pricing websites and relies on volunteer information from “Gas Price Spotters” who submit information to GasBuddy about low prices in their area. The site also has some other cool information, such as national gas price average, top 10 lowest average price lists by state and city as well as many others.

If you have a substantial commute to work like I do, or just want to save a few cents a gallon, do yourself a favor and check out one of these sites next time you need to fill up the tank.

Popularity: 19% [?]

Airborne has been everywhere in the last few years - you’ll be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn’t chugged the mixture, at least once, to stave off a common cold when everyone else in their dorm seemed to be getting sick. Well now it appears that all that good fortune has come back to bite Airborne in the butt. It appears There’s been an airborne lawsuit (class action) to the tune of $23 million! Apparently the Airborne settlement — the latest in a recent string of class action settlements — stems from allegations that Airborne Health, Inc. provided false advertising about the benefits of their product. The company claimed that their product provided the ability to cure or prevent the common cold — as well as other therapeutic benefits — however there is very little proof that the product works, leaving many customers to believe that they are paying money for a placebo.

photo credit: Arbitrium

The Airborne lawsuit as well as the Airborne settlement have caused the company to refund money back to customers who believed the product worked for them. The company is also going to recall its product.

The get your hands on part of the Airborne refund, visit the official Airborne Settlement website to file a claim online or download a claim form for good ol’ fashioned snail mail.

Things to be aware of:

• You qualify for an Airborne refund if you purchased one or more of the Airborne Products in the United States or any of its territories from May 1, 2001 to November 29, 2007.
• You may file a claim for a full refund of the price (before sales tax) for every Airborne Product you bought if you file a proof of purchase with a Claim Form.
• If you do not have a Proof of Purchase, you can still file a Proof of Claim for up to 6 boxes of Airborne Products. You will get a refund that is based on the average retail price of the Product: $10.50 per box of Seasonal, $2.75 per box for Gummi, and $6.99 per box for all other Airborne Products.
• Claim Forms must be signed and postmarked (or, if submitted online, they must be received) no later than Midnight, September 15, 2008.

So go on and get yours. Heck, if you bought some Airborne anytime this decade and still got a cold, why not get your personal airborne refund of $60? It at least makes blowing your nose until it was red and raw a little more bearable…

Technorati Tags: airborne refund, airborne lawsuit, airborne settlement, airborne, class action lawsuit

Popularity: 40% [?]

News of the 2008 economic stimulus plan has been all over the media lately, but how much will you actually get back? Well, thanks to a handy calculator put together by the Consumerism Commentary blog, you can figure out the exact amount of your rebate. Just plug your income and other tax info from your 2007 return into the calculator (below) and get back the rebate amount (if you qualify). Just remember, this rebate doesn’t affect your 2007 taxes; instead you’ll get a check this coming summer, completely separate from any tax refunds. Good luck!

“Economic Stimulus Tax Rebate Calculator” [Consumerism Commentary]

Technorati Tags: economic stimulus, taxes, tax rebate, rebate, college, graduation

Popularity: 19% [?]

One very easy way to make some extra cash each year which often goes overlooked is through a high-yield savings account. While its probably not going to be a huge amount of cash, if you have a savings acount anyway (and you should), why not have one that will make you a little bit extra at the end of the year?

For instance, an Orange Savings Account from ING Direct currently has an APY (Annual Percentage Yield) interest rate of 4.10%. Meaning, for every $100 in your savings account, you’ll get an extra $4.10 for doing nothing at all; simply by letting the money sit there. Of course your current savings account earns interest too, sure, but that APY is most likely well under 1%, earning you virtually nothing at the end of the year. Plus, the ING Orange Savings Account makes great sense because the interest rate is better than most money market accounts, yet your money is instantly accessible.There’s more good news: ING has fewer fees than most banks because it is online only, making it easy to set up your account in just a few minutes; and there is no minimum deposit and no banking or transaction fees.

It is also very simple for you to control your money (maybe even easier than going to a real bank): you can easily link your ING Orange Savings account to an existing checking or savings account at a brick-and-mortor bank and move money in either direction, instantly, whenever you want. But best of all, ING helps you automate your finances by letting you set up automatic transfers so you can set aside a fixed amount of money on a regular schedule — say once a month, or after each pay check, for instance — and watch your savings grow. Click here to sign up with ING Direct and give it a try for yourself.

Technorati Tags: APY, savings, banking, ING Direct, making money, debt, college, gradute

Popularity: 30% [?]