Since these changes are pretty significant in terms of earning and redeeming, I figured I better do an update post for those of you who are interested in joining Swagbucks.

Basically the change is that what used to be 1 Swagbucks now is 10 Swagbucks. The cost for all the prizes has been multiplied by 10 as well.

They’ve also added a few ways to get additional Swagbucks each day. You can view special offers for 2-3 Swagbucks each day, and the toolbar also features Swagbucks each day.

I’m not very excited about these changes, but I can’t complain much considering how many Amazon gift cards I’ve gotten from them for free. It just seems a little bit more difficult to earn the same value of Swagbucks now.

Here’s the updated Stats:

Swagbucks Stats

Info Required to Sign Up: Full Name, Email, Country, State, Zip, Year of Birth.
Sign up bonuses: 30 Swagbucks
How money/points are earned: Searching the Web, Completing Special Offers, Shopping, Trading In Cell Phones, Ipods, & Video Games, Referrals
Value of action: Varies. Swagbucks are awarded at random for searches, usually at values between 10-50. For shopping, 2 Swagbuck for every $1 spent at select merchants.
Redemption options: A variety of prizes. Gift cards (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc). Paypal.
Fees or rules for redemption: None–just have the amount the item costs.
Time redemption takes: Shipping estimate is given for all physical prizes ordered. E-gift cards arrived within 15 business days. Amazon giftc ards post on the 16th & 20th of each month.
Cash value of points: Depends on Redemption method. Examples: Paypal: 10SB = $0.01. Amazon.com: 10SB = $0.01. Zendoo.com: 10SB = $1
Zendoo.com: 1SB = $1

Read my original Swagbucks post.

If you shop at Jewel, you have to sign up for this. YourBucks is a free pilot program where you register your Preferred Card and you earn back Catalinas to spend like cash on anything in the store.

All you have to do is sign up with your Preferred Card number and either your cell phone number or email address. That’s it! Then whenever you buy an item in the current offers, it automatically prints the Catalinas at the check out. New offers are loaded every two weeks.

This is a great way to save money without the hassle of clipping coupons and matching up deals. It’s pretty passive actually. All you have to do is know what offers are available and buy the items. Then you get the Catalinas, which save you money on your next trip. The trickiest part is just remembering to use the Catalinas, if you’re not used to couponing. But they work similar to cash, so it’s easy.

The way I’ve used Your Bucks so far, is when I’m making up my grocery list for the week, I look over the offers for items we need to buy anyway, then I look for items that match up with a coupon or sale for even more savings. I don’t do match-up posts like that here, but I highly recommended Mashup Mom for that. I read her blog every day to get the best deals.

Another great thing about these deals is sometimes you’ll get items for free, or even make money with them. For example, when we went grocery shopping this past weekend, we picked up a jar of Ragu for $1.99 and got back a $2 Catalina. We also bought a bottle of Suave shampoo for 89 cents and got back $2, so we made money on that!

Even if you don’t want to take the time to look for deals, I highly recommend you sign-up anyway. Once you’re signed up, you’ll get the Catalinas without any work from you. It’s passive savings, and it’s great.

I will be posting more frequently over the upcoming weeks. For now, let’s check out some freebies to celebrate the middle of the week.

Freebies & Samples

• Crest 3D White Whitestrips
• Olay Total Effects Body wash
• Emergen-C Recipe Kit & Samples (Thanks Freebies 4 Mom)
• Emergen-C Sample (Thanks Freebies 4 Mom)
• Bounce 4 in 1 Dryer Sheets (Thanks Money Saving Mom!)
• Free MP3 Download of Alice’s Theme by Danny Elfman
• Download Angels & Airwaves’ new album LOVE for free

Passes for free screenings of Hot Tub Time Machine are still available, so catch it before it’s gone.

Coupons

It’s the beginning of the month, so there are new printable coupons and reset coupons available at Coupons.com, Redplum.com, and Smartsource.com.

Also, if you use UPromise, their eCoupons have reset as well, so make sure to activate those for passive savings.

Eventful still has tickets available, but if the screening you’re interested in is full, you may want to go check FilmMetro’s site. I went on there this morning and was able to get tickets for one of the Hot Tub Time Machine screenings tonight that was full on eventful.

At this point, there seem to be screenings available up through mid-March.

If this curiously name movie has piqued your attention, you may want to check out the plot description and trailer.

Angels & Airwaves has released their new album “Love,” and they’re giving it away as a free download. The songs are all in mp3 format in a zip file.

I downloaded it earlier today and I’ve only had a chance to listen to a few of the songs, and they’re great. You should definitely check it out since it’s free!

Here’s the track listing:
1. Et Ducit Mundum Per Luce
2. The Flight of Apollo
3. Young London
4. Shove
5. Epic Holiday
6. Hallucinations
7. The Moon-Atomic (…Fragments and Fictions)
8. Clever Love
9. Soul Survivor (…2012)
10. Letters to God, Part II
11. Some Origins of Fire

If you enjoy the album, consider making a donation to the band.

Okay, now that we got that out of the way, tax season is here! I personally am not a fan, and every year, as soon as I have all my forms, I do my taxes ASAP just to get it over with. The tricky part is finding a way to do it for free, but so far I’ve managed to do that every year.

If all you have to deal with are some W-2s, then you basically get the pick of the litter from free online services. I’ll run through all the options, including the free ones and and the most basic. Your cheapest option is to do it online yourself. Now, if you have a complicated a return and feel unsure about it, I definitely recommend having a professional do your return so it’s done correctly.

Don’t forget to network and talk to friends and family. If there’s someone close to you who is a CPA or works for a tax or accounting company, they may be able to do it for free or give you some sort of discount.

Most of the following companies will let you do your federal tax return for free, but then will charge a small free to file your state tax return. If your state offers free e-file, you may be able to take the numbers from your federal return and file the state by yourself. Find out if your state has free e-file.

TaxAct

I used TaxAct last year, and I love it. They offer a free federal edition, which asks you questions in plain English, which makes the process much easier. I believe most people with income under $50K should qualify for the free edition, though I couldn’t find specifics on the site. The online deluxe version is only $9.95.

If you use the free edition, the state return it $14.95. For the deluxe online edition, it’s an additional $8. (I would recommend filing the state yourself for free, if you can).

Complete Tax

CompleteTax has several options as well. Their free options supports 1040EZ and EITC, and anyone single or married filing jointly without children or dependents. Their Basic level is $9.95, which supports any 1040 form, dependents, and itemized deductions, and there are two more levels after that for those with investments or businesses.

Now their State returns are $29.95–definitely not the best deal. But again, you may want to try to file that yourself if you can.

TurboTax

I’ve used TurboTax in the past, and their software is really easy to use, but not as cheap as some of the companies I’ve already listed. Their free edition covers a lot of forms for simple tax returns. Their next level, Basic, costs $14.95 and is good for mortgages, childcare expenses, and charitable donations.

Their state is $27.95, a little less than CompleteTax, but more than TaxAct.

H&R Block

H&R Block has their own at home software, and it includes a free option. Their free option will not prepare returns with self employment, stock transactions, rental property, farm or K_I income. The next level is Deluxe, which costs $29.95, which is recommended as best for investors/homeowners.

Each state return is $29.95.

This is not a comprehensive list of all the places that offer free online tax return services. The IRS has compiled a list that you may want to check out if none of the options suit you. I’d also love to hear what tax services you’ve used in the past and plan to use this year.

They are currently hiring for guides, and have four different roles: Expediters (rewrite and categorize incoming questions), Generalists (answer any type of question), Specialists (answers questions in specific categories), and Transcribers (transcribe audio questions).

To sign-up you must fill out some general info (name, address, etc) plus your education level, internet speed, and how many hours you can work. Then you watch a little video about the site, and then you’re required to fill out a W-9 form before you continue (including your SSN).

Next, they send out an email with a link. They ask you to select a guide role, though when I did it, they only offered the Expediter role, so I assume that’s the role they make everyone start with. After that there’s a timed compatibility assessment, and if you pass you can start orientation and training.

This is a contract position, but unlike KGB, you do not have to schedule shifts, you can just jump on whenever you feel like it. It seems like a convenient way to make some extra money online.

From what I can gather reading on their website and other people’s reviews (I did not finish signing up), they don’t pay per question, but instead give you points based on a number of factors (how busy it is, the complexity of your role or the questions, etc.). At the end of the month, those points convert to cash, based on how many points everyone else has. You can cash out when you’re receive $100 or sign-up for a debit card to use your money sooner.

Seems a little fishy to me, and I’ve read reviews praising and scolding Cha Cha, so I’ll leave it up to you to see if it’s worth your time. Comparing this with KGB, I think KGB is the better choice, simply because KGB is straightforward about the amount of money you’re making, and you’re paid monthly.

ChaCha Stats

Info Required to Sign Up: Name, address, birth date, phone number, email, education level, info to fill out W-9 (including SSN)
Member eligibility requirements: 18+ years old, fluent in English, U.S. mailing address, authorized to work in the U.S., high-speed Internet connection
Sign up bonuses: None
How points are earned: Answering questions, transcribing questions, rewriting and categorizing questions.
Value of action: Unable to determine
Redemption options: Money
Fees or rules for redemption: Paid once you reach $100 or you can get their special debit card to access money earlier.
Cash value of points: Based on percentage of monthly cash pool.

Worked for KGB or ChaCha? I’d love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to share them in the comments below, or email me.

Hot Tub Time Machine stars the wonderful John Cusack, Lizzy Caplan, Rob Cordry, and more. The plot description, via IMDB: After a night of drinking Red Bull and vodkas, a group of guys travel back in time to when they were younger cads. See. Epic. I’ll include the trailer at the end of this post.

Now how Eventful is doing it, is you can volunteer to host a free screening, or just sign up to attend. A lot of the cities already have hosts, but there still seem to be plenty of passes available.

I would list all the cities, but there’s 50 of them up there now. I don’t know if more cities will be added, but more screenings are being added daily. Check out the list. It’s good to note that some of the cities include other nearby cities. For example, when I clicked on Chicago, it included screenings in Chicago, Evanston, Oak Park, Elmhurst, and Woodridge. So the number of cities is epic. Some of the screenings in the larger cities are full.

To sign up, select a city and click on a screening. It will give you an option to become a host or attend a screening, if slots are still available. Fill out your info, and you’ll receive ticket info via email. Each pass is good for two people.

Now, I don’t know how overbooked these screenings will be, so get there early!

If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.

Trailer:

]]> http://thrifty20something.com/2010/01/22/free-movie-screening-hot-tube-time-machine/feed/ http://thrifty20something.com/2010/01/22/free-movie-screening-hot-tube-time-machine/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Thrifty20Something/~3/AtR7vvfE21w/ http://thrifty20something.com/2010/01/21/not-dead/#comments Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:31:10 +0000 Tiffany http://thrifty20something.com/?p=1547 I’m sorry things have been a little dead around here lately, but I assure you, dear readers, that I am not dead. I believe I mentioned before that I started a new job. Well, I’m working in a tax office (not as a tax preparer, so please do not ask me any tax related questions), and this is one of the busy times, so I’ve jumped right in to working lots and lots. It will slow down a bit more in two or so weeks, and I’ll have more time off. This week though, I’ve barely had time to check my email.

So, I hope to be back to regularly scheduled posting shortly, and do some posting this weekend.

The movie stars Claire Daines and Catherine O’Hara.

The plot summary of “Temple Grandin” according to IMDB:

A biopic of Temple Grandin, an autistic woman who has become one of top scientists in humane livestock handling.

This is a great chance to see the movie early, or just see the movie if you don’t have HBO.

The screenings will be Tuesday, February 2nd in the following cities:

• Atlanta
• Boston
• Chicago
• Dallas
• Los Angeles
• New York
• Philadelphia
• San Francisco
• Washington, DC

To sign up for passes, sign up at the website and select the city you want. If you win the free tickets, you’ll receive an email with your ticket and instructions for the screening.

Now, this is an Entertainment Weekly screening, so it should be reasonably easy to get tickets for it, but these screenings are always WAY overbooked. You should probably plan on being there about 2 hours early.

If you’re new to advanced movie screenings, check out my tips.

Tickets for free screenings of Crazy Heart are still available in select cities.