Personally I wouldn’t want my personal data to be shared like this, even if its in aggregated/anonymous format, but for those that don’t care or mind, this is easy enough “free” money (in the form of Amazon gift cards anyways).

Here’s the full gist of the program:

• You can sign up at the Google Screenwise program page
• You must be 13 or older (surprisingly low age threshold)
• Have a Google account (or will sign-up for one)
• Using the Chrome web browser
• You’ll eventually get instructions on how to install the extension and join the program through Google’s panel management partner, Knowledge Networks

The sign-up page at Google shows that the maximum payout is $25 (total of 12 months plus initial $5 they give you for signing up). However in the fine print Google notes that it may extend the research beyond 12 months if there is a need/fit.

Please note that I am assuming data being shared are on an aggregated or anonymous format, but you should check with the full program terms before you start using it on a day-to-day basis. I doubt the purpose of the program/panel will be recording your bank login information etc., but when you install additional extensions to your browser, you add new potential security risk.

If anything, I suppose people can always sign-up to the program and opt-out of the program after the initial gift card is given to you. *shrug*

This post "Get $25 “Free” from Google by Sharing Your Web Surfing Data" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

According to a poll result from readers over two years ago, AAA membership is not crap — and that’s true enough for many people, as the occasional use of the roadside service provided by AAA makes the annual membership fees well worth it.

But alas, I decided recently to not renew my AAA membership.

Below are some reasons why I decided to cancel my AAA membership, and five reasons why you might want to do just the same:

1. You Might Not Need Their Roadside Services

The main reason why most people join AAA is for the roadside service — and it’s a service that I haven’t utilize in years. My car is fairly reliable, it has never broken down seriously to the point where it needed a tow, and for me, the towing is the only cost saving feature of a AAA membership.

Some of the other roadside services are of course handy, but none of which are things you might actually need.  The last time I got a flat tire was about three years ago, and as I was putting the tools and the flat tire back into my trunk, I remembered at the last minute that I had AAA membership.

Dead battery?  Unlikely to be an issue if you inspect and check your battery regularly.  With proper maintenance, an average car battery last 4-5 years.  In fact, a car battery is actually one of the more reliable parts in an automobile.

Locking yourself out of the car?  If your car doesn’t automatically lock its doors (like my econobox) and you have certain types of key-less entry, this is also a an unlikely scenario.

2. AAA Discounts Can Be Easily Beat Online

AAA travel and related discounts are nice, but it has been years since I’ve seen a discount that couldn’t be beat by other online travel comparison sites, cash rebate sites, or whatever coupon code and promotion that I can find on the web at the time.  Here are a few sites that I use regularly to look for quick travel related discounts:

• Kayak.com – Travel price comparison search engine.
• Fatwallet.com – For those last minute deals, cash backs, and coupons.
• Retailmenot.com – For quick search on current coupons and promotions.

3. Alternatives to Other AAA Goodies & Travel Services

What about goodies such as free maps and tailored travel services?  Again, these are things that you have alternative sources for.  I still like AAA’s free maps and would love to keep grabbing them if I ever go on a road trip, but more often than not, I would already have a trip mapped out via various online maps before I head out.

If I still need a map, there’s always Google Map via my phone and the loads of paper maps I’ve accumulated through the years that can be found in the closet.

Travel guide books? There’s the library. Travel services? With the web at your fingertips, everyone’s an expert travel agent if they have enough time to do the proper web research.

4. Overlapping Roadside Services

Don’t forget that many car insurance plans offer an option for you to add-on roadside service at a minimal cost, and many times this will be cheaper than a yearly AAA membership.  Most of these add-on gets you a free tow once per year, provides you with the usual roadside services, and usually covers everyone on the insurance plan.  I checked with my insurance company but unfortunately it didn’t offer this add-on option. Bleh.

Some select credit cards will also offer free roadside service or discounted roadside service options.  Most Visa Signature or World MasterCard credit cards should have this benefit available.  Your best bet is to dig out your benefits terms and condition to read the details, and write down the roadside service numbers for those potential future mishaps.

5. Renew Only When You Need It

At the end, it’s a given that for many people, an AAA membership is for that peace of mind and those unexpected moments. AAA can be well worth it for many people, it just isn’t worth it for me anymore.

Will I need a tow sometime in the future?  Most likely.  Will it be once every year?  I highly doubt it.

Here’s what I figured:  Why pay a yearly membership fee in anticipation for a needed towing service?  If you ever need a tow, just call AAA on the phone and renew or activate a new membership on the spot — you’ll get immediate towing service!

Sure, there’s a $20 membership processing fee on top of whatever it cost for AAA in your region, but that’s usually close enough in prices to local tow services anyway.  Seems practical enough of a solution especially if you don’t need the other AAA services and you’re just renewing the membership for those (potentially rare) moments when you need a tow.

This post "Five Reasons to Cancel Your AAA Membership" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Although I’ve always tried to keep my banking online (because heading into the sunlight burns my dungeon dwelling skin) — I occasionally still get a few pesky checks in the mail.  As I was depositing some checks into the ATM a few days ago, I decided to snap a few picture for those of you that have yet to encountered these new ATMs:

Here are some pros and cons that I’ve observed from using these new ATMs:

Pros:

• Instant scan and image of checks printed on receipt.
• Not having to lick those envelopes anymore.
• Fast for single check deposits into single account.
• Cash deposits gets credited immediately.

Cons:

• If you have to deposit multiple checks into multiple accounts (businesses), prepare to enjoy the machine’s company as the machine takes only one check at a time (disregard picture above as that was just an example).
• If the machine eats your check without spitting it back out properly, you’ll be dealing with a lot of hassles trying to resolve the issue.
• If the machine takes your cash but didn’t credit the amount properly, you’ll be in for a world of headache.

Despite their myriad of fees and often shoddy services (or lack thereof), I’ve kept a Bank of America checking account open for years mainly because of the massive amount of locations Bank of America has — after all it’s pretty darn convenient to be thousands of miles away from home but still have access to fee-free ATMs.

These new ATMs can certainly be convenient, but I dread the day when I have to deposit more than 5 checks at the machine or have the machine gulp down the cash deposits but improperly crediting them.

If you’re a fellow Bank of America slave customer and have something to say about the “new” ATMs, feel free to chime in.

This post "Bank of America New ATMs – Love or Hate Them?" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

The community currently has about 2,000 registered users, with many more financial news and tidbits already “tipded.” Each week, I’ll try to highlight a few interesting things I find via Tip’d and other social network sites in the weekly roundup. You can find me lurking on Tip’d as Cap, so feel free to add me as a friend if you’re a Tip’d user.

This post "Tip’d – Community for Financial News Launched" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Consumers can find solace in the fact that there are about half a dozen generics or similar offerings from other competitors. Although if you’re like most people, you won’t care much for the Type 2 Diabetes inducing snacks and probably hated me for posting this off-beat and delayed news.

This post "Victim of the Economic Crisis: Circus Animal Cookies" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Clouded by offer of $26.6 million dollars, a woman in Oregon sent out over $400,000 to Nigerian email scammers over the course of two years — even after her family members and bank officials told her to stop.

Obsession? Greed?  Read the story and watch the video to get a better feel.

The sad truth is classic scams like these will always be prevalent, and as time pass, they’ll simply occur through different mediums.

From [Consumerist] and [KATU.com]

This post "Woman Scammed Out of $400,000 Over Course of Two Years" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Think financial blogs occasionally provide some dosage of financial voyeurism?

Meh, not really.

The students at The University of Portsmouth in Portsmouth, England takes the financial exhibitionist top prize.  Check out all the pics on flickr, here.  FYI: 1.58 USD = 1 GBP.

P.S. This was some ‘Socialist Student’ campus event, but it doesn’t mean all the ones pictured subscribes to the ideology.  I don’t know, maybe talkinga bout Che Guevara is some hip and cool counterculture thing in the U.K. *shrug* No need for any political comments, kthx.

This post "The Wall of Debt (Financial Voyeurism)" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Being the outdated Web 1.0 loser that I am, I have always been skeptical and wary of social network/media websites.  It’s just like how some people were not willing to give up their 8-track tapes when compact cassette came along, I remain a slow adopter when it comes to new trends on the Internet to communicate and exchange information.

Tip’d is one such new source for financial news and information. A Digg-like website, Tip’d allows users to submit, comment, and vote (tip) on financial related stories. If you’ve used Digg or any other community driven social bookmarking websites before, then Tip’d will be very familar to you.

Will the site grow large and the community become super awesome? I’ll refrain from making a solid guess as my track record for prediction blows — but things look decent as Tip’d has a smart group of people running the show, with top Digger like Muhammad Saleem and SEO guru like Andy Hagans.

Still, if you’re a regular Joe on the Internet, you wouldn’t care about any of that. You’ll frequent a website because it’s either fun or useful, not because of who’s running the site. Tip’d definitely has the potential to be useful (as for fun, that depends on how much of a financial geek you are).

If you’re a financial news junkie, be it stocks, commodities, or general personal finance — and if you love social news type of websites, Tip’d might just be the right place for you.

Look for me lurking on the site as Cap, and feel free to add me as a friend!

This post "Tip’d – New Source for Financial News" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

From [Where The Hell is Matt]

This post "Dancing Around the Globe (Where The Hell is Matt 2008)" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

You got all kinds of other services, that you can spend your money on.

Because — hey listen, who wants to walk out of a check cashing spot with all their money?

Funny enough to share, with plenty dosage of reality.

Related Links:

• Checks In Full Effects – Internets Celerbrities
• Free T-Shirts for Giving All My Personal Information? Awesome! [Video]

This post "“Check Mate” The Lowdown On Check Cashing Places" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

The repo man was a nice big guy, with tats all over. He was looking for someone with a similar last name. Poor Cap Two supposedly didn’t pay his bill for his Toyota Corolla, so the bank was forced to hire a repossession agent to get the car back.

He didn’t give us much of a fuss, since he was just tracking down possible locations of Cap Two (had a list of address with him). He apologized for the inconvenience and went on his way.

That was my first interaction with a repo man, and from what I’ve heard and read, this was probably one of the nicer ones out there (not that it’s an easy job, repossessing properties and all).

A friend of a friend had his car almost towed during the middle of the night by the repo men. After a heated argument, they finally figured out that they were at the wrong house — the same exact car can be found two houses down the block.

A quick Google search also reveals interesting stories of repo man knocking at odd hours, or not even bothering with the knock. One such story from the perspective of a repo man recounts how often he’ll find repo’ed vehicles straddled with contrabands.

Thankfully, even during my debt-ridden days, I never came close to having any repossession problems. So hopefully this will be my last and only encounter with a repo man. I understand the bank’s position and how difficulty the job of repossession can be for an agent, but I can’t imagine how it must feel for the person being repossessed — to have your car, house, or possession taken away, regardless if you’ve signed away your rights.

It’s probably too late for Cap Two to save his Corolla, as repossession is generally the last course of action a lender will want to take; but I sincerely hope that Cap Two will be able to get out of his financial hole eventually…

This post "The Repo Man Came Knocking On My Door…" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

I mentioned Crazy Aunt Purl on my site before; in fact, just about a year ago under the series Monetizing the Internet (yes, I’m aware that the series contains only one post).

Since 2005, her blog’s feed has been in my reader and I have continued to occasionally read her various whimsical post — I have at times even contemplated stalking asking her to have an In-n-Out burger with me!

So when I read on my feedreader that she has a book out, I was not at all surprised. On the contrary, I though to myself: finally I can read about an online stranger’s cats, knitting, and self-rebuttal at alcoholism in the comfort of my own bathroom!

Kudos to Laurie’s “Crazy Aunt Purls Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair.” It can be found for $10.85 on Amazon, and it is currently ranked at an impressive #70 in the top seller list. Seeing as how she has more than enough buyers, I shall wait for my free copy in the mail from my bestest-friend-fellow-blogger — or till the local library has them in stock.

Cap: Hi! I would like to put a hold on “Crazy Aunt Purls Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After Her Split”

Librarian: I’m sorry we don’t seem to have that book on order, who is the author?

Cap: Uh, Crazy Aunt Purl? This lady on the interweb?

This post "From Blogger to Author — Crazy Aunt Purl" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Saw this on Friday night’s 20/20 and thought it was pretty neat.

Launched in 2006, New York Nick’s Stephon Marbury partnered with Steve & Barry’s to promote a line of shoes and clothing bearing his nickname, “Starbury.” Understanding the pressure that inner-city kids face to spend $150-$200 on footwear sold by other companies such as Nike, Reebok, and Addidas, Marbury’s line of shoes will sell from $9.98 to $14.98. To show their quality, Marbury will be wearing these shoes for the entire 06-07 NBA season.

On March 23, 2007, Starbury was featured in a segment on the ABC show 20/20 (edition entitled “Enough!”), hosted by John Stossel. The segment dealt with the high price of sneakers and the role of Starbury and Marbury as an alternative. During the show, Marbury stated “If you take my shoe and you take a $150 shoe, cut it down in half, and it do the same exact thing.”

Sure, the shoes are still made in China, but at least they’re not $150 made in China shoes. And yes, Marbury isn’t exactly a star NBA player (contrary to his own self proclaimation of “best PG in NBA”), regardless, promoting the idea that brand and quality doesn’t always equate to high prices is awesome enough in itself.

This post "More $15 Shoes, Please" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

1. You’re better looking
2. You’re taller (I’m a short geek with glasses)
3. You have better eyesight
4. Your IQ is higher than 87
5. You make more money and you’re most likely wealthier
6. You are definitely more educated (oh I hope I graduate one of these days)
7. You have a bigger you-know-what
8. You spell better and have a better command of the English language
9. You’re not scared of horror movies
10. You smell nicer (mmm… is that lavender?)

This post "Why My Readers Are Better Than Me" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

The fun part is that over 10 of those facts aren’t favorable facts to consumers like you. Yay!

On an unrelated note, if you have a few minutes to kill, head over to MyMint.com and fill out the survey available on the site.

The group is lauching a supposedly kick-ass personal finance application, so the more input from potential users — the better the chance for the software to meet everyone’s need.

This post "Last Week: 50 Fun Facts About Credit Cards" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

It really is a tough habit to break as the article mentions. Argh.

This post "Procrasination = Fatter, Poorer, Unhappier" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Unmoderated message boards are usually pretty messy to sort through, but this is still pretty bad (the stock message boards anyway).

Talk about a group of angry people. Besides the frequent exchange of insults, you’ll also find useful stock advice such as:

…don’t get scared now man. This is the time where you grab your nuts and buy some more…

This is after the stock sank 23% earlier in the day, due to decade long poor business practices, and the fact that the company is knocking on bankruptcy door. And no, the current price is still no where near liquidation value.

Avoid like the plague.

This post "Money + Anonymity = Brings out the Best in People" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

Next time I’m in Hawaii, I’m going to punch him in the face — as soon as I can find him.

And uh, as soon as I save up the money to fly there.

This post "My Arch-Nemesis: TheImpulsiveBuy.com" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

1. Take it easy.

Driving at a reasonable speed will conserve gas. EPA’s rule of thumb: for every 5 mph over 60 mph, you’re paying an additional 20 cents a gallon for gas.

2. Cruise Control.

Engaging cruise control on the highway for better fuel management.

3. Lighten Up.

Take everything out of the car that you don’t need so your engine doesn’t have to work as hard. If packing for a road trip, try to keep luggage inside the vehicle rather than strapping to roof where it creates wind resistance.

4. Stay in tune.

Keep up with regular maintenance. Simple things such as changing the engine air filter on a needed basis can improve gas mileage as much by 10%.

5. Pump them up.

Properly inflated tires play a big role in good fuel economy. Check the sticker at the driver side door or glove box for the proper inflation pressure. Besides its effect on fuel economy, under/over inflated tires can significantly effect ride handling, vehicle safety, AND add unnecessary wear to your tires, costing you more money in the future.

6. Cool it on the AC.

Use air conditioners conservatively. Most air conditioner have a “economy” or “recirculation” setting that reduces the amount of outside air that must be chilled.

Related Post:

• HOWTO: Save Money at the Pump (& Free eBook)

This post "Six [More] Gas Saving Tips from the WSJ" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.

This post "Happy 300 Million People, USA" is from StopBuyingCrap.com.