Get Paid to Save (And Have Fun While You Are At It?)!!

I know it sounds too good to be true, but this is the real deal and I would encourage you all to take a look. The "Pay Yourself First Challenge" is a savings contest sponsored by FNBO Direct (yes, that's a bank) that gives you the opportunity to earn free cash, learn to be a habitual saver AND offers a great, HIGH interest rate on your savings. This contest was recently written up in the Wall Street Journal and is gaining in popularity (they are relying on folks like yours truly and other Bloggers to spread the word). Here's the rundown per the contest website:

Create a one-minute video about what you're saving for (visit PYF's YouTube Channel to see what your competition is doing). Maybe you're a savings superstar — or a little savings challenged. Compel us with your original and creative video. You may be selected to join us on a six-month savings journey as a challenger in the FNBO Direct Pay Yourself First Challenge!

What's up for grabs:

$10 Gift Card for each of the first 500 YouTube Submissions*
$500 Cash Prizes for each of the Top 20 YouTube Submissions*
$7,500 Luxury Spa Vacation Grand Prize*
$25,000 in Matched Savings for the Top 5 Contestants*
Upload your video by July 31. Start shooting today!
What is PYF?

Pay Yourself First (PYF) before you pay your mortgage, credit cards or any other monthly bills. It starts with a direct deposit into your Online Savings Account, transferring only what you need for monthly bills into your checking or BillPay account. This small change maximizes your earned interest and grows your savings faster.

*See Official Rules for complete details.

P2P-Loans.com is sketching out a possible submission and I will post a link to my video assuming I ever get my production act together. Good luck and spread the word on this great program!

Free Checking Account & $75 Cash for Signing Up: Bank of America!

P2P-Loans.com is always looking to bring you, our loyal readers, the best deals available. Today, we wanted to offer you a free $75 cash gift (ok, so we aren't giving you any money, but information is power!). All you have to do is open up a free checking account from Bank of America and you will receive $75 cash. That's it! So, sign up for the account through the link below and enjoy your cash. At a minimum it will help you lower you rapidly rising gasoline bill (visit our blog post on how you can lower the cost of gas by over $1 per gallon). I signed up for this account and received the credit without any hastle at all. To receive your $75 in free cash, apply online or go to your nearest banking center. Use offer code AOU260408, and open a personal checking account before June 30, 2008.

Enjoy your free cash!

Free Software & Other Stuff - No Need To Pay Anymore (PhotoShop, Google, Tax Prep, Coupons and More)!

There is nothing like free to get my blood flowing. There is a reason that this single word is one of the highest cost words on Google AdWords since I don't know of anyone in this world that doesn't like free stuff. So, I thought I would try to summarize some of the coolest free stuff I've found on the web (mostly software, but there is tons of free stuff that everyone should know about). Please feel free to add cool, free stuff you've found in the comments section.

Free PhotoShop Software
Adobe USA (the parent company of Photoshop) just announced a free version of its famous Photoshop software online, Photoshop Express! I've used Photoshop for years and can tell you it is a truly excellent program. In fact, they are also throwing in 2GB of free online storage so you can upload your pictures and use the free software.

Google Apps
It seems like Google is adding something new to its free online applications on a daily basis. Google offers some of the coolest applications on the web. From the more boring stuff like Google Docs and Spreadsheets to really cool stuff like Google Picasa, Google SketchUp (really cool 3D software), and, of course, the best of all, Google Earth (WARNING, if you download Google Earth, I can promise you endless hours of lost productivity).

Free Tax Prep Software
I wrote about this in an earlier blog post, but wanted to touch on it again since we are rapidly approaching the dreaded April 15th. Why pay for this service when you can get it for free (if you meet certain income levels). If you can't get it for free because of your income, check out the tons of low cost online options (that's what I use). P2P-Loans.com has also created a quick and dirty webpage to give you a few good options on the Tax Prep software side of things.

Coupons (online and offline)
You have to be careful when searching the billions of free coupon sites on the web because it's very easy to get lost. But, never buy anything online without a coupon. It's as simple as searching Google for "Name of Store/website Here" + "coupon code". For example, I recently bought something at Dick's Sports at their local store. I found a great printable $10 off any $25 purchase coupon. I've used this coupon 10 times already saving me $100 in total! I bought my wife a present from Nordstrom's the other day (online) and saved 25%! This is free money, people, so don't miss out. It only takes 2 minutes to find a legit coupon.

Other: Endless Hours of Searching for Free Stuff
There is no shortage of websites that offer free stuff, so I would encourage you to search for this stuff online (Click Here to get started). I've actually found some pretty neat things online, so I would encourage you to check it out. Good luck, happy hunting and thanks for checking us out.