If you are interested in winning one of two iPods, today is the last day you can qualify. We’re celebrating Consumerism Commentary’s sixth anniversary by hosting a “scavenger hunt.” Four clues have been scattered throughout the website and media throughout the past couple of weeks.
The details for the scavenger hunt are here. If you are interested in having your name included in the random selection for one of the iPods, make sure you send the four clues you find, in the order that makes the most sense, to fourclues at this domain name.
As a further hint, you can find the four clues in the first post about the giveaway, the RSS feed, an episode of the Consumerism Commentary Podcast, and the most recent email newsletter. The last newsletter was sent last Sunday, so if you haven’t joined you might need an extra hint: the clue is the middle five letters of the fourth word in the title of this article about the Cash for Clunkers Program being suspended.
Good luck!
As of Tuesday, March 10 at 10:00 am ET, the giveaway of the free Quicken Home and Business 2009 is closed and no more entrants will be accepted.
I’ve been using Intuit Quicken for the last few years to keep track of my savings, investments and expenses. After trying Moneydance, GNU Cash, and Microsoft Money throughout the past ten years, I’ve settled on Quicken Home and Business edition. It’s not a perfect piece of software, but it’s more complete than any other package.
Today, I upgraded my installation to Quicken Home and Business 2009, the latest version. After separately backing up the financial data files I have been using with Quicken 2008, the installation of the new software removed Quicken 2008, installed Quicken 2009, and download the latest patches and bug-fixes.
The new interface shows there is more to explore. As always, a list of accounts sits on the left. On the right, there a new section which can be toggled between a number of new sidebars. The “To Do” tab displays your outstanding bills, predicted income, and a reminder to download the latest transactions from your banks to reconcile your entries. The other tabs contains hints, help, and advertisements.
Between the two side columns, the main window offers many more options for viewing your data. The program opens up by showing an overflow of your cash flow by default. Here is an example.
The views are customizable, so you can create new views and include the data you would like to see on one screen.
There are several issues with Quicken that haven’t been resolved. When you download transactions from banks, you are prevented from using the software fully. Updates should happen completely in the background, but I find that the screen continually refreshes and Quicken has problems accepting new transactions I enter. Screen refreshes are a problem on its own. I have a fairly quick computer, but if I resize the application window, Quicken continually redraws the screen. This and other processes are slow, and make the software feel sluggish.
Another trend that bothers me is the addition of more advertising to the software interface. Perhaps I erroneously believe that free software can be supported by advertising while software you pay for should be free from commercial interruption, but I may be in the minority. I thank Quicken for providing the option for hiding most of the advertising. On the setup screen, hide the Quicken Tab called, “Quicken Picks.” More advertising is included in the “Services” tab along the right sidebar. This cannot be hidden from view, but you should be able to avoid clicking on the tab by accident. If you want to find out which credit cards Quicken suggests, you can always take a look.
Latest prices for Quicken 2009 software
Here are some of the discounts available to Consumerism Commentary readers. Many of these discounts are better than those shared when Quicken 2009 first became available in August 2008.
Quicken Home and Business 2009 Giveaway
If you would like to receive a free copy of Quicken Home and Business 2009, you have a few options. Leave a comment here with an interesting tip for using Quicken or other financial software such as Microsoft Money Plus, Mint.com, or GNU Cash. If you don’t have any tips, feel free to leave a comment about tracking your own money. By leaving a comment, you will receive one chance in the drawing for Quicken Home and Business 2009.
For a second chance to win, share this article using one or more of the tools listed below, like Twitter or Facebook. I will leave the giveaway open for one week and announce a random winner once I close the giveaway. Thanks and good luck!
As of Tuesday, March 10 at 10:00 am ET, the giveaway of the free Quicken Home and Business 2009 is closed and no more entrants will be accepted.
Last Monday, I offered a copy of Quicken Premier 2009 to two Consumerism Commentary readers who have suggestions for avoiding overdraft fees.
I’ve extended the giveaway for an additional few days, and the winners will be announced at the end of the week. There is not a large number of participants, so your chances of winning are still very good. If you’re interested, please read about the giveaway and leave a suggestion or comment. Good luck!
The giveaway to receive one of two free copies of Quicken Premier 2009 has ended.
As I mentioned earlier today, overdraft fees (also known as NSF fees, insufficient funds fees, etc.) are basically interest paid for the privilege of using a bank’s money for a short period of time, a loan. There are ways to avoid them without yelling at underpaid customer service representatives who don’t have the authority to help you with the issue.
It’s better to prevent overdraft fees than attempt to have them reversed after they appear on the monthly statement. Several of these preventative tips are covered in Overdrawn!, the documentary I mentioned this morning. This advice is generally straightforward, and many people might find these tips to fall under “common sense.”
Before taking action, keep in mind that forgoing overdraft protection adds more responsibility to you, the customer, if you want your checks to clear and your purchases to complete.
Don’t accept overdraft protection. When you apply for a new account with a bank, if you have an option of overdraft protection, decline. If the option isn’t explicit, talk to a bank representative before opening the account. The option may be hidden to the customer. If there is no option, even after speaking with a representative, consider opening your account with a different bank.
If you’ve already opened the account, call customer service and as for the “feature” to be disabled on your account.
Track your deposits and withdrawals. By declining overdraft protection, you leave yourself vulnerable to rejected transactions and bounced checks. Keep in mind that deposits via check may take several days to increase your available balances, and track your spending using software like Quicken, the free Quicken Online, GnuCash, or any tracking system works for you (as long as it does work).
Link your checking account to a savings account. Of course, this option is most effective when your savings account carries no maintenance fee and no fee for transfers for overdrafts. Most importantly, the savings account must be funded to cover the overdraft.
Linking a credit card, as offered by many banks, may not be a good idea. This approach encourages taking on more debt. Your overdraft may be considered a cash advance, which on most credit cards carries a higher interest rate than a purchase. If no other options are available, this may be the best way to avoid the accidental NSF fee.
Buffer your balance. Many people manage to keep their checking account as low as possible, either out of necessity as living paycheck-to-paycheck is a reality for many families, or for maximization of interest. To maximize interest income, the prevailing thought is to leave your checking account as low as possible and transfer any unused cash to a high-yield savings account, so more money is working to earn interest.
If your checking account is subject to overdraft fees and if you believe you are prone to making a mistake with your money management, consider trading some potential interest for a safety net in your checking account. Pad your balance by $100, $500, or $1,000 — whatever works for you and your cash flow — to help ensure you won’t accidentally withdraw more than you have. If it helps, don’t record this padding in your Quicken records. This way you may not be tempted to spend your buffer.
Add your tip and win Quicken Premier 2009
If you have any suggestions for avoiding overdraft fees, please leave them below in the comments. By leaving a comment here, you’ll be entered in a drawing for a free copy of Quicken Premier 2009 (for Windows). I have two copies of the software to send to Consumerism Commentary contributors who live in the United States. To be considered for one of the two copies of Quicken Premier 2009, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post, preferably containing a suggestion for dealing with these particular bank fees. I will close the giveaway on Monday, November 1.
Note: the giveaway is now closed and the winners have been notified. Please feel free to leave comments if you wish.
If you’re interested in receiving a free Sumo Lounge Omni Bean Bag Chair, which I reviewed here, there are only 24 hours or so left to participate in the giveaway. It’s simple — just leave a comment on this post with an interesting furniture story, and you will be entered in the contest.
The giveaway will end at 11:59 PM Eastern time tomorrow night, Tuesday, October 23.
Also, you may have noticed pictures next to each comment, representing each commenter. These are Gravatars, globally-recognized avatars. If you’re a frequent, occasional, or one-time commenter, you may want to have your icon appear next to your comments. Simply sign up at gravatar.com and upload your picture.
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