(Update 3/31: T-Mobile’s 2 unlimited lines for $100 now no longer includes free HD video and 10 GB of LTE hotspot data.)

Competition is good. Without the popularity of the T-Mobile unlimited data plan, we wouldn’t have the reluctant, new Verizon Unlimited data plan. In turn, Verizon’s new plan features made T-Mobile improve their deal to include HD video streaming video and 10 GB of LTE tethered hotspot data. In addition, starting 2/17, T-Mobile is running a special promotion of 2 lines with Unlimited data for $100 with taxes and fees included. If you assume $5 on monthly taxes and fees, that works out to $45 + $5 taxes per line. This is nice if you’re a 2-line household like me and are unable to take advantage of the 4-line deals. T-Mobile is effectively $35 + $5 taxes per line if you have 4 lines. You can get these offers online or by calling 1-855-407-3034.

Here is a comparison graphic of the T-Mobile and Verizon Unlimited plans as of 2/17/17. Although created by T-Mobile, I found it fair enough. Adding in an estimated $5 per line in taxes and fees is even low in some geographic areas.

The final comparison point remains network quality (coverage, reliability, and speed). Although T-Mobile touts their network availability is within 2% of Verizon according to OpenSignal, this still remains a local issue. If T-Mobile doesn’t have coverage in your living room or in the middle if your commute, you don’t care about the rest of the network.

Premium features with a smaller price gap. Usually the “frugal” plans I talk about are MVNOs, but these plans have features that most MVNOs don’t have like:

• Free voice roaming. For example, the unlimited T-Mobile plan will let you roam on AT&T GSM networks in rural areas where they don’t have voice coverage. Verizon also offers voice roaming onto other networks in areas where they don’t have coverage.
• 4G LTE hotspot tethering. Most MVNOs either ban tethering or charge extra, including Cricket and Straight Talk.
• Unlimited high-speed data without throttling. T-Mobile will “network de-prioritize” your data after you use 28 GB in a single cycle, while Verizon will do the same at 22 GB. Basically, if the network is really busy at a specific point in time and you have exceeded those limits, your data speeds may go down. This is different than the “throttling” that other MVNOs do, for example an always-on speed limit of 128 kbps.

For travelers, T-Mobile also includes unlimited international text and 2G data in over 140 countries. While some MVNOs have poor customer service and support via e-mail only (no phone number), the major 4 carriers will at least have humans via 1-800 number.

Bottom line. T-Mobile and Verizon have both improved their Unlimited plan features and lowered the prices recently. While they still cost more than MVNO alternatives, they also offer a few premium features like hotspot tethering that MVNOs usually don’t include. You’ll have to decide if the premium features are worth it at these new price points.

Fidelity Investments has announced their online stock and ETF trades will now cost $4.95, down from $7.95 previously. The press release also points out that they also do not accept payment for order flow (unlike TD Ameritrade, Schwab, and E-Trade), and that their order routing has led to price improvement higher than industry average. I’m not sure of the dollar impact of all these factors taken together, but it could be significant if you trade a lot of shares.

Fidelity continues to offer 91 ETFs from Blackrock and Fidelity on their commission-free ETF list. The list includes many low cost iShares Core ETFs including:

• iShares Core S&P Total U.S. Stock Market (ITOT)
• iShares Core MSCI Total International Stock (IXUS)
• iShares Core S&P 500 (IVV)
• iShares Core Total USD Bond Market (IUSB)
• iShares Core U.S. Aggregate Bond (AGG)

I don’t think it is a coincidence that Schwab recently cut their online trades to $6.95 per trade. (Update: Schwab will also drop to $4.95 starting March 3rd.) It’s interesting to see that the former “full service” brokerages all now offer trades at what used to be “discount” prices. (Scottrade rolled out $7 trades back in the 1990s.) I only hope that Fidelity keeps up its reputation for better customer service. Here’s a comparison chart from their press release:

Free trades? They do exist. Merrill Edge offers $6.95 trades normally, but will give you 30 free trades per month if you keep $50,000 in combined assets across Merrill and Bank of America deposit accounts (Platinum Preferred Rewards tier). With $100,000 in combined assets, you get 100 free trades a month. Moving over existing assets from another broker qualifies. Merrill Edge does not accept payment for order flow.

Robinhood offers $0 trades with no minimum required balance through their smartphone app (and less hand-holding). Robinhood does accept payment for order flow and now offers a set of premium paid features.

In case you don’t visit every day (which is probably a good thing), Amazon.com is giving $8.62 off $50+ orders with promo code BIGTHANKS. Valid until 11:59pm Pacific 2/22 only. Must be shipped and sold by Amazon.

If you need filler ideas, you can’t buy Amazon gift cards but you can buy gift cards to other retailers like Starbucks or Whole Foods gift cards for any amount over $25. For example, you could buy something for $15 and buy a $35 gift card to get to $50.

Brent Underwood is a partner at a marketing company and was tired of shady competitors basically offering the tag of “Bestselling Author” for anywhere between $1,000 and $3,000. So he decided to tell everyone how they can do it themselves for 5 minutes and three bucks.

Read the entire thing, but essentially he makes a 1-page Kindle eBook and Amazon approves it for sale within 4 minutes. The sale listing goes live a few hours later. A few friends each bought a copy for $0.99 each, and that’s it, he was a “#1 Bestselling Author” in his (carefully chosen) niche category! I figured it was easy to self-publish a book, but I didn’t know it was this easy.

In addition to being an interesting peek inside the world of self-published eBooks, Underwood explains how the term “bestselling author” has become highly manipulated. Hey look, his foot… I mean book now has over 20 glowing reviews and comes in paperback!

Deal has expired. I recently posted a deal on H&R Block Deluxe Federal + State for $21, noting that last year’s all-time low was during a brief $19 sale on Amazon. Well, right now Amazon is having an H&R Block “Deal of the Day” sale. These products are at the lowest price ever this year:

• H&R Block Deluxe Federal Only $12.99 (Homeowner and Investments)
• H&R Block Deluxe Federal + State $18.99 (Homeowner and Investments)
• H&R Block Premium Federal + State $26.99 (Self-Employed and Rental Properties)
• H&R Block Premium & Business Federal + State $33.99 (Corporations and LLCs)

Prices change on Amazon all the time and this looks like a one-day only sale for 2/6, so please verify before purchase. Here’s a quick screenshot:

Price history:

This is desktop software (Windows or Mac) that you’ll have to download and install on your computer. The good news about desktop software is that your personal financial data isn’t uploaded onto a corporate server to be stored forever (and potentially hacked). Amazon will let you download it at your convenience, which will take about 1 minute on broadband.

H&R Block is running their 10% Amazon bonus promotion again this year, where they will let you convert part or all of your federal tax refund into an Amazon.com Gift Card with up to a 10% bonus. So for example you could turn $500 of your tax refund into $550 in Amazon gift certificates. Limits apply ($2000 per e-card, maximum $5000 per customer). I can’t find the exact terms, but last year the 5% bonus was for H&R Block Free and Basic versions, while the higher 10% bonus was for Deluxe, Premium, and Premium & Business.

Keep in mind that for these products 5 Federal e-Files are included but State e-File is extra ($19.95 for all I believe). I would personally just print the (usually shorter) state return out and snail mail it in.

Bank of America is running their Museums on Us program again for 2017, which offers cardholders free admissions to 150 museums, science centers, and botanical gardens nationwide on the first full weekend of every month (Saturday and Sunday). Simply present any valid Bank of America® or Merrill Lynch® credit or debit card and photo ID for free admission.

Note: Each cardholder gets one free general admission, so be sure everyone with their own cards bring them. I really need to add my 4-year-old as an authorized user…

2017 Calendar Dates (Check specific museum for actual hours)

• January 7th & 8th
• February 4th & 5th
• March 4th & 5th
• April 1st & 2nd
• May 6th & 7th
• June 3rd & 4th
• July 1st & 2nd
• August 5th & 6th
• September 2nd & 3rd
• October 7th & 8th
• November 4th & 5th
• December 2nd & 3rd

Here’s an excerpt from their press release with newly added museums in 2017:

New members of the Museums on Us program in 2017 include:

· American Museum of Natural History (New York City)
· Clyfford Still Museum (Denver)
· The Haggin Museum (Stockton, Calif.)
· Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum (New York City)
· Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston)
· National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force (Pooler, Ga.)
· New York Botanical Garden (New York City)
· San Bernardino County Museum (Redlands, Calif.)

These partners join a list of preeminent institutions (in more than 100 major cities) that continue to offer free general admission for Bank of America, Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust cardholders throughout the first full weekend of each month. A small sampling includes the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), Shedd Aquarium (Chicago), the National Center for Civil and Human Rights (Atlanta), the Denver Zoo, LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and the Miami Children’s Museum.

Here is the full list (PDF) of participating locations. One of the available museums is the Thinkery in Austin, Texas. We found it to be a fun and interactive children’s science center. The admission was $9 per person (23 month and under free). That means taking advantage of this offer would have saved us $18 (or $27 if the little one had a BofA card in theory). I’ve seen other museums on their list with $20 admission prices.

While I wouldn’t open a new bank or credit card account for this feature, it is a nice perk if you already have such accounts. You can also sign-up for a free text reminder before each free weekend. I signed up and haven’t gotten any spam texts from BofA, just the reminders. Here are the Bank of America credit cards that offer competitive features that I have reviewed in the past.

• BankAmericard Travel Rewards Credit Card Review
• BankAmericard Cash Rewards Credit Card Review

You probably know about online shopping portals that offer cash back or airline miles if you buy stuff through them. Some people even manage to earn miles by ordering things online and then picking it up in-person (to save any shipping charges). However, eBates actually has a limited In-Store Cash Back Program for traditional brick & mortar stores. You can get between 2% and 10% back at participating stores like Petco, Old Navy, Macy’s, GNC, and Ann Taylor. (There are also Double Cash Back promotions from time to time.)

Here’s an overview of the process:

• Link your debit or credit card and provide eBates with your credit card information. At this time, it only works with Visa and American Express.
• Manually link a store on their website. You can use their smartphone app (iOS/Android) for convenience. Be aware of some exclusions like gift card purchases.
• Shop at the store with that specific credit card. Debit cards must be run as “credit” purchases where you sign (no PIN). It’s very discreet. You don’t need to say anything, show a membership card, provide a coupon, etc.
• After you shop, the store will be unlinked automatically. If you want to shop at that store again, you must remember to manually re-link the offer to your card.
• You may not get instant confirmation. Ebates will e-mail you regarding your in-store cash back after up to 6 days.

This seems like an easy way to get a little bit extra without changing your shopping patterns. I went ahead and linked up my credit card and added a few stores. I’ll probably use it just like Rewards Dining where I also link up my credit cards and then promptly forget about it. If I happen to dine at a participating store, I’ll get some frequent flier miles. (Occasionally, I will target my dining if I am trying to generate activity to prevent miles expiration. I have a go-to local sandwich shop for this purpose.)

If you don’t have an eBates account yet, you can use my eBates referral link and get a $10 cash bonus by making at least $25 in total qualifying purchases with 90 days of joining. Simply look for an online merchant like eBay, Proflowers, Groupon, or LivingSocial where you’d spend $25 anyway.