GeekSugar

10 Websites to Help You Save This Holiday Shopping Season

GeekSugar — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 03:50:17 -0800

No matter what's happening with the economy, I'm always down to save some dough on gifts. This holiday, I'll be doing most of my shopping online (which really, is no different than any other year), which can mean great deals if you know where to look. Check out 10 of my favorite sites to help save you a few bucks on all of your gifting needs for the upcoming shopping season!

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Did You Contribute to Apple's Impressive Annual Sales?

GeekSugar — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 09:30:43 -0700

Recession, what?! Just since last year, Apple has managed to increase its revenue by 12 percent during these hard economic times, bringing in $9.87 billion in revenue with a quarterly profit of $1.67 billion. The company managed to sell three million Macs, 10 million iPods, and seven million iPhones, all in its fiscal fourth quarter that ended on Sept. 26. Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, had this to say about its successful quarter:

"We are thrilled to have sold more Macs and iPhones than in any previous quarter. We've got a very strong lineup for the holiday season and some really great new products in the pipeline for 2010."

I picked up a new iPhone this year, but I didn't get a new laptop or iPod, so I guess I was one of the millions of people who contributed to these staggering figures. What about you? Did you purchase a new Apple device this past year? Or are you waiting for the rumored cheaper MacBooks?

Use Twitter to Save Money: How These 5 Businesses Can Help

GeekSugar — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:33:01 -0700

We all want to save a few bucks, so why not use your obsession with Twitter to your money-saving advantage? Follow these five businesses to save on everything from computers to hot dogs.

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Locate the Closest Bank Machine With the ATM Hunter App

GeekSugar — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:46:28 -0700

Between my office and my house, I pretty much know where all my bank's ATM's are hiding. But when I travel, or am on the other side of the city, I'm usually stuck using another bank's machine and end up paying the hefty fees. No more! The new ATM Hunter iPhone app (which is totally free, BTW), will tell you where the nearest ATM is. Just enter your location, or what you want to do (like make a deposit, etc.) and this app will work its magic for you. And if you are looking for your own bank's ATMs, it'll find those for you too.

Target Rolls Out Pre-Order Program, Gives You Cash Back

GeekSugar — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:05:47 -0700

I've reserved plenty of games through Gamestop, my go-to place when I really want to make sure I get a copy of a game, but now that Target has announced their own game pre-order program, my obsession with them may grow to obscene levels.

Announced yesterday, Target's game reservation program starts with you showing up to reserve titles like Punch Out! and Ghostbusters and ends with you getting a $5 gift card when you come back to pick up your title within seven days of its release date. But there's another benefit to pre-ordering your games from Target. To find out what it is, read more.

Unlike Gamestop, where you have to put down a deposit on your pre-ordered game (sometimes totaling the entire amount of the title), at Target you'll only have to pay a buck to reserve, and will in turn get a game specific reservation card to turn in on release day. This is convenient, since sometimes I want to make sure I get a game, but don't always have the cash saved to purchase so far in advance.

Source

10 Recession-Approved Gadgets

GeekSugar — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:05:01 -0700

Although we are in the midst of some scary financial times, the earth does not stop spinning, and the gadgets won't stop coming. So instead of depriving yourself of a new gadget (or two) this year, save up your dough (be careful with those credit cards!), and splurge on one of these "recession-approved" gadgets. Why are they recession approved? Because they either do more than one duty, make your life much easier, or will cut costs in the long run. Which gadget would you choose?

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Website of the Day: Buxfer

GeekSugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 14:42:01 -0700

I am a huge fan of Mint to help me keep track of my money, but another awesome option may be Buxfer, which allows you to see your financial situation (whether good or bad) at a glance. Like Mint, Buxfer shows you your recent purchases, gives you a pie chart so you can visually see where your money goes, view budgets, and gives you mobile access to your account.

But something unique to Buxfer will come in handy for those of you with roommates: you can set up group access to shared expenses and keep track of who owes what to whom. For example, if I buy groceries for the house, I can split the bill and list what my roommates would owe me so I (and they) don't forget later. Cause these days, who can afford not to get back what they are owed? Not me, that's for sure.

Got a cool website you want to share with everyone? To learn how to post your favorite websites to our Website of the Day group, read more.

I know that this long list looks scary, but trust me, once you get the hang of it, it'll be a snap the second time around.

First of all, join the Website of the Day group.
Click the pink "Share" menu on the top left side of the page.
Choose "Blog" and "Regular Post."
Give your story a "Title."
Fill in the "Body" with a link to your favorite website and the reasons why you love it.
Click "Next."
Choose the audience for your story to "Website of the Day" in the dropdown menu.
Add keyword(s) (for example mine for this photo was "Website of the Day").
Change channel to "Technology and Gadgets."
Fill in tag field with relevant tags.
Click "I’m done" to submit content.

So join the Website of the Day group and share information about all your favorite sites! Yours just might end up on the geeksugar homepage!

Geek Tip: Save Money by Contributing to Google's Tip Jar

GeekSugar — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:04:37 -0700

I've professed my love for Google time and time again, and now with their new venture Tip Jar, they're helping me save some money.

Tip Jar allows you to post your most tried and true tips about saving money while traveling, babysitting, or commuting, and share them with the world. Have a tip about how to get the best rates when traveling abroad? Or perhaps how to entertain your kids on a dime? Leave it in the Tip Jar, and get plenty of free tips in return. Personally, the one about never grocery shopping on an empty stomach really hits home with me. I always put junk in my cart I don't need just because I'm feeling ravenous, and end up spending more than I should. See? Already helpful.

Geek Tip: Manage Your Money With Rudder

GeekSugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 14:45:00 -0700

My aunt is a bank manager, and I told her at a recent family event that I don't use a check register to keep track of my deposits and withdraws from my checking account.

She gave me a lecture about being responsible with my money, and wondered how I didn't overdraw my accounts all the time. But being that I only write one check a month for rent, and all my other bills are paid online, I don't really see the need! (Not sure if that's a Savvy approved thing to do, but hey. . .)

So when I found Rudder, it gave me yet another excuse to break my paper habit. Rudder is a cool app that delivers daily money updates right to your inbox. Rudder calculates how much money you'll have after all your bills are paid, shows you daily balances on your accounts and credit cards, and even alerts you when your bills are due. I don't even need my paper statements anymore, since Rudder keeps me on top of my money! And paired with Dime tracker, I think I've got my funds covered from start to finish. Worried about security? See why you shouldn't be when you read more.

Rudder uses the same encryption as banks use on their websites, so you can be sure that your info isn't going anywhere except to your inbox. Plus Rudder's servers are monitored 24/7, and would never even think of selling your info - they're cool like that. And the best news is that the service is free! How appropriate, right? You know, since we're talking about money and all . . .

Website of the Day: Mint

GeekSugar — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:00:17 -0700

I've been looking for a website to manage my finances simply but haven't yet been able to find it. This morning I found Mint, and while it is very simple to use, what it does is blowing my mind.

Add in all your accounts - checking, savings, credit cards - and Mint will track what you're spending and what you owe, compile budgets for you, alert you if anything unusual is going on in your account, etc. It really casts some perspective on what you're spending too - I talk a big game about shopping, but it turns out that I am a Walgreens high roller.

It also compares your cash to your debt and will tell you if your APRs are too high, like a sweet little electronic financial planner. If they added a bill pay and tracking function, it'd be perfect. Also, I was naturally concerned about the security, but after reading this, I'm cool. And did I mention the pretty pie charts?! You want to get a geek all excited, show her a color-coded pie chart.