Envaulted.com

Envaulted.com gives you 1% cashback on up to three of your credit cards. As with Offermatic, you give them access to your credit card accounts. Envaulted is written up in several trustworthy news sources, so I signed up. Their website said no beta applications remained but I put my name on a waiting list. It was worth the wait.

Envaulted gives a straight 1% back. Once a month you may get a check so long as you reach a $10 minimum. You can boost your cashback by taking up the new offers Envaulted advertises every week. These offers give a higher rate percentage back.

For example, one week I received 3% cashback on Shell gasoline. The week before I received bonus cashback from Exxon, my closest gas station. The deals seem to be based somewhat on my purchases, although I am not one hundred percent sure they differ for everyone. I got a sandwich at D'Angelos, so they offered me a bonus 10% cashback at Subway (which I took).

Whenever convenient, I take advantage of the deals. For example, I don't normally go to Shell. So that week I tanked up about one quarter to bide my time instead of getting a full tank. Going out of my way to get gas 3% cashback on Shell gas seems silly. When I made a trip to a store with a nearby Shell station, I filled up there. So the waiting was the hardest part.

This week's deal is Papa John's at 10% back. I've never gone, but I'll eat lunch there a few times this week so long as the price and quality are reasonable.

I requested a check a few weeks ago and received my first $24. When I put my card info in, the last transactions are downloaded. Envaulted applied the cashback to the history even though I made a large  purchase before I joined. Sweet! Soon I'll ask for another check when I hit the $10 minimum.

So, essentially free money, as I was going to buy gas and food anyway. Will they last? I hope so, I like free cash.

Offermatic.com

Offermatic.com gives you rebates in exchange for your credit card account info: login and password. Dangerous! Insane! Who would do such foolishness?!

So I went ahead and did it. Reputable newspapers and investors have faith in the security. The NY Times reported on the website and an investment group is pouring money into this, so I am fairly sure it's safe. The company backing the security side is Yodlee, the former web machinery behind Mint.com when they started out.

The Mint.com look and feel is here. Adding accounts is similar, with a dropdown screen appearing where users search for their credit/bank websites. Clicking on the Offers link right away I saw a few offers based on my purchases history from my credit card. They amounted to spending $10 to get $5 back in a few weeks. When I saw the offers clicked to activate them. Expiration dates are listed on the offers, but you receive no penalties from not using them. The offers I choose were:

$5 Barnes & Noble
Stacking bonus here: Barnes & Noble's 10% discount from AAA took an additional bite out of the price. I bought more than the ten dollars I needed to spend. So maybe Offermatic's business plan is good.

$5 Trader Joe's
Just edged over spending $10 thanks to the Trader Joe brand rippled chips, some avocados, and a red pepper. Hoping the taxes are counted as well.

The nice thing about the offers is the explanation of why you received them. I spent money at B&N and Trader Joe's, so I I got those offers. I ignored an offer of a Restaurant.com giftcard for 250 points. Last month I ate at restaurants a lot so I got this offer and I planned to cut down. Plus, I never ate at any of the the restaurants listed and only a few were close by

Offermatic allows you to grind for points. The user spends those points for various stuff: rebates, higher level offers, or coupons.  By typing out a few quick but truthful reviews (+25 points a piece), attaching a few of my credit cards (+150 each), and linking to my often unused Facebook and Twitter accounts (+100 each), I acquired 900+ points. When I reach a certain number of points I can redeem them for gift cards:

$25

2,500 Points

Bloomingdale's Gift Card

$25

3,000 Points

Amazon Gift Card

Amazon is the highest cost gift card at 3000 points. Another option from Offermatic is for my account to level up to receive level 2 offers. Cost: 4000 points. The preview of level 2 offers included $10 rebates to Big Y and T-Mobile, places I bought stuff recently. I'll probably stick to getting the $25 gift cards for now.

Not everything went smoothly. My incentive for signing up, a choice of $5 rebates from Amazon, didn't appear. I had to contact their support staff to have it show up. It took a few days but it appeared.


Needless to say, many will shy away from giving out personal info. So: error or triumph? Will I experience Desert Storm or Pearl Harbor? I'll let you know when/if I get my rebates.

And if you're willing to take the plunge, try my referral link (I get 200 points if you do).

Update: Got 2 of 3 rebates so far, for $10. Score!

DonorsChoose.org

I read about DonorsChoose.org in the NY Times.* Local teachers who need money for their projects put in a request and DonorsChoose looks it over. If it seems legit and the costs line up, the project is offered online. 

The site offers anonymous donations or you can advertise your generosity on Facebook. I choose anonymous and donated by credit card.

An easy to use interface helps keep track of the projects you donated to or the tags/categories associated with that project. CharityNavigator.org gave them a nice four-star review, writing about DonorsChoose's low overhead and 92% of funds go to people in need.

Charitable and businesses match dollar for dollar on some projects.
I donated to a class of students learning to cook and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation essentially doubled my donation's effectiveness. Other charitable oganizations include Townsend Press, which subsidizes reading projects.
　
To extend your donation's effectiveness, you can buy a book about schools in America containing a $15 DonorsChoose giftcard. The book is available for $6 and change. If you're short of $25 on an Amazon order and trying to get free shipping, then toss the book in. The DVD has a $25 giftcard but is obviously more expensive.
　
Anyway, a class of students learning to cook for job training are on their way to getting their cooking supplies thanks in part to the book Waiting for Superman and Bill and Melinda Gates' generosity.

* The actual article was from 2010 but I wasn't able to open it, so I used this other one instead.

Hey There

Welcome to my blog. I'm your host, russellmz. Every financial coup and calamity I make will reside here. You, the reader, will mock or encourage me. Hope you enjoy reading.

My first article will deal with www.donorschoose.org. It's a great charity site to see where your money goes and how. Recipient classes and teachers get your money for special projects from books to specialty equipment.