Handling Finances

Yes, I know, it’s not technically “free” as it comes out of our taxes, but filing a tax return is a small price to pay for $300 or more. In the next few weeks, the IRS will be sending out letters telling taxpayers that you must file a 2007 tax return to get a stimulus rebate check.

While most of the 130 million Americans who qualify for the rebate check will be filing a tax return anyway, between 10 and 20 million are eligable to receive the rebate, but do not earn enough to be required to file taxes. The majority of those who qualify for the rebate checks but are not required to file taxes are Americans who receive social security or veteran’s benefits. This is considered income and can push citizens over the $3000 income limit. The key is that it must be included on a tax return or it won’t be counted toward the stimulus rebate checks.

If you filed a tax return but didn’t include social security or veteran’s benefits as income, be sure to amend your return to make sure you can qualify for the rebate check.

Filing taxes can be quite a hassle, and it’s very convenient to be able to skip filing when your earnings are low. This year, if you can claim income of $3000 or more, it’s worth the effort — file your return and qualify for your rebate check.

Check out the official IRS article for more information.

I know a lot of people who swear by MyPoints, the site that awards points for clicking on emails, taking surveys and purchasing online at select stores. These points can then be redeemed for gift cards to common stores like Bed Bath and Beyond or Home Depot. The site essentially profits from advertising and simply passes on some of the kickbacks generated by clicking on ads and buying through “affiliated” companies. The site also sells the information you enter which is why you can get points from surveys.

I don’t have a problem with MyPoints. My wife is very active with MyPoints and I have to admit that it’s pretty nice to receive occasional gift cards. It’s important not to get sucked into buying through MyPoints just to get the points or you’ll end up broke with a whole lot of junk and a couple of minor gift cards. That said, as long as you stick to clicking on emails and taking surveys and perhaps going through MyPoints when you otherwise decide to purchase online, MyPoints will end up saving you money. Single Guy Money recently used MyPoints to get a light fixture at Home Depot for free — certainly an admirable goal!

The problem with MyPoints is that it costs a lot in terms of a very valuable commodity — time. When you get a job, your employer pays you to spend your time working for that employer. The employer values your time at a lot more than they’re paying you (or they would lose money by hiring you) so it’s not unreasonable to assume that your time is worth at least double what you’re getting paid.

A key question here is how much do you get paid per hour at MyPoints. Gift cards cost fewer points for more specialized vendors, but the $50 CVS card costs 6750 points so I’ll use that as my baseline of 135 points per dollar. Just be aware that if you settle for smaller gift cards, you’ll generally end up spending more points per dollar. One of the simplest ways to gain points is to click on advertising emails at 5 points each. At around 10 seconds per click (assuming you occasionally look around for a few seconds before closing the window), you’re making about 10 dollars per hour. Of course, it takes months or years to save up enough to get the $50 card, so many people also take surveys that pay much less for your time. The surveys pay about 10 points for a 2-minute survey, and 50 points for a 10-minute survey if you qualify. At $3 per minute, this quickly becomes much less lucrative.

Purchasing through MyPoints makes sense, but even if you’re careful to only buy stuff you had already budgeted for, the ‘reward’ of a few points will make the purchase feel better and make you more likely to purchase in the future. Many people assume that advertising is designed to make you immediately want an item or even to jump up and buy it. While that would be great, it’s not actually the point of advertising. Advertisers know that by simply associating a good feeling or a happy thought with a product, you are more likely to purchase that product in the future. Similarly, the more you purchase through MyPoints, the more you’re likely to budget for future purchases through MyPoints simply because it feels like a good idea. It’s not a huge effect, but if it weren’t true, MyPoints wouldn’t get paid to direct traffic to other websites!

So you can get some small amount back for certain online purchases, and between $2 and $10 per hour (maybe half an hour a week) for responding to emails. $10 an hour might be worth the effort of clicking, but $2 per hour gets pretty sketchy and when you have to spend money to get points, the value is dubious.

MyPoints isn’t a horrible waste of time, but as with any activity, it’s important to evaluate the cost of getting “free” gift cards. With all the things I enjoy doing with my time, $2 an hour isn’t worth the effort of helping random companies target their sales. If you’re routinely bored and online, it might be a good way to pull in a couple bucks here and there, but the amount of time it takes to get paid (with just a few clicks per week) makes the payout rather sketchy.