TAXES?!?! How to file for FREE

Hey all!!! I thought I would bring this post back up to the top in light of tax season! All of the information about filing your taxes for free is still the same.

One thing being different though, Due to the tax law extension that was voted on in Dec. Anyone who files itemized deductions will have their return delayed until Feb 14 when the IRS updates all of their processing software.

That dreaded T word that most of us cringe at the sound of when January comes around.

It really doesn't bother me that much. I like math so that is not a problem. And yes it can be a little stressful making sure I don't mess up anything but I always follow the directions and double check and triple check the numbers and everything comes out fine.

This year is exceptionally stressful for us because we have a work related move that we can deduct and we have state income taxes to file! AHHHHHHH!! We have lived in Florida all our lives so we don't have state income taxes. But he has been working in Utah since September and they do. They sure don't mind that we don't live there, they take it anyways.

So I have some work ahead of me but we got all of the W2s in the mail already, so I am going to sit down and I will have our taxes figured out and filed BEFORE Friday!! That's a hefty goal you say.

Well its a goal I will work my butt off to reach. Once we get our taxes back the kids and I can join their father in Utah, finally.

Rule 1 about filing your own taxes: Don't pay for a software to file your taxes. Unless you have to. If you go to IRS website, there are 2 options this year. You can pick a company and use their software as long as you qualify for their income restrictions, or you can choose to file online with IRS for free using blank fill-able forms directly on the website. There are a dozen or so companies that will let you use their online software for FREE!!! This actually seems to be a shorter list then I have seen in previous years but it does include HR Block and Intuit Turbo Tax, which are both reputable tax software companies that you would pay $30-$50 for in a store.

Some of these options even include state income tax filing for free if you live in one of these states: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, New York, North Dakota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, West Virginia

It figures, Utah isn't one of the free file states. Oh well!!!!

If you are still uncomfortable filing yourself then check out your local library. Every year AARP helps sponsor the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program. They help low and moderate income filers prepare their tax returns for free at libraries all over the country. Click on the link above for a phone number to call to find out the closest location near you.

Have tax questions! Then go to the IRS website and you can find free information online, by phone, or in person.

FREE Breakfast at Denny's

I thought it was awesome of them when they did this last year. Denny's is doing it again. One FREE Grand Slam per person between 6am and 2pm on Tuesday Feb 9.

Some locations may be very busy. Some times may be busier then others, but hey, its free food right!!!

Last year when we went we waited less than 45 min and we had 5 people 2 being small children so we had to wait for adequate seating. I remember them asking for parties of 1 and 2 people to fill smaller tables and they would pull them out of the line.

Details can be found HERE and there is also a chance to enter to win free grand slams every week for a year. Woohoo! Wouldn't that be an awesome win. You just have to become a rewards member if you aren't already one. Being a rewards member gets you access to coupons and a free grand slam on your birthday.

When I signed up I got a coupon in my email for 20% off my entire purchase. And the website says anyone who signs up before Feb 14 gets a special surprise on Feb 28 (This should be the Free burger and fries coupon)

While you are eating for FREE tomorrow remember one thing. Even though you are getting the grand slams for free the wait staff still brings it to you and takes care of you as if it was a normal day (on top of probably being 10x's more swamped then usual). They are still doing their job, even more so! Make sure to tip on what the meal would have cost BEFORE the discount is taken!!!!

Coupon Giveaway

Chris over at Turning Freebies into Cash is having a giveaway this week of 4 inserts of coupons out of the Sunday paper. Over $150 value. There are 4 ways to enter and he will be having giveaways twice monthly.

So head on over HERE and enter.

Using coupons is a great way to save money. I have been using coupons for years, but just this past 2 yrs I have gotten into them hardcore (I have a coupon binder with all my coupons organized and I buy 4 copies of the paper a week). I don't buy anything unless I have a coupon for it or it never has coupons (like meat and produce).

I have regularly saved over 75% of my grocery bills for the past 2 years. I spend less than $75 per week for a family of 4 and we have plenty to eat and good quality name brand stuff too.

I have gotten cookies, soda, chips, milk, bread, cereal, crackers, and frozen foods for FREE or almost free. Not to mention all of the toiletries such as shampoo, toothbrushes, and deodorant I have gotten for free. I even regularly get diapers and pull ups for less that $4 a package.

So what does it hurt if you want to try out couponing for yourself, this is a good way to get your coupon stockpile up to get started.

Just go here and enter to win 4 coupons inserts worth $150.

New to Freebie Trading?

Are you new to freebie trading? Wanting to dive in but worried about getting scammed, not making any money, or other things?

Well put all of your fears aside. I have a beginners package for you called Freebies 4 Beginners. It consists of 4 well known and trusted sites and you will get paid by me for each of them.

The best part is that the first 3 you complete are GUARANTEED to credit because of promotions going on right now. That means as long as you don't give false information and you complete what you are supposed to, and save your proof of completing the offer, you WILL get credit no matter what!

Make sure to do cash.moneybonanzas first because their support team will walk you through step by step. No better way to make sure its done right then by the people working at the site right?

FREEBIES 4 BEGINNERS
Cash.moneybonanzas ~ $20
When you sign up submit a support ticket at the site with the title "Guaranteed Green" before you complete any offers. Support will then walk you through getting a green on their site and guarantee the credit. You don't have to worry about the credit not coming through because they GUARANTEE that you will green. So this is an EASY $20 from me that you get guaranteed!

Budget.zipnadazilch ~ $10
Guaranteed credit promotion

Gooderthangrits.git-r-free ~ $15
Guaranteed credit promotion

40.ourloot2boot ~ $20

Complete all 4 sites above and get a $10 bonus. That is a total of $75 and don't forget if you become a fan of my new facebook page you get an extra $5 bonus on top of that too!
($10 bonus is paid with the final payment after the last site is completed)

Help Me Celebrate!!!!!

In celebration of my new Facebook page I am offering an extra $5 bonus to anyone who becomes a fan and does a trade on a freebie site with me. If you complete a site where the payout is less than $20 I will give you a $3 bonus.

Just click on my Facebook profile badge on the left side of the blog and become a fan. Then send me an email to thefreebiemom (at) gmail (dot) com and tell me your name and I will set you up with the freebie site and information you need to complete it.

* Don't know what Freebie Trading is? It is an industry built up of Incentive sites that pay you to complete trial offers for them and bring referrals to do the same thing. I get paid a certain amount to get referrals to sign up and then once you complete the required amount of trial offers I pay you no less than 50% of my payout for helping me out. That means if I get paid $40 then you get paid $20. (Add the bonus above and you are actually getting $25) Trial offers can be small web companies trying to expand their consumer base or large companies such as Netflix or Stamps.com. This business is no different then the offers that you complete to get extra money for the Facebook games, or an advertisement that you may click on at a website. The difference is, I pay you cash money to complete the offers at the sites I am working with. (If the Facebook game money is that important to you, I have looked at the point values of some of the same offers and you could do the offer for me and use the paypal cash to pay for your game money and still have extra left over)

To learn more about Freebie Trading check out my introduction post HERE

Have you heard of SWAGBUCKS

I Just Won 2 Swag Bucks on www.swagbucks.com.

So who cares? You should! You can earn FREE Swagbucks by doing all of your searches through swagbucks instead of google or yahoo. You still get the same great google results combined with results from ask.com as well. Once you get a certain amount of swagbucks you can redeem them for prizes or giftcards. I usually get the $5 Amazon giftcard for 45 swagbucks but there are hundreds of other prizes to choose from.

I actually bought one of my son's Christmas presents just from free giftcards that I earned using Swagbucks. I also have another $20 worth in my Amazon account and am about half way to another one. It doesn't take up any extra time. If any of you have Firefox or IE7 or higher you know about the little search bar next to the URL. Usually it is defaulted on Yahoo or Google but there is a drop down arrow and you can choose other search options as well like Wikipedia, ebay, or amazon. Just go to the Swagbucks website and you can download a gadget that adds Swagbucks as one of the search options. Make it your default and every time you need to search for something just type it there. You don't even have to leave the web page your are currently on. If I am searching for something that Swagbucks isn't good at like an address that would require google maps or images after I do the initial search with Swagbucks I will pop the drop down menu and switch the search to google without even having to retype it.

Swagbucks also releases some codes that get you free Swagbucks. They will have Swag code searches or just give codes for different topics of the day.

Its a great way to get some free stuff without doing anything extra or special out of your way to get it. You also get a Swagbuck for every Swagbuck one of your referrals earns up to 100 SB

If you want to start earning free stuff just by searching you can sign up HERE

Giveaway Product Review - Train to Blog

The first product I am going to review from Giveaway 2010 is "Have a Full Cash Harvesting Blog in Under 1 Hour?!" The title of the e-book is actually Train To Blog and it is written by Michael Brown.

To see the master list of products from the Giveaway and to see other reviews check out the master post here.

Purpose: This e-book is meant to train you how to make money from blogging.

Pros: Some of the information in the e-book, Train to Blog, was great. There is some good information about using google keyword research programs to find out good keywords to use for the best traffic. He gives you the link to the free keyword program and everything and shows you by picture tutorial how to use it. He does a good job of explaining the purpose and need for this research. He also had some great information on how to set up a wordpress blog. This is great if you are going to use wordpress but if you use blogger or something else it isn't much help. He explains using pictures how to ad google adsense so you can make money and how to add a static page if you want one and how to add plug in widgets to make your blog useful. To be honest most of the Train to Blog is about wordpress and how to use it.

Cons: Besides explaining how to add google adsense to your blog Train to Blog doesn't really give you information on how to make money using a blog. It explains about keyword research (which is important) and how to set up the blog but that is it. What DOES actually teach you how to make money on your blog is the product that he is an affiliate for, Niche Blitzkrieg. The product costs $77 and it doesn't offer a discount when you try to close the window.

My opinion: Train to Blog is good for someone who needs some tips for setting up wordpress but you can get that information anywhere. I would NOT buy Niche Blitzkrieg. Too expensive. I have seen many cheaper products on the market for better stuff than that. What really turns me off from Train to Blog is not that he is promoting a product as an affiliate. He is trying to make money just like we are, but the fact that his e-book doesn't deliver what he says it does. It didn't teach me how to make money blogging. It taught me a little about enhancing my chances for it getting seen but that's about it. He also put cheap link plugs in there for the domain company and hosting company he is probably an affiliate for. He says you can have a cash harvesting blog in under an hour! You may have the blog itself in less than an hour and technically have google adsense on there but that doesn't do you any good. You are not going to have made any money off of adsense in less than an hour.

Like I said unless you want the Wordpress tips that you can get anywhere or you want to spend $77 on the product he is promoting, Train to Blog is not really worth the download. I am going to check the newsletter emails he sends me now, (the ones that I signed up for to get the free download) and if most of them are as lousy as this e-book I will unsubscribe. I may be wrong, he may have some good content in his emails, but from reading Train to Blog I am not getting my hopes high. I expect mainly emails with shameless plugs for this overpriced product.