FFAImage by Jill Wellington from Pixabay
We thought that title would catch your attention, and now that we have it, we’d like to clarify that the items listed below will not actually change your daily lifestyle; however, maybe, just maybe, they will make life a little easier for you when you encounter these issues. The knowledge you can gain from this (if you already don’t know about them) is, shall we say, priceless!
1. How to Speak Directly to an IRS Representative
We all know it’s almost impossible to reach an IRS agent on the phone, or is it? Well, we found the way. Here’s how:
1. Call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040
2. Reply to the Select Your Language option
3. It will ask you to press an option for your income taxes. Press 2
4. Next, press 1 for questions about a form already filed or a payment
5. Then press 3 for all other questions
6. Again, it will ask for all other questions, Press 2
Do not press any key when it asks for your SSN
7. Then press 2 for personal or individual tax questions
8. Then press 3 for all other inquiries
Congratulations! You have reached the point where an IRS agent will answer your call, but it may take them time to do so. So, after your fingers did all that walking, you may still have to wait.
We have found that the most opportune time to reach a representative is in the early morning when the wait time is less than a few minutes. If you’re lucky, you might get a representative to answer immediately.
If you call in the afternoon or evening, you may get a recording saying they will call you back. The IRS will call you, and it may be 2 or 3 hours later, but they will call back!
Some additional numbers to keep on hand:
Installment agreement questions: 800-829-3903
Collections: 800-829-7650 (This includes existing installment agreements)
Source: support.taxslayerpro.com.
2. Do You Know the Difference Between Real and Fake Silver?
Whether you like it or not, China is a major seller of just about everything. We will not delve into the politics of this, but we’d like to make you aware that everything that is sold in China and other locations is not what it’s made up to be.
Do you have silver jewelry, coins, or even bars? Let’s talk about this.
A customer went to a website and bought what he thought was a great deal on American silver dollar coins. However, these coins turned out to be fake.
How Did He Know the Silver Was Fake?
Easy. Get a magnet. Any magnet. Even a travel magnet that sticks to your refrigerator would work. Put your coin on the magnet. Did it stick to it? If yes, you have a fake!
Silver does not magnetize!!
3. Need Some Spare Change?
These suggestions will not pay your rent or mortgage, but they can help you with some extra gas money (yes, even at today’s prices), provide tips at restaurants, get you a few extra bus or subway rides, or anything else where some pocket change would be a benefit.
Below are some tried and true methods to make that extra buck!
Take Surveys!
Believe it or not, some businesses will pay you to take surveys, and the pennies add up. Below are a few legitimate companies that will pay you for the services you provide, and you never pay anything to them.
If you like taking surveys, this one’s for you. You can register here. Pay nothing, and you will periodically receive survey questions in your email from different businesses regarding how you like or don’t like a particular webpage, item, or service.
They pay anywhere from .20 to $2.00 per survey, usually taking less than a minute or two to complete. Now, we know that .20 won’t get you anywhere, but as the email requests come in, you can watch the funds add up.
This will not pay your monthly mortgage, but it may help you with the little things in life that need to be paid!
You can also register with the Apex Focus Group, which will notify you of surveys and other evaluations that will pay you for participation.
Become an Immitation Juror – It’s Legitimate!
Yes, you heard us right. You participate as a juror in a trial that’s not real and gets paid for it! Not what a standard juror would be paid for an actual trial. You would get much more. It can be $250 or more, and it is usually for only one day!
You will hear attorneys from both sides state their cases, and then, just like in an actual jury room, you will discuss among your peers whether the plaintiff or defendant is at fault (or neither). The whole session is recorded and subsequently evaluated by legal professionals.
Sign up at OnlineVerdict.com.
4. Need More Than Just Spare Change?
Get Instant Cash – No Credit Report Required
MoneyLion is an Internet finance company that offers various services. One is Instant Cash, where you can get $100 or more by answering a few simple questions and linking to your bank account. No credit check is done, and if approved, you can have cash in your bank account within seconds.
As you continue to build trust with them, they will increase the amount you can withdraw. Payback time can be three weeks or more, but be careful about their fees. They will ask you twice if you would like to add a tip. That is up to you, but since this is a computerized digital service, one might ask who is getting the tip.
Sell Your Stuff!
Do you have items in your house, attic, or basement that you no longer use? Do you have old items you once used as a hobby, or did your grandfather give you them ten years ago? Do you have any old cameras, trains, or vintage books? There are markets for them!
EBay would be your first source. Then, you can drill down to other market resources, such as those on Facebook. Also, try the ones that specialize in buying specific items, such as trains or cameras.
Oh, Those Coffee Table Books!
So you’ve gathered those nice picture books that look great on your coffee table, but now you have too many or want to part with them.
You have probably tried a garage sale and ended up getting $1 for what cost you $15, or if you live in an apartment, a garage sale would be out of the question. Maybe you tried eBay, got no bids, or went to your local bookstore, but they wouldn’t take them.
Well, help is on the way! If you live in the NYC area, one bookstore would love to buy your table books. They won’t pay you a market price, but their prices beat the $1 you got at the garage sale.
It is the Strand Book Store on 12 St. in Manhattan, but make sure you take a lot of your books so that you can accumulate some relative value for them, and a word of caution – if you drive, especially on a weekday, parking is horrendous, so you may want to take another driver with you who will stay in the driver’s seat while you visit the store. And yes, there will be a line to get in. Also, pack the books in a suitcase or similar travel case for ease of use.
So there you have it. All you need to do is find the right buyers, and you can sell those things that have been lying around for the last 100 years.
Get Cash for Gift Cards!
Your grandmother gave you a $200 Apple gift card, but you are using Samsung Droid phones, or you just got a $250 gift card from Target, but you would rather have the cash. Whatever the reason, there are ways you can trade in those cards for cash!
Some companies will buy your gift card and send you cash; you can pay for it online! The only caveat is that you won’t get full pay for them, but you will get between 85% – 90% payment, which is not bad.
Following are five legitimate gift card payment companies that will cash you out.
Raise.com
CardSell
CardCash
QuickCashMI
ClipKard
Lost Money!
Have you ever wondered if there is some money owed you that you forgot about? You’ll be surprised how many people are owed money they are unaware of! If you live in New York State, you can go to the NYS Comptroller’s Office website and run a search for unclaimed funds.
If you want to search for unclaimed funds in another state, you can go to the National Association of Unclaimed Funds, select your state, and search your name.
Hey, you never know!
Be a Mystery Shopper!
Once you register with a mystery shopper company, you will receive emails inviting you to visit a bank, retail outlet, or other institution.
For banks, you will discuss a loan or a bank account. The idea is that they want to see how the bank employee responds to your requests and that he/she follows all policies based on the questions you ask. Sometimes, they may ask you to open a bank account or accept a loan. In this case, you will usually be paid more than if you were just evaluating them.
But it doesn’t stop there. You may be requested to go to retailers, gas stations, supermarkets, and even car dealerships.
Here are two companies that provide mystery shopping:
Your pay can vary widely and range anywhere from $10 to $250, depending on what they ask you to do. Mystery shopping at locations (called shops) that require several hours to complete pay the higher amounts, but most of the time, you may be in the shop for an average of 30 minutes on the low end to possibly two hours on the high end, and filling out the evaluations usually take about 30 minutes to complete. You will be asked to take photos in almost every shop you go to, so make sure you have your cell phone handy. At the same time, make sure you are discrete. We know of cases where mystery shoppers received over $1,200 in one year, and yes, the income is taxable.
Note that these mystery shopping companies have very stringent guidelines; you must pay close attention to detail, or they will not pay you.
Participate in Research Studies
These legitimate companies need people to participate in physical studies, and they can pay $25o or more. One example is where you would be called to serve as a juror and listen to testimony from both the defense and prosecution attorneys.
No real names are given, but they want to see how jurors would discuss the case. Others are studies where folks discuss current events and finance; there is even one about what makeup to wear. Of course, the types of studies change over time, but there is always something to enroll in. Check it out!
Participate in Clinical Studies
Have you seen those commercials that offer prescription drugs or over-the-counter (OTC) medicines (e.g., memory inducers, vitamins, etc.), and the narrator says, “According to a clinical trial of over X participants…”? Did you know you could be one of those individuals who participated in these trials?
You may not be aware, but all the major pharmaceutical companies, as well as other medical companies and organizations, offer people the opportunity to participate in clinical studies such as these.
The trials can vary immensely but usually involve testing new drugs, vaccines, or other medical advancements, as well as studying a person’s reaction to previous diseases they may have had, such as COVID-19.
Here is the Pfizer website for clinical trials, but if you Google pharmaceutical study participants, you will get a whole list of providers that offer these studies.
The pay also varies, from volunteering without pay to $20 to over $150 per study.
Of course, you should be vigilant by researching these companies and consulting with your medical professional before participating, especially if you have a medical issue or are in your senior years.
Rideshare
Just about everyone has heard about ridesharing. If you decide to be a driver, you could potentially make a decent amount of money each week.
If ridesharing is too time-consuming for you, you could try delivering food. You pick the date and time when you will be doing the deliveries and get paid accordingly.
Pay varies greatly, but depending on your effort, you can expect to earn anywhere from a few dollars to hundreds per day.
Below are the primary ‘eats’ delivery services that you can register with:
Uber Eats
Grubhub
DoorDash
5. Do You Drive an Electric Vehicle?
We bet your burning question is, how much money am I saving vs. driving a conventional gas car? We did research, and the answer depends on your driving habits, lifestyle, and location. With that said, we were able to generalize an amount.
Some electric utility companies will tell you how much you have spent when charging your EV. We called our local electric utility company, which is in Nassau County, NY. The information below came from PSEGLI.
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By erring caution, we have estimated that for a standard EV, which usually consists of a 65kWh battery, the cost to charge the car to 80% from empty is equivalent to about 230 miles of driving and costs around $13.00 of home electrical costs. $13 is less than half as much if you would be gassing up your car for that same range at today’s gas prices, and it will only get worse for gas drivers and better for EV drivers as inflation keeps sticking its nose into our finances.
6. Saving on Electricity
Did you know that most electrical utility companies offer a Time of Use (TOU) plan? This plan provides peak, off-peak, and super off-peak hours to run your electrical devices and appliances. Of course, the super-off peak would be when electricity costs are the cheapest. Call your electric utility company to set it up.
If you have a thermostat in your house or apartment, you can save a little more by not turning the control from a low to a high value all at once. For example, if your thermostat is at 65 degrees and you want to make it warmer by changing it to 70 degrees, change it gradually. If you increase it all at once, it puts more strain on the furnace and subsequently causes additional oil to be used up compared to if you change it gradually.
7. Yes, Go Ahead and Buy That Sofa!
If your credit score is not up to par with the bank’s requirements, which usually means a FICO score of 660 or below, you might be thinking you will not be able to purchase that furniture, computer, TV, or another item you so dearly wanted.
Well, fear no more. No-credit-check loans are available. These usually consist of companies leasing you the money to buy the item.
Usually, they will offer you a payment plan where you can pay monthly, but the key is to pay it off within three or four months. If, after that period, you have not paid it down in full, the interest rates get pretty high—about 40% or so. But the bottom line is that you will most likely be able to purchase your item but be mindful of the consequences. Read the contract thoroughly before you sign.
Some of the no-credit-check companies are Progressive Leasing and Vive Financial.
Note: The sources provided in this article are for informational purposes only. Howard Fensterman is not affiliated with and does not endorse any companies or entities listed in this article. Please see our Disclaimer for more information.