Announcing the Winners of the TurboTax Online Giveaway
Well, the contest for free copies of TurboTax Online has ended and I’ve drawn the winning entries. I started with 2 copies of TurboTax Online Premier ($49.95 each, on sale), and at the last minute, added a copy of TurboTax Online Deluxe ($29.95, on sale). All 3 copies also include one free state eFile, which is an added $36.95 value.
In total, this was close to $250 in prizes!
And now here are the winners. Mind you, they each have 48 hours to respond, or else I pick a new winner. That’s about 11pm EST on Monday night (Feb 8, 2010):
1) Shawn - entered by comment and Twitter – winner of TurboTax Premier
2) P Johnson – entered by comment – winner of TurboTax Premier
3) Miss Snippity – entered by blog post – winner of TurboTax Deluxe
The clock starts now. Get those replies back so I can send you the codes, or else! MUWHAHAHA (evil laugh)!!!
Help Us to Rebuild Together (Opportunity to Donate)
NOTE: I’m matching up to $750 of YOUR donations! Click the Paypal Donate button below!
Have you heard of Rebuilding Together? Most people compare it to Habitat for Humanity, but really it’s an organization focused on the needs of low-income homeowners, primarily the elderly, disabled, and families with children by assisting with repairs rather than the building of new homes.
Our church is sponsoring a home in Montgomery County, Maryland, and we’re seeking donations. While Montgomery County is one of the richest counties in the nation, you might be surprised to know that the county is also host to pockets of poverty, but also families or single residents going through times of financial distress or illness and just need some help repairing their homes.
We’ll be sponsoring a house, which means we must both raise money as well as rally a group of volunteers to do the work. To sponsor a home, we must raise $2,500 in donations, and we only have a few weeks to do so. While some homes repairs cost much more than $2,500 (new roof, windows, plumbing), some cost much less (like just painting). Therefore, $2,500 as the average amount for charities and non-profit organizations to sponsor a house.
Win a copy of TurboTax Premier right HERE!
UPDATE: I did confirm with the PR agency that these codes also include 1 FREE STATE EFILE! That’s a $36.95 savings on top of the $49.95 discounted cost of Premier for a total $87 value!
Update #2: I’m adding a Turbotax Deluxe Online code to the giveaway!
Actually, I have 2 copies of TurboTax Premier Online to give away! I attended a happy hour sponsored by TurboTax a few weeks ago and got some swag to give away to my readers. I’ll actually have a couple copies of the Deluxe Online version to give away later, and I’m currently using a copy of Deluxe for my own taxes.
I previously used H&R Block TaxCut Online for about 4-5 years until I got fed up with their system; I never quite knew if I was answering the question correctly. So I tested out TaxCut, TaxAct and TurboTax at the same time two years ago, and found that I liked TurboTax the best, by far. That year I used the desktop version, but last year I used the online version…and it’s just as good as the desktop version (without all the worry of saving the files locally and losing them).
Money Management for Children – How young is too young?
Guest post by Elaine Roberts
The British Government recently announced that it will be incorporating compulsory money management into the National Curriculum. This means that children as young as 5 will be learning about personal finances. While many of us can see the benefit of teaching children how to manage their money from a young age, the policy has come under some fierce scrutiny from groups who claim we’re taking childhood innocence from these school pupils.
Nonsense, if you ask me.
The developed world has a massive consumer debt problem and it’s largely because of poor debt management by adults. But is it really surprising. We go to school and it’s deemed a failure by the school system if we are unable to read and write properly. Why? Because these are essential skills for getting on in life. Yet up until now there has been no compulsory money management education. Instead, young people leave at 18 with no prior experience of handling their finances and are thrust into a society where credit is available all too easily. And then we have the audacity to wonder why young people struggle to juggle their money! Handling finances is an absolutely essential skill and I don’t believe that any age is too young if the lessons are made fun.
I hate finances and money…simply hate them.
You would think that with almost 1,200 articles written since the start of CleverDude.com, almost all about money, that I really love numbers and financial topics. My wife’s best friend thought so, and suggested that since I disliked working in IT so much, that I try a career in finance.
But here’s a secret: I hate finances and most things related to finances.
Why in the world would I say such a thing, especially since I talk so much about money, and since I’ve garnered so much notoriety from my readers and online community from my writings? Heck, I even used to be an accounting major up until my senior year in college. So why did I switch majors so late in college?
Because I really don’t like dealing with money. While I might like spending it, I know that spending money can get me into so many problems. Having too much or not enough money can lead to arguments from selfishness, insecurity, and pride. Money arguments break up marriages, cause rifts in families and tear apart friendships.
5 Smart Investments for 2010
By Mark Brown
The last several years have left many investors in dire need of an investment comeback. While the last quarter of 2009 found the market crawling out from the depths into which it had dropped, much is still left to be desired when it comes to replacing many investors’ losses. Like the home team in the last quarter of the championship, many of our portfolios are still down by a couple scores and need a few big plays to get us back in the game.
While 2010 isn’t making any promises be the big playmaker we’re all searching for, some investments out there could at least help make the year profitable.
Blogger Showdown: Clever Dude VS Frugal Dad!
J Money over at BudgetsAreSexy.com just posted Blogger Showdown #9: Clever Dude vs Frugal Dad!Head over to check out our answers to J’s questions, and consider voting for me at the end of the article. We don’t win anything other than pride over our reader loyalty, and honestly I wouldn’t feel bad about losing to Jason from Frugal Dad.
About J Money and BudgetsAreSexy.com
If you’ve never read J Money’s articles before, I highly suggest bookmarking his site or subscribing to his RSS Feed. I’m proud to say I can count J Money as a personal friend IRL after meeting him in person at a few PF blogger happy hours and having extensive online chat sessions about blogging and just personal life matters. While he’s only a year younger than me, we look and act like day vs night. He’s energetic, mohawked and totally ADHD, while I’m lazy, balding and, well, just sort of ADHD.
Problems with our scheduled programming
If you see an article titled “Our Secret to Success: Part Five: Controlling Your Own Destiny” in your feed reader or email, sort of ignore it. It was a draft I’ve been working on for months to round out my “Secrets to Success” series, but since I really have no idea what I want to do “when I grow up”, I’m having trouble finishing it. I was going through my articles to clean up some funky characters and I accidentally published it.
But if you do read it, any suggestions on how I can handle my desire to exit the IT world and find something more rewarding without going into abject poverty?
Clever Dude and his bride started with $113,000 in consumer debt and in just 3 short years, it's gone! The "Dude" writes about his mistakes in finances and marriage in hopes that you, the reader, can learn just a few nuggets of wisdom and maybe prevent the same mistakes.
