Posted on March 10th, 2010 by Canadian Capitalist
With the exit of Citizen’s Bank last year, President’s Choice Financial is now the only game in town in the free chequing account space. But perhaps not for much longer. There has long been speculation on whether ING Direct will start offering chequing accounts.
A reader recently got in touch with ING Direct and asked if they are planning on offering an online chequing account similar to the Electric Orange account in the USA. The Electric Orange account is an all-electronic, paperless chequing account that allows bill payment, access to cash through ATMs, electronic money transfer etc. If you need to write a paper cheque, you have to fill out the payment details online and the cheque is mailed out by ING. Here’s ING’s response:
“We are actually currently testing our chequing accounts. The official launch should be sometime this year.”
Not much to go on but it would be interesting to see what features will be available in INGs chequing accounts.
Related Reading:
Coming soon: ING Chequing Accounts is brought to you by Canadian Capitalist -- Helping you to invest & prosper.
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Posted on March 10th, 2010 by MoneyBlogger
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.
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Posted on March 9th, 2010 by Canadian Capitalist
A recent episode of Marketplace on CBC featured cellphone customers who claimed to have Canada’s worst cellphone bills (you can watch it here). Cellphone customers had racked up thousands of dollars in charges either in air time, texting or, what appears to be fairly common, roaming charges while traveling abroad.
The typical phone horror story also involved a dispute with the phone company: the customer claims she was misinformed in the phone store and the phone company points to the contract, which says something else. The customer is in tears, the phone company sticks to its guns and it makes for great TV. Especially, when Wendy Mesley, the show’s host adds to the debate by saying those rapacious phone companies are charging 15 cents for a text that costs them a third of a cent to provide.
I’ve had my share of complaints with service providers and while I found myself sympathizing with most of the customers, it was hard to say the phone company was entirely at fault (except the lady who was incorrectly charged airtime and the phone company gave her the runaround). The hidden charges may be buried deep in the fine print but it is there and the client signed a contract agreeing to pay and the phone company is within its rights to demand payment.
I was secretly glad that we’ve ditched our pricey monthly plans and gone the pre-paid route. Our annual cell phone bills with an el cheapo plan from Speak Out Wireless available through 7-Eleven costs us less than $50 per year not including the price of a phone. Granted, not everyone can be a light cellphone user but everyone can easily find ways to cut down on their monthly bill.
Related Reading:
CBC’s Canada’s Worst Cellphone Bill is brought to you by Canadian Capitalist -- Helping you to invest & prosper.
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Posted on March 9th, 2010 by DebtAway
My husband and I both have a gym membership. We pay a combined $50 a month to our local gym.
I’m a fan of daily fitness so I will be the first to tell you, if having a gym membership is the only way you will exercise, spend the money. The monthly gym fees will be far less expensive than poor health now and in the future.
We were able to temporarily cancel our monthly gym dues when my husband lost his job. Now that six months have passed without a trip to the gym, I’ve discovered something surprising…
I work out more now without a gym membership than I did with one.
I spend a quick 20 minutes running with the dogs or doing a workout video before making dinner each night. I do sit ups while watching TV or I jog in place. Before, if I didn’t have an hour to workout at the gym, I simply wouldn’t workout at all. Now, if I have 10 minutes, I use it!
I have always clung to my gym membership even in the leanest financial times. Looking at the impact of working out at home, I’m not sure why I held on so tight. We decided to make the temporary cancelation permanent. Rather than redirect all the money toward debt reduction, we’ve decided to keep part designated to fitness. The money can go toward new tennis shoes, marathon entrance fees, or exercise equipment. If we get desperate for a group class or a swim, we can sign up at the community center for $30 for a 3 month, two hour, twice weekly class.
Try working out at home this month. It may not work for you – but maybe you’ll be surprised at the results.
**If you do decide to cancel your membership, you may need to cancel several times. These companies (especially large gyms like 24Hour Fitness and LA Fitness ) can be very sneaky and ‘accidentally’ automatically deduct your dues for up to six months. You may need to consult with your bank to stop payments.**
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Posted on March 9th, 2010 by MoneyBlogger
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
- AcademicEarth – More lectures from various universities.
- YouTube EDU – Includes a variety of content from universities including UCLA, Case Western, and Oklahoma State.
- iTunes U – Includes audio/video from universities from around the world, National Public Radio stations, and famous museums. Many of the more popular ones are language courses.
Open Culture.com is a blog about free educational and cultural materials on the web. Here are some highlights (some posts are older):
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