MoneyCafe.com

During the month of April, DentalPlans.com is offering a free Discount Vision Plan with the purchase of a Discount Dental Plan.  The free discount vision plan that is being offered is called Coast to Coast Vision (CTC) and has over 12,000 participating eye care locations nationwide. Members save on eyeglasses, contacts (excluding disposables), eye exams and surgical procedures.

You must click on the image below to take advantage of the offer.

 

See also:
http://www.moneycafe.com/personal/featured/dentalplans.htm

Kiplinger.com has a brief article showing real examples of how three different families made financial changes to save real and significant money.  There are so many ways to save significant amounts of money by just making simple changes.  It’s just a matter of everybody sharing ideas and examples of what works for them.

As we previously wrote about here and here, saving money is like giving yourself a raise.   We have also noted how a penny saved is much more than a penny earned, because we pay for things with after tax dollars.   

Most people don’t think it can be that easy to give yourself a raise during this recession, but it really is.  We encourage you to share your money-saving ideas with the community by making a comment below.  Anonymity is okay.

See:
http://finance.yahoo.com/banking-budgeting/article/106839/Save-50-a-Day-How-Three-Super-Savers-Do-It
http://moneycafe.com/blog/2009/01/save-an-extra-500-this-year/
http://moneycafe.com/blog/2009/01/save-an-extra-extra-500/

On May 11th, the price of a first class stamp will increase by about 5% to 44 cents.  It may a good time to save some money and stock up on the forever stamp which sells for 42 cents but can be used after the May price increase.

Another option for a postage solution is to try Stamps.com.  They have some creative and convenient products that allow you to print postage directly on your PC.  They also have Photo Stamps which are fun and expressive.  Throughout 2009 they are offering some deals.   To receive $45 in Free Postage (the current $25 offer plus an additional $20) use coupon code “COUPON1″.  For Free Shipping on Photo Stamps, use coupon code “CJ2009″. 

According to my sources in the mortgage business, 30 year fixed rate conforming home loans are back down to 4.50%.  As I mentioned a couple of months ago, these rates came and went very fast in early January.  Not everybody was able to take advantage of the great pricing at the time.

Although one change in the past few months is that lenders now usually want at least a point to get the best rate.  In the past few years, zero point loans (par loans) were very popular and priced competitively.  Now to get the best deal sometimes requires paying points upfront.  That being said, if you have excellent credit and substantial equity left in your home you may even find rates below 4.50%.  If you plan on keeping your house and/or loan awhile it seems well worth paying some points to get money at these historically low rates. 

We have a loan comparison calculator to help at http://www.moneycafe.com/content/articles/18/1/Loan-Comparison-Calculator/Page1.html.  We also have a refinancing analysis calculator at http://www.moneycafe.com/content/articles/16/1/Refinancing-Analysis/Page1.html.

Chase, Wells Fargo and Wachovia are some of the lenders whose rates have dropped in the past couple of days.  You may want to see what LendingTree has to offer because their service is free and their system fosters competition amongst lenders.

See:
http://www.moneycafe.com/banking/lendingtree.htm

From now until April 15th, you can get up to a $500 cash credit for rolling over your 401(k) into an E*Trade Securities IRA.  The cash credit depends upon the initial deposit.  Deposits over $250,000 receive $500; deposits between $100,000 and $249,999 receive $250; deposits between $50,000 and $99,999 receive $100; deposits between $25,000 and $49,999 receive $50. They have a tool to help with roll over information.

E*Trade is really making a push for IRA business.  Last month we mentioned their 100 Free Trades Offer.  That is still available as a separate offer.

See:
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/jumppage/viewjumppage?PageName=individual_retirement_account
https://us.etrade.com/e/t/plan/retirement/irarollovertool
http://moneycafe.com/blog/2009/02/etrade-ira-get-100-free-trades/

Save 10% and protect your identity with TrustedID.  They also offer a 30 day risk-free trial. 

TrustedID has a complete identity theft protection program.  The services they provide include:

• Financial identity protection
• Medical benefits protection
• Social Security benefits protection
• Online security to detect and remove spyware from your computer 
• Lost wallet protection to help cancel accounts and help replace cards
• Family protection for children and family members living in your household
• CreditLock to prevent credit bureaus from releasing your credit report