As of now, over 1500 online merchants will be offering free shipping deals tomorrow. At least 60% of them will offer free shipping on all orders. Other deals may require a minimum purchase or other condition. The free shipping offers are supposed to include guaranteed delivery by Christmas.

Check out all of the deals at this site: Free Shipping Day is Friday, December 17, 2010 – National Free Shipping Day.

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We wanted a counter-depth refrigerator so that it would not dominate the smaller condo kitchen. We also wanted ice and water through the door. The Sears outlet probably had a dozen different choices that met these criteria. Some had visible cosmetic damage or missing components that were not acceptable to us. However, we found a Samsung side-by-side that had a very slight dent near the bottom of one side. This area would not be visible in our condo kitchen. The price was 50% of the normal selling price and about $800 less than we had recently paid for our new refrigerator. We bought it. It carries the same new product warranty as if it were sold in a non-outlet store.

Now I’m sorry we didn’t pursue this option with our other refrigerator purchase.

Next time you are considering a new appliance, check the Sears Outlet. You can search store inventory online.

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1. Ship-to-Store free shipping. First, I bought a product I needed from Ace Hardware. I searched for the product online then found it at Ace Hardware’s site. The big box home centers didn’t have it. The product is not expensive so I was cringing at what the relative cost of shipping would be. Then I learned that Ace Hardware has a free “ship to store” program. If you order a product and have it sent to your local Ace Hardware store, shipping is free. Nice. Borders books has the same deal, which I have used in the past. We have Ace and Borders locations fewer than five minutes from our house. Shipping charges – gone.

2. Kroger Plus gas savings. The second money saver I found this week was Kroger gasoline. Our local Kroger grocery gets a lot of our food dollars. It does not have gas pumps. A Kroger store farther away just installed gas pumps. It’s on the way to my office so I stopped. I asked the attendant how I could save money as a Kroger customer. She said that if I had a Kroger Plus Card (a free customer loyalty card) and had spent $100 at Kroger in the last month, I would receive a 10 cent per gallon discount.  So I save $2.00 just for being curious. I’m liking this.

When I returned home, I did more investigating. I learned that Kroger and Shell had just concluded a deal where Kroger Plus Card holders could save the same way at Shell Stations. All you need to do is enter your alternative Kroger Plus ID (e.g., home phone number) at the Shell pump. Instant 10 cent/gallon savings! Shell stations are everywhere so I won’t have to spend $2.00 in gas to find a place to save $2.00 on a tank of gas. That’s the problem with buying gas at a place like Costco. Unless you happen to be at the store for other reasons, the drive to the pumps undercuts your savings.

By the way, if you want to know how many Kroger Plus points you have available for gas discounts, it’s printed out at the bottom of your Kroger receipt. You can also check online.

Now if I can avoid wasting these small savings on other stuff!

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1.  Word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software: Google Docs. I use this because it is web-based, meaning that I can access the software and my documents from any computer. It is also easy to share documents with others. It is compatible with most file-types. Recently, Google has upgraded Google Docs to allow you to upload and store any type of file. This is a free way to back-up important files. Also, if you wish you can run Google Docs offline and sync your work to the web at your convenience.

2. Photo organization and editing: Picasa Another free Google application that takes all of the hassle out of finding and organizing photos and videos located anywhere on your computer. The editing features are not advanced but are suitable for most editing tasks. Creating and sharing online albums and slide shows is a breeze. Recently, Picasa has been provided with facial recognition functionality so that you can easily find and organize multiple photos that contain images of the same person.

3. Email and Contacts Management: Gmail. Nothing else comes close, not even Microsoft Outlook which I use at work. Again, because it is web-based, everything you need is accessible from any computer that is connected to the Internet. The ability to filter, search, and organize your mailbox is superb. If you use Picasa, Gmail integrates as well.

4. Genealogy and Family History: WeRelate.org For years I used Family Tree Maker. Then I realized how silly it was for various family members to work separately instead of collaboratively on family history. Thankfully, I discovered WeRelate.org which is a wiki-based website that allows you and others to build a family tree together. The primary drawback is that it does not let you (for obvious privacy reasons) input data on living persons.

5. Anti-virus and Anti-spyware:  Microsoft Security Essentials I think I’ve used most of the well-known free and fee-based anti-virus and anti-spyware software. Microsoft Security Essentials combines it all into a single package that updates itself behind the scenes. The best thing about it is that it uses so few of your computer’s resources compared to most of the other programs.

6. Back-up Software: Cobian Backup. Having a good back-up plan is critical. I save some super-critical files to remote sites but most of my back-up is to an external hard drive. Cobian makes it easy to schedule and implement full and incremental back-ups of the files and folders that you select.

7.  Windows Maintenance: Advanced System Care (Free Version). Windows is a program that unfortunately needs occasional tune-ups and clean-ups. The free version of Advanced System Care handles those tasks with ease. I don’t keep it running in the background. Instead, I run a scan weekly to fix any registry issues, etc. If you go to their site to try it, you will have to search carefully for the free version.

These are some of the free programs I use to minimize the costs of my computing. What about you?

Related posts:

1. Traveling Light – Boomer Style
2. Boomer Friends: Merging the Past and Present
3. AARP and Social Media

Being an IP lawyer, I try to be careful about accessing creative content online. When I find a music site, I at least look for and expect a representation that all of the free music is either licensed or public domain. Here is what I have found so far for free Christmas music:

1. Christmas Corner. If you are looking for Christmas carols for a sing-a-long, this is the site for you. You can read/print the words and have the instrumental portion played for you. Very helpful for those who enjoying the singing but can’t handle the piano playing.

2. Christmas Gifts.com has free versions of some popular carols for listening or mp3 download.

3. Garritan Community Christmas. These folks put together a free album of high quality Christmas recordings every year. Some are familiar tunes, others are less familiar. You can listen online or download the mp3 files for your own player.

4. Christmas MP3free.com. Just like its says: recordings of new and old Christmas music for free download. The titles are in four different categories: Contemporary vocal Christmas music, Contemporary instrumental Christmas music, Traditional vocal Christmas music, and Traditional instrumental Christmas music.

5. New Christmas Music. This site has contemporary Christmas songs and traditional carols for download three different music formats: mp3, wma, and midi.

I hope you finding something you enjoy from this collection of free online Christmas music sites.

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What Are High Interest Rewards Checking Accounts?

All of the high interest checking accounts that I am aware of have similar features.  These are typical:

• High interest (3%-5%) is paid on all balances, up to a balance cap of either $25,000 or $50,ooo.
• No set-up charge or monthly fees.
• No minimum balance.
• The account will includes a Visa-branded check card that can be used at ATMs nationwide.
• The bank (which is local or regional) will reimburse all ATM fees for use of any machines outside of its network. (Some banks cap the monthly ATM fee reimbursements so check for that.)
• Unlimited check writing with no per check charges.
• Some of these accounts offer rewards points programs, such as ScoreCard Rewards.
• The accounts are FDIC insured.

These are the typical requirements to earn the highest interest rate:

• You must set up at least one direct deposit or automatic bill payment.
• You must receive monthly bank statements electronically.
• Access the account online at least once each month.
• You must make at least ten check card transactions each month (not just ATM withdrawals).

If you think about it, these requirements are not onerous. The electronic monthly statement is easy as is the once per month account access. The direct deposit can be your paycheck – just tell your employer where to send it. Alternatively, you can set up an automatic payment of your telephone bill, mortgage, or any other vendor that accepts electronic payments (most do). These accounts offer free electronic bill pay.

Achieving the minimum number of check card transactions should not be difficult. Even if you are in the habit of swiping a credit card instead of your check card for routine monthly purchases, change that habit ten times each month and you’re earning 3-5% on all of your funds on deposit. Now is a good time for all of us to reduce our use of credit cards. Earning extra interest on our bank balances can easily beat the benefits of using credit transactions.

By the way, even if you don’t meet the requirements one month, the only penalty is that the interest rate drops for that month.

Where to Find High Interest Rewards Checking Accounts

The standard resource for locating Internet bank savings accounts is Bankrate.com.  The problem with using a standard account finding resource is that the banks that offer the best high interest deals are smaller.  You are unlikely to find the community or regional banks that offer the best high interest checking accounts at Bankrate.com.  (I could not when I tried.)

However, there are two excellent resources for finding local banks that offer the best deals. First, many of them are listed at CheckingFinder but not all of them.  CheckingFinder has a video and FAQs on its site that summarize these accounts in general and then links to each specific community bank or credit union high interest account.

Another resource for finding these banks and accounts is High Yield Checking Deals.  This site organizes the accounts by state. This is helpful if you want a bank with a local branch. But keep in mind that you can bank with any of them because your ATM card can be used anywhere. Everything else can be done online.

For many of the best deals, you may have to do a little digging. These banks have small marketing budgets).  Check your yellow pages or the business section of your local paper, then go to the community bank websites.  That’s where you will find the account details and account sign-up information.  Don’t overlook credit unions.   Some of the credit union accounts are listed on CheckingFinder.com and High Yield Checking Deals.

Although many of the banks offering high interest checking accounts are small, others are more regional.  As one example, Renasant Bank has branches in three states and offers online checking paying 3.51%.

Final Thoughts on High Interest Rewards Checking Accounts

We baby boomers need all of the help we can get in boosting our retirement savings. The big banks have not been our friends. Local and community banks often provide better customer service and with these special checking accounts, make us more money. So why not use them?

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What’s a robotic vacuum? It’s a baby boomer’s dream, that’s what.

Two months ago we purchased a Roomba vacuum for our house. My sister (another baby boomer)  had one and recommended it to us.  We have loved it ever since.

We have two black labs that leave a lot of hair around the house. The Roomba gets it all (better than our regular vacuum) and saves us the trouble of doing it ourselves. It takes a little longer to do its job but we can set the thing in motion and leave. When we return, it’s done.

Today only, Amazon is selling the Roomba Series 500 vacuum (normally $399) for only $179! If you have ever thought about trying one of these things, now is the time. If you don’t like it, you can send it back. I think you will like it.

Here is the link to the  Roomba deal page. Don’t let the $399 normal price scare you. Look for the $179 price right next to it and click that link.

Full disclosure: If you use that link and buy one, I get a small commission from Amazon. It doesn’t cost you any extra to buy it that way.

Let me know what you think about this deal or if you prefer that I not mention them at all.

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Here is a screen shot of the numbers that were generated:

Congratulations to readers Ken, FV, Stan/Darla, Steve, Brad and Debbie for posting the comments corresponding to the winning numbers. I have sent each of you an email message to confirm your selection. If for some reason you did not receive my message, please contact me and I will try again.

Thanks to everyone for participating and for being a reader here at Go To Retirement.

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Meanwhile, I came across a few new resources for baby boomers that will help us save money and be better retirement planners in the future.

The first is Medical Billing Advocates. This interesting organization focuses on helping folks who are overwhelmed by the complexities of medical billing and reimbursement. As stated by the organization itself:

Neither the insurance companies nor the healthcare industry is looking out for your interests. But MBAA’s expert consumer advocates are here for the sole purpose of helping you cut your medical costs. We can help you sort through the mounds of paperwork you have from your medical providers and insurance companies. We’ll analyze the accuracy of your medical charges and insurance payments. Our highly trained advocates will order the necessary statements, manually review each and every charge, and verify that your insurance payments are not shorted. We recover money that belongs to you and make sure you never pay another dollar you don’t owe.

I think there are many cases of severe and prolonged illness with expensive treatments where a medical billing advocate could be a big help.

On the Medicare front, the federal government is offering free publications on Medicare basics and nursing homes that can be ordered online.

General Motors is running a direct from eBay vehicle sales test. Through September 11, you can submit an eBay bid for a GM vehicle. The bid will be sent to multiple participating GM dealers, one of whom might be willing to sell the vehicle to you for that price. It could be a chance to get a significant bargain on a new GM vehicle.

For other interesting personal finance reads, check out these blog carnivals where my writing appeared this week:  Carnival of Personal Finance and Money Hacks Carnival.

This is an article from Go To Retirement
Copyright 2011 Go To Retirement. All Rights Reserved.

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If you enjoy shopping online but want to avoid the sometimes exorbitant shipping costs, it can pay to look through the Free Shipping site before placing the order. This site claims to have free shipping coupons and/or coupon codes for over 1500 different stores. The list of stores is impressive. Of course, you don’t want to overpay for an item based on free shipping, but sometimes you can get a deal on both aspects of the transactions. It’s worth a bookmark in your online shopping sites.

Mail-in rebates are a clever and effective marketing tool to entice us to buy stuff, with the seller knowing that lots of us will never take the few minutes to actually mail-in the rebate application. The AntiRebate site prides itself on featuring deals on products that do not require mail-in rebates of any kind. This is Anti-Rebate’s explanation of how its site works:

We do business with approximately 200 companies, large and small, ranging from Dell Computers to Sears, Walmart to Lane Bryant, Office Depot to American Express, and everything in between. The Research Monkeys that work at AntiRebate search the products from these companies everyday to find the best deals for you!

You might consider AntiRebate as one of the top salespersons for some of the companies that we do business with. As a top salesperson, sometimes we can get better prices than if you go directly to the merchant’s website. For example, let’s say you are looking to buy a Brand-Name Laptop. If you go directly to Brand-Name Computer’s web site, they would gladly sell that laptop to you for $700. If you come to AntiRebate first, and click on our link to Brand-Name Computer, the price for the exact same laptop is $500.

Most of the deals are for technology products but even those are worth knowing about.

Finally, have you ever visited the “check-out” page at an online shopping site and been frustrated because you didn’t have a code to enter in the ubiquitous “Enter Coupon Code Here” field? I know I have. The “Current Codes” site can help with that frustration. The site is plain and therefore simple to use. You can search for valid coupon codes by product category or store name. It certainly can’t hurt to take a quick look for a usable code before concluding an online purchase.

This week I participated in two blog carnivals that you should look through: Carnival of Personal Finance and the Carnival of Pecuniary Delights.

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