Friday, March 27, 2009

Free is my favorite four letter word

Sometimes, we get caught up in advertising and peer pressure and pay out of pocket when there are perfectly good free options. Here are some you may not be aware of:

Free Online Tax Filing through the IRS Must have adjusted gross income of less than $56,000. Can get your tax refund direct deposited in as little as 10 days.

Free Credit Report This website will connect you to the three major credit bureaus: Experian, Transunion and Equifax. You have to create a username and password for each bureau's report. This will allow you to pull all 3 reports or pull one report every 4 months. You are limited to one free report from each bureau a year.

Free Credit Score CreditKarma is a website still in beta (testing) phase. They will provide a free score. Now this information is somewhat debatable in how accurate in comparison to your actual score. However, this is an option for someone who has no clue what their score might be.

Free Paycheck Calculator Need to figure out what you should be paid in next weeks paycheck? This is also handy for those who are independent contractors who want to figure out how much to set aside for payroll taxes. Handy for estimating purposes for anything more detailed seek the help of a professional accountant.

Free Snowball Debt Calculator I have used this one many times. Many people think they can not create their own debt management plan. Using this calculator and your most recent statements you can figure out exactly what to pay each month. Personally, I have found it to be extremely useful for motivation in paying off debt.

Let me know of any financial freebies you have found to be helpful. I will post them here for others to enjoy!

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