SAVING MONEY

With the tax deadline rapidly approaching, many people are scrambling to file their returns, which is why a number of companies are offering freebies to celebrate the hard work. Bally Total Fitness, IHOP and Cinnabon are among the companies offering free goods on or around April 18.

Free Stuff Available Around the Country

Medical expenses have to take a pretty big bite out of your budget before you can use them to reduce your income tax liability. By the time you add up all the medical expenses you can count, however, including insurance, you may find they take more than enough of a bite to qualify.

How the 7.5 Percent “Floor” Works

A survey released on Thursday by the Federal Reserve revealed that during the recession, household income dropped 23 percent. Surveying the Aftermath of the Storm took a broad look at the financial crisis and how it impacted individual households between 2007 and 2009.

Median Net Worth Falls by $29,000

As a result of the struggling economy during the recession, the median net worth of households fell from $125,000 in 2007 to $96,000 in 2009. But that’s not the only effect the recession had on household assets. According to the survey:

Turbulence across the globe is as prevalent as ever, which means the economy remains in a rocky state. Some areas of finance have been impacted positively, like climbing gold prices, while things like overly-cautious baby boomers stinting our economic recovery are not such great news. It’s enough to drive even the most savvy investor to drink, but he may want to think twice about grabbing a bottle of wine from Wal-Mart.

Gold Reaches Record High Thursday

Customers of T-Mobile USA could expect to pay a higher price to keep their cell phone now that AT&T has announced its plan to acquire the wireless company. AT&T announced on Sunday its plans to purchase T-Mobile from telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom for an estimated $39 billion in cash and stocks.

New Wireless Entity to Be Biggest in U.S.

A new survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) revealed 43 percent of consumers plan to save their tax refunds upon receipt. According to the survey, this is the fifth straight year that taxpayers have held this sentiment regarding their refunds.

Saving More of a Priority than Paying Down Debt

What comes to mind when the first of the month rolls around? Your paycheck in the mail? Bills that need to be paid? Likely for you along with most Americans, it’s both. The first of the month is that day when people who live paycheck-to-paycheck wait until the last minute when they paid and transfer that direct deposit to online bill pay. Unfortunately, for B of A customers, that’s not going to be so easy today.

BankofAmerica.com Online Banking Website Down

American workers may receive raises in 2011 after experiencing salary freezes in 2010 or earlier, according to a new survey from Towers Watson. The survey, released by the human resources consulting firm on Thursday, revealed only 5 percent of companies plan to continue freezes for all of their workers this year while a few more expect to continue freezes for executives or other segments of their firms.

Merit Pay Increases Expected to Average 3 Percent

“I believe the children are our future. Teach them well and let them lead the way.” These lyrics from the classic tune “Greatest Love of All” which inspired millions of adults to look at their children as future doctors, lawyers, corporate leaders and entrepreneurs.

But as we know, there are self-motivated kids in the world who want success early in life and have already found it. Not only are they the future, but they’re teaching us how to acheive in business and personal finance right now. Let’s examine the success of some of these young entrepreneurs who show us that financial success can be acquired at any age.

The Young Entrepreneurs

You may want to start saving money now to prepare for the $4 gas prices some experts expect to see, possibly by the summer. That’s according to a new Fortune Magazine article that says U.S. gas prices reach levels we haven’t seen since 2008 before the end of this year.

Why Gas Prices Could Be On the Rise