In the hopes to offer encouragement in light of the Virgina Tech massacre, the Passion Conference and Six Step Records is offering free mp3’s to download at Hope For The Hokies. This includes tracks from Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall, David Crowder, Matt Redman, and Passion.

Here’s a quote from the website www.hopeforthehokies.com:

“Our desire is that these songs will encourage anyone at Tech or around the world who is looking for sure footing in the wake of these tragic events. They are born out of a belief in a God who comforts and repairs, a Heavenly Father who has paid the highest price to rescue and restore us all. And because of Jesus we believe light can shine in darkness, life can come from death and hope will endure.”

Amen.  Isaiah 41:10 say, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.“

Chase is currently running a promotion on their Freedom Card.  The card offers 3% cash back on purchases at grocery stores, gas stations, and quick service food locations.  All other purchases earn 1% cash back.

If you still don’t have a rewards credit card, now is the time to sign up for one.  And if you apply now, you will get a $250 sign up bonus after your first purchase.

Go here to read more at Fatwallet, where I found the deal.

Link to the credit card.

Paypal has a promotion right now that if you spend over $30 at any participating Paypal merchant, Paypal will give you $15 cash back. This offer is good from now until March 31st, so check it out. Once you register your e-mail, you can shop at any number of online stores.

Just for to the Paypal mainpage to find the offer.

REI (Recreational Equipment Inc.) has a super clearance sale twice a year. The next sale is coming up this Friday on Feb 9th. Why do I bring it up? Because anything with a price tag ending with .83 cents is 50% off.

The sale happens online as well as at the stores. Last year I remember that they had snowboards, tents, and backpacks for ridiculously cheap, but they sell out really fast. If you are a fan of the outdoors and are looking for some great deals, check out the store starting this Friday. I think the winter sale is better than the summer sale because you can get great deals on jackets, sweaters, fleece, etc.

Click here for a list of all the products that end with .83 cents.

If you are a Southern California Edison customer for heating and A/C, they have a summer discount plan right now that can save you up to $200. Go here for details.

Basically the plan gives the company control to limit your A/C use during the summer. By allowing them to interrupt your service when there are peak demands, they give you the savings in return. Up to $200.

By signing up, you get a free $20 to Starbucks as well. I’m signing up for this since I don’t use A/C anyways. A few electric fans are all that I need.

If you don’t have a HSBC online savings account, now is a great time to open one. They are having a promotional savings rate of 6.00% APY on any new money you transfer into your account until April 30th.

It only takes $1 to open the account and there are no monthly fees or maintenance fees.

Go here to open a new account.

I have both an ING Direct account and and a HSBC account and I am happy with both. HSBC has generally had higher interest rates these past few years, so most of my money has been with HSBC. One thing great about HSBC is that they will provide you with an ATM card. Since HSBC ATM’s can be found all over the world, its great to have when traveling internationally.

Stop by your local Walgreens to pickup a 12 pack of Coke Zero for $3.00. Use this coupon to get $2.00 off.

I saw this deal over at fatwallet. I know its bad but I love drinking Coke, so any time there’s a hot deal I’m all over it. I picked up three cases before work. I think I’ll try going to another Walgreens after work to pick up more.

Check out this thread over at Fatwallet to find links to free state tax e-filing.

I found one for california here. Looks like I qualify. And with the free federal e-filing, looks like I can file my taxes for free this year.

I just received my W-2 from my work and am starting to collect all my pertinent documents to start doing my taxes.  I used TurboTax online last year, but this year it costs more because the government is charging for e-filing.

TaxACT is offering free tax software with free E-filing.  The standard software is available both online as well as a download.  Since my taxes are pretty simple and straightforward, this should be sufficient for me.

Give it a try.

My fiancée and I will be getting married over a holiday weekend in 2007. So we’ve decided to send out Save-The-Date postcards a few months before the actual invitation to our friends and family. I looked around for the cheapest options and found a great deal over at VistaPrints.

There are a number of coupons and deals over here at Fatwallet. I found a coupon for 50% off on all postcards and got 250 postcards for $30.00 shipped. That’s 10¢ for each one. Now if I can only find some deals for stamps.

We chose a black & white picture and added some text in photoshop and the postcards came out pretty good. Just don’t expect the same glossy photo quality as shutterfly or other photo stores.