Alliant Credit Union: $10 new member bonus, $50 high rate checking bonus, and $100 auto loan bonus through 12/31/13

Although I've known of Alliant Credit Union for several years now, I never found a compelling reason to join until I was interested in the very competitive 1.49% APR auto loan rate they were offering when I bought my new car. My experience with Alliant has been excellent so far and I wanted to share some of the new member/new account bonus offers that they are offering through the end of 2013. Alliant sports a pretty comprehensive path to membership eligibility, with a $10 tax-deductible donation to Foster Care to Success being the route I took. Please note that even if you join via a $10 donation, Alliant provides all new members with a complimentary $5 deposit to your savings account to offset that cost a bit.

As for the new bonuses, first up is a $10 referral bonus that new customers receive when they join Alliant through an email link from an existing member. Here's how it works:

To qualify for your $10 bonus (I also will get a $10 bonus), click on one of the links below to join Alliant Credit Union:

Alliant Credit Union referral link #1
Alliant Credit Union referral link #2

Once you join Alliant, you are eligible for two additional bonus offers:

1. Open a Free High Rate Checking Account and receive a $50 Bonus
2. Take out an Alliant Auto Loan (purchase or refinance) and receive a $100 Bonus

All offers are valid through 12/31/2013.

ING Direct Money Checking Account for Teens

After watching the young Frugalsons accumulate a nice wad of cash from birthday gifts and the like and because I think it is critical for my kids to learn about handling their money responsibly, I opened ING Direct Money "Teen Checking" accounts for each of them a few weeks ago. This is basically a checking account (minus the physical checks) for minors that is structured as a joint account with an adult.

The ING Direct Money account boasts the following features:

• Mastercard debit card for the teen with free ATM access to the Allpoint ATM Network
• No fees or minimum balances
• 0.25% APY interest on balances
• Eligible for $25 referral bonus
• Teen account access via computer or smartphone app
• CheckMate remote deposit service
• Adult only ACH access
• Real-time text/email alerts
• Available for minors starting at age eight

The online application process was pretty straight-forward and I had the new account open and visible from my existing ten year old ING Direct login as well as the kids new logins I created within a few minutes. As always, please note that this account is eligible for a $25 account opening bonus as long as the minor is a new ING Direct customer, so it is worth getting yourself a referral link to help the young saver get an easy twenty five bucks to get started.

While the initial part of the process doesn't take long, be prepared to wait an additional week for the USPS to deliver the debit card and an additional week after that for the ATM/debit pin number to arrive.

Now that we've had the accounts open for a few weeks, I have to say that I like the parental monitoring and control that ING Direct provides. While the kid can independently make debit card purchases and ATM withdrawals, I like the automated emails that I get when my kids have made a debit card purchase that detail the dollar amount and location of the purchase. To quote Ronald Reagan, "trust but verify". :)

Finally, according to ING Direct the $25 bonus is added to the Money account after 35 days as long as one signature or PIN-based transaction is made within 30 days (not sure if this is after opening the account or activating the ATM card).

Peapod Online Grocery Delivery: Color me impressed

During my last monthly asset update, I mentioned that we were going to try the Peapod by Stop & Shop grocery delivery service since I wouldn't be able to do the grocery shopping myself due to having surgery on my arm. We've had two Peapod deliveries so far and I wanted to post an update on what the service is like and how our experience has been so far.

First and foremost, I used a referral link from a neighbor that uses Peapod which provided us with a $10 discount off our first order as well as a $10 reward for our neighbor. For anyone using Peapod for the first time, I would recommend finding a coupon code online or from an existing customer to save yourself a few bucks (I have a referral link here if anyone is interested). Second, after your first order is placed Peapod will provide you with a coupon code (FREEDELIVERY in my case) good for free delivery on orders of $100 or more for the first 60 days after you receive your first delivery.

Once I had created an account, I found shopping at Peapod to be quite simple. Fortunately, they had a good selection of most (but not all) of the food items that I typically buy when shopping at Stop & Shop brick and mortar locations. One nice feature that I liked was that once I entered my Stop & Shop rewards card number at peapod.com I was able to see all of the available items that I had purchased in Stop & Shop stores over the past three months with an easy way to add them to my virtual shopping cart. Another nice thing I found was that many items that were on sale in the Stop & Shop sales flyer were also on sale online (a "special" in Peapod lingo), which makes it possible to stock up on items that are attractively priced much like I would when visiting an actual grocery store. Even better, Peapod accepts manufacturers coupons, including doubling coupons under $1 just as Stop & Shop does with in-store purchases.

One of the things I was concerned about was the quality and freshness of the produce, meats, and dairy items Peapod would provide since I wouldn't be able to pick them out myself. With both of the orders we've placed so far, I've been pleased on all fronts with the quality of the produce (lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, strawberries, etc.), meat (chicken breast, deli meats & cheeses), and dairy products (organic milk & yogurt). One thing I was disappointed with was that we did have one item that was "out of stock" (organic mushrooms), which we didn't receive and weren't informed about until our order was delivered. Peapod is supposed to make substitutions of similar items when that situation occurs, but for some reason that was not the case with our organic mushrooms. I think this is definitely a process that could be improved, perhaps with something along the lines of an email alert with a chance to authorize a substitution before the order is loaded on the truck. We also had a missing item on our second order (a bag of frozen vegetables), but a two minute phone call to 1-800-5-PEAPOD resulted in an easy credit to our account.

As far as the actual delivery, Peapod has a nice feature where you get a "Your Peapod delivery is next" email when your order is about to arrive at your home. For both of our deliveries, the driver was at our house within 15 minutes of receiving this email. Once here, each driver promptly unloaded our order (bagged in plastic Stop & Shop bags) from the truck and placed everything on our kitchen counter. I tipped each driver $5 for their service and we put our own groceries away just as we would with any normal shopping trip.

All in all, I have to say that I'm very pleased with our Peapod experience so far. This service will certainly help us out quite a bit until my arm has healed enough to resume shopping for groceries myself. While I may be paying more for the same items overall, it is certainly worth the extra expense when I think of driving to and shopping at multiple stores with my right arm in a sling. :)

Ebates.com $10 Double Signup Bonus Offer Returns

Ebates.com has brought back their $10 double referral bonus through March 31st.

Here's how to get your $10 bonus (and I will also get a $10 bonus) on your first purchase through Ebates:

1. Click on the link below to sign up for an Ebates account:
   
   Ebates Double Bonus Referral Link



2. Make your first purchase through Ebates by March 31st and earn the cash back offered by that vendor (like 2% off a Dell PC) plus your $10 bonus.
3. Ebates will mail you a Big Fat Check on a quarterly basis as long as your account balance is greater than $5.

Capital One Money Market $25 Signup Bonus expires today

Just a quick reminder that the Capital One Direct Banking $25 bonus for opening a High Yield Money Market Account that I mentioned in September expires today.

Here's how it works:

Click on the link below to open a Capital One High Yield Money Market Account by 11/30/2007 and you will receive a $25 bonus (and I will get a $15 bonus). You'll get yourself a no fee, no minimum balance FDIC-insured savings account that is currently offering an APY of 4.40%. To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link below:

www.capitalonedirect.com/referafriend

When filling out the application at the Capital One web site, be sure to enter Offer Code AM3VHP8DF to get the $25 bonus.

Ebates.com $10 Holiday Signup Bonus Offer

Ebates.com is offering another double referral bonus promotion of $10 through December 31st, 2007. Check out my earlier post about Ebates for the skinny on how you can get cash back by shopping online through Ebates.com.

Here's how to get your $10 bonus (and I will also get a $10 bonus) on your first purchase through Ebates:

1. Click on the Holiday Bonus link below to sign up for an Ebates account:
   
   Ebates Holiday Bonus Referral Link



2. Make your first qualifying purchase through Ebates by December 31st and earn the cash back offered by that vendor (like 2% off a Dell PC) plus your $10 bonus.
3. Ebates will mail you a Big Fat Check on a quarterly basis as long as your account balance is greater than $5.

Capital One Money Market $25 Signup Bonus through 11/30/07

Capital One Direct Banking has joined ING Direct by offering a $25 referral bonus for opening a High Yield Money Market Account.

Here's how it works:

Click on the link below to open a Capital One High Yield Money Market Account by 11/30/2007 and you will receive a $25 bonus (and I will get a $15 bonus). You'll get yourself a no fee, no minimum balance FDIC-insured savings account that is currently offering an APY of 4.40%. To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link below:

www.capitalonedirect.com/referafriend

When filling out the application at the Capital One web site, be sure to enter Offer Code AM3VHP8DF to get the $25 bonus.

Ebates.com $10 Double Signup Bonus Offer

Ebates.com has sweetened the pot by doubling their referral bonus to $10 through March 15th. Check out my earlier post about Ebates for the skinny on how you can get cash back by shopping online through Ebates.com.

Here's how to get your $10 bonus (and I will also get a $10 bonus) on your first purchase through Ebates:

1. Click on the link below to sign up for an Ebates account:
   
   Ebates Double Bonus Referral Link



2. Make your first purchase through Ebates by March 15th and earn the cash back offered by that vendor (like 3% off a Dell PC) plus your $10 bonus.
3. Ebates will mail you a Big Fat Check on a quarterly basis as long as your account balance is greater than $5.

Ebates.com $5 Signup Bonus

How does a $5 bonus on your first purchase through shopping site ebates.com sound?

I can personally vouch for this program, as I have been shopping through Ebates for six years now and have saved a few hundred dollars through their Cash Back program on various purchases through the years.

The Ebates business model is pretty straight forward:

You click on store links at ebates.com and shop at over 800 stores including Barnes & Noble.com, Gap, Target, Buy.com and Expedia. These sites pay Ebates a referral credit, which they share with you in the form of a quarterly Big Fat Check (for balances greater than $5).

Sound Interesting? Here's how to get your $5 bonus (and I will also get a $5 bonus) on your first purchase through Ebates:

1. Click on the link below to sign up for an Ebates account:
   
   Ebates Referral Link
   
   
2. Make your first purchase through Ebates and earn the cash back offered by that vendor (like 3% off a Dell PC) plus your $5 bonus.
   
   
3. Ebates will mail you a Big Fat Check on a quarterly basis as long as your account balance is greater than $5.
   
   

Capital One Banking $25 Signup Bonus

I love getting free money. How does a $25 bonus just for opening an online savings account sound?

Here's how it works:

Click on the link below to open an Capital One 360 Savings account (formerly ING Direct Orange Savings) with an initial deposit of at least $250 and you will receive a $25 bonus (and I will get a $10 bonus). You'll get yourself a no-fee FDIC-insured savings account that is currently offering an APY of 0.75% (as of 10/10/2012). To qualify for this bonus, you must use the link below:

Capital One 360 Referral Link


Please note that you will NOT get the $25 bonus if you click on one of these links and see the following message:

We’re sorry, but the referral email offer you received for an account opening bonus has expired and is no longer valid. We recommend that you contact the sender and ask them to re-send the referral email. Or click ‘Continue’ to proceed with the account opening process without the bonus.

If the above link gives you an error, then please post a comment before signing up for an Capital One 360 account so you can get your free $25 bonus.