In order to make it worthwhile to get airline miles without being a frequent traveler, it is important to take advantage of every mileage program bonus, special offer, deal, or coupon. For United Airlines Miles, one of the great ways to earn miles free and easy is to join the United Dining Rewards Program, which offers miles for every dollar spent eating out at restaurants.
Signing up for Mileage Plus Dining is free and easy for Mileage Plus Rewards Members. Just go to the United Airlines Miles Plus website and login with your Mileage Plus Member Number. Find the link to dining rewards and click the button to sign up.
The program works by allowing members to register credit card numbers with the Dining Rewards Program. Then, whenever you dine at one of the participating restaurants, you earn points on United Airlines for free just buy paying for your tab with one of the credit cards you registered.
To really make this offer pay off big, use the best rewards credit cards in your wallet. Since United Dining miles are not related to your credit card account issuer or bank, you still earn your regular credit card points and credit card miles. It is a double-dip earnings situation.
Redeem credit card points for hotel stays and use your United Miles for free airfare, and you have a two-for-one free trip, all by just registering your credit card numbers and eating at restaurants you would probably eat at anyway. Of course, you can always select something from the Mileage Plus Reward Catalog instead.
Current United Dining Rewards Special Offer
Right now, and through the end of March, earn double Mileage Plus miles eating out with the United Mileage Dining Miles offer. It works just like it always does. Eat at any dining establishment listed in the Dining Rewards restaurant list and instead of regular number of miles earned, you earn double miles. It’s a great way to rack up United points fast and free.
You have to register for the special double miles dining deal, even if you are already signed up for United Mileage Plus Dining. It is a separate add-on registration, probably to help determine how many people just float along in the program and accidentally earn miles when their credit card just happens to get used at a restaurant, and how many people actually read the United rewards emails about dining that they send out with special offers.
To register, you have to answer a few really simple, basic questions about how many kids you have, your age range, and so on.
United Dining Rewards Restaurant List Participating Locations
Sure, all of those personal finance books or retire rich books tell you to stay at home to eat and brown bag your lunch to work, but taking advantage of offers like this will allow you to have fun and live a little while still practicing smart personal finance advice strategy.
The list of restaurants that participate in the United Airlines Dining Rewards Mileage Plus program is updated frequently online. In the Denver area, for example, new restaurants often are added within just a week or two of opening. There are both high-end fine dining restaurants and fast food restaurants, and everything from local Mom-and-Pop places to national chains like IHOP.
Just search the dining miles rewards restaurant list online by entering your zip code to get all the food places near a location that offer miles to diners. Match them up with a special credit card offer earning extra points at restaurants, for example, and you can earn enough free stuff to pay for annual fees or even earn cash back in your own pocket, all courtesy of UAL Dining Rewards.
How To Deduct Property Taxes
CommentsWhen it’s tax season, everyone’s thoughts turn to tax deductions. Financial advisors and accountants alike are flooded with calls from frantic clients looking to save money on taxes by finding new deductions or other 2009 tax tricks. The most common question by far is, “Is this Deductible?”
Unfortunately, many tax deductions are either too small to have very much impact on how much taxes you pay, or are too narrowly tailored to actually be a tax deduction that most people can take. Add into the mix the fact that many of the things that people “just know” are tax deductible, actually are not tax deductions until they are higher than a certain “floor”, and most searches for new tax deductible items end in dissapointment.
The good news is that some big items are deductible for almost everyone. These are the best tax deductions out there and they are good for high-income taxpayers and lower-income taxpayers alike. These include deducting mortgage interest, many educational expenses, and tax deductions for children, and the related child tax credit. One of the other biggies that can bring tax burden relief is deductible property taxes.
Deducting Property Taxes on Income Tax Forms
Many people are surprised to find out how much property taxes they pay on real estate, particularly on their primary residence. This is because a large percentage of home owners pay their property taxes via their mortgage loan.
That is, that the mortgage company collects an extra amount of money with each payment which it keeps in an escrow account. Over the year, that extra money adds up to enough cash to cover the amount of property taxes due. If it the escrow account comes up short, the mortgage company fronts the money and then increases the part of the monthly loan payment for escrow.
Even though the mortgage company handles paying the property taxes for you, it does so with your money, which means you are the still the one who paid the property taxes, and therefore, you are the one who gets the property tax deduction. Check the 1099-INT tax form the mortgage company is required to send you each year. Both the amount of mortgage interest paid for the year and the amount of property taxes paid annually should be listed.
Don’t forget about other property taxes too! The most common type of property taxes that are deductible, other than real estate property taxes, are the property taxes on cars. Automobile property taxes are deductible if they are computed based upon a percentage of the car’s value. In other words, the taxes that are levied by the state, county, or city that are a variable amount depending on how much the car is worth are deductible. Flat taxes and fees, such as a $25 annual fee, that are the same amount no matter what the car is worth are not deductible.
Keep an eye on the mail for all tax forms, including 1099 Forms for real estate and brokerage and banking accounts. There are important tax numbers on each of these.
There is an unfortunate amount of confusion surrounding the concept of the Federal Tax Identification Number. It is ironic, because the whole Tax ID, FEIN, and EIN thing is actually very simple, mostly because they are generally all the same thing. However, it isn’t surprising that this concept confused many personal finance students because when it comes to things like laws and taxes, tiny variations in terms usually mean very different things.
What is a Tax ID Number?
Tax ID Number, or Tax Identification Number, and the like, all refer to the same thing. When taxes are filed, whether they are personal income taxes, or business income taxes, there must be a unique identifier used on the tax return. Likewise, if income is reported, that income must be reported to the IRS with a unique number identifying who it was paid to.
In the case of Federal Income Taxes, the tax ID number is a Social Security Number. However, businesses do not have SSN, so they need a different unique number to use for identification purposes on tax documents.
FEIN stands for Federal Employer Identification Number. It’s “brother” is the EIN which stands for Employer Identification Number.
What Is The Difference Between an EIN and a FEIN?
Let’s start with the easiest part of the tax number concept to understand. There is no difference between a FEIN and a EIN.
To be more technically correct, there is no such thing as a FEIN. While there may be State based employer identification numbers, the Federal Government makes no allowance for them in its official terminology or within the tax code. Thus, if someone is talking about Federal and state tax ID numbers, then they are technically discussing Employer Identification Numbers (EIN) and State Employer Identification Numbers. In other words, there is no “Federal” label for official purposes.
The arbiter of all taxable information and tax numbers is the Internal Revenue Service. No one else counts when it comes to Federal Income Taxes. It is not surprising then, that the IRS is who issues EINs or Federal Tax Identification Numbers.
Do I Need an EIN (Employer Identification Number)?
For many entrepreneurs, their small business is a separate legal entity. Such a business structure limits personal liability for business owners, whether it is via a S Corp, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP), or Limited Liability Company (LLC). In some cases, a business tax ID number is required. In others, it can be optional.
The thing that throws most people and generates plenty of questions for those who provide personal financial advice and tips, is the word “employer.” Many entrepreneurs have small businesses which have no employees, or only family members as employees. Thus, the inevitable question is whether or not such a business requires an EIN.
Despite the name, an EIN is merely an identification number used for tax purposes. While only businesses with employees are required to get an EIN, businesses without employees can use them as well.
In fact, every small business owner should get an EIN tax ID number whether they have any employees or not. This is not only good business practice, it is also very necessary in order to protect privacy and prevent identity theft.
Whenever a business pays more than $400 in a calendar year to a business, whether a small business or otherwise, they are required to report that payment to the IRS. To do so, they must file an IRS form that, not surprisingly, requires the recipient’s tax ID number to be listed. As a small business owner, you have two choices:
- Use Your Own Social Security Number
- Use a Tax ID Number or EIN
It shouldn’t be rocket science why you don’t want to be handing your SSN out all over the place. Obviously, if your business is a small sideline thing and you only do work for people you know and trust, or well-known reliable companies, then the risks are lower. However, the fewer places you can give out your social as you go through life, the better.
With Congress passing legislation to reign in some of the worst credit card abuses, credit card companies have been scrambling to get their terms and conditions, also known as the card contract, changed to terms more favorable to them before the new rules take affect. By changing your credit card agreement before the new credit card law takes affect, these card issuers can avoid having to play fairly as dictated by the new rules. However, this can mean bad things for customers and credit card account holders. Apparently, the banks aren’t concerned about losing business, because they are modifying terms on credit accounts left and right regardless of the person’s credit score or credit history. What can the average credit card customer do to fight back? Unfortunately, not too much, but there are some things that you can do to keep the credit card companies from cheating you out of your hard earned money.
Credit Card Interest Rate Increases
Under the old law, whenever a bank wanted to increase the interest rate it charged customers, it just sent out a letter saying that they were changing raising the interest rate. Consumers had no rights to do anything about it. The only option was to pay off the full balance immediately to avoid the higher interest rate, or transfer the balance to another credit card. In fact, when credit card companies needed to improve their balance sheets they would routinely do just this. If customers paid off their balances, then the company’s outstanding credit balance decreased. If customers didn’t pay off their balances, then their interest income from those balances increased. It was a no lose situation.
The new credit card law requires banks to give customers another option. Under this option, you can notify the credit card company that you reject the new interest rate which prevents your interest rate from increasing. In exchange, the account can no longer be used for new charges, but you may continue paying off your credit card balance under the old terms of the agreement. That means that you can still make the monthly payment, whether the minimum payment or otherwise, at the normal, sane, interest rate that you agreed to when you opened and used the credit card account. Obviously, this is not advantageous to the bank, so they are raising interest rates now, as fast as they can so that they won’t have to live by the provision once the law changes.
To fight back against credit card interest rate increases, the only thing you can do is pay off or transfer your balance before the new rate takes affect. If this isn’t practical, then continue making payments and pay off the card as quickly as possible. If you don’t carry a balance, the new rate won’t affect you until you do. The best vengeance is to never carry a balance on that card, ever. Credit card companies don’t make as much money off of customers that don’t pay interest, so keep using the card and pay it off in full every month. You’ll be fighting back against the credit card issuer and costing them profits. To really make them pay, be sure to take full advantage of their credit card rewards program to cost them even more money and make the card companies pay you!
If the way the company is treating you makes you so mad you want to close the account, don’t! At least not right away. Closing the account means you lose all of your reward points or miles. Instead, make sure you redeem every single credit card miles point you have earned before closing the account. Also, be sure you understand the effect closing an account can have on your credit score.
Finally, the most important thing is to REMEMBER. Banks are counting on their customers being mindless consumer sheep who don’t take the time to properly manage personal finances. They figure if they screw you over now, you will have forgotten all about it in six months. Don’t let them win! Remember exactly who did what and either close their accounts, or use them in a manner that makes them unprofitable for the company. If enough customers fight back, maybe next time, the banks won’t be so eager to try and cheat their customers.
Thinking about giving someone a gift card for Christmas? You are not alone. Last year, billions of dollars of gift cards were purchased in the days and weeks leading up until Christmas. In fact, Google reports that searches for "Gift Cards" continue to rise until December 26th when they finally peak. I guess some people are looking for after last-minute gift ideas.
Not long ago, Gift Cards replaced the gift certificate as the present to give to someone that either you don’t really know what to get for them, for people who are very picky (and thus better off picking out their own gift), for people you don’t want to bother shopping for, and for people on your gift list who live far away because gift cards can be shipped easily and cheaply tucked into a Christmas card.
Reports about gift card tricks and things to beware of when buying gift cards have those with savvy financial planning skills looking for unbiased financial advice about whether or not giving gift cards is a good idea. Fortunately, in most cases, giving them as presents works out just fine for everyone.
Gift Cards Losing Value
There are some concerns regarding Gift Cards, particularly around the "features" that cause them to lose some of their value over time. Fortunately, the most egregious of these terms have been pretty much weeded out by continuous news coverage and frequent sob stories regarding small children, or little old ladies whose gift cards ran down to zero value while they were unable to shop.
Even so, many gift cards continue to come with a provision that has them expire after a certain amount of time, or to slowly lose their value each month. The truth is that there is a very legitimate reason for treating gift cards this way. A gift card is a debit, or liability, for the business that issued it. Since they were already paid cash for the card, and they are obligated to redeem the card for an equal amount of goods or services, a gift card acts like an IOU on the books of a business. However, unlike other debts, the business has no way of projecting when, or if, the liability will ever come due. Carrying around $1 million worth of liabilities for gift cards issued so long ago that there aren’t very likely to ever be cashed in, is a headache for all kinds of companies. The expiration date, or the countdown value draining ticking time bomb gives the accountants an end date when they no longer have to account for the possibility that cards will be redeemed.
This is not a new practice. Gift certificates had expiration dates printed on them as well. The problem that gift cards had was that the expiration date, or the terms of use that stated when and how the gift card lost value were either printed in fine print on the back (that no one read) or, even worse, not on the card at all and part of the terms and conditions that were published elsewhere on the website or contract / agreement that one had to specifically ask for. So, when people went to use their gift cards, they were surprised, and very angry, to find out that they had lost value or expired.
Gift Cards Very Profitable
Gift cards are very profitable for businesses. Much like mail-in rebates, a lot of gift cards are never redeemed completely. Many people who get a gift card go to the store and pick out something that costs less than the total value of the gift card, so that they can get it for "free". The remaining amount on the card is often forgotten all about. Even if the person finds the card in their wallet or drawer at a later date, they likely remember that they already used it, and just throw it away. Or, the remaining value is so small as to not make it worth the hassle. All of this unused money adds up to big profits for businesses and retailers.
The major credit card issuers have an even better deal going. By offering card redeemable anywhere MasterCard or Visa are accepted, they can sell even more cards, and they have to do even less to process and account for them. Some banks let you double dip for more credit card rewards points by giving you miles or points for the full purchase price of the gift card.
In order to not kill the golden goose of gift cards, most merchants have much kinder terms regarding their cards. They either don’t lose value over time, or lose their value much more slowly. Many cards have no reducing amount feature and just have a regular expiration date, which people tend to view more favorably.
So, if you plan to give gift cards this holiday season, there is no need to worry as long as you are buying them from a reputable merchant. After all, it is worth much more to Best Buy to keep selling gift cards for years to come than it is to screw over a bunch of people this year and get a little extra profit, but a bunch of publicity that will keep gift givers from buying their cards next time.
